Carrot salad with yogurt is one of the greatly respected rakı companions. Although it is made at homes not so frequently, usually for big dinner parties or special occasions like New Year's eve or bayram dinners, it is a  staple meze (appetizer/starter/hors d'oeuvre) at every pub that serves rakı, especially at seafood pubs. Surprisingly carrot salad with yogurt tastes even better at sloppy pubs with crusty bread and rakı than it does at home, probably because rakı fixes every imperfection. You can have this salad/meze on the side of any grilled goods or have it on its own for lunch on hot summer days.


serves 2 to 3 people
4 cups of grated carrot
1 cup plain yogurt, preferably whole milk yogurt
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
3-4 tbsp finely chopped fresh dill or parsley
salt
1 tbsp mayonnaise (optional)

-Heat oil in a skillet and add grated carrots. Stir until carrots are wilted.
-Mix yogurt, garlic, and salt in a bowl.
-Put carrots in a bowl and mix well with yogurt and sprinkle with dill or parsley.

note: At people's houses this meze is made with yogurt, but at pubs they sometimes use mayonnaise to thicken it up.