[8] The modern term cacık (جاجیك) was mentioned in print for the first time in 1844 in Kâmil Pasha's Melceü't-Tabbâhîn (The Sanctuary of Cooks), the first Ottoman cookbook, in which the basic description is given as "yogurt with cucumber and garlic" (hıyar ve sarmısaklı yoğurt).

In the Levant, tarator is a sauce based on tahini, while in Turkey and the Balkans it came to mean a combination of yogurt and cucumbers, sometimes with walnuts.

[15] Tzatziki is made of strained yogurt (usually from sheep or goat milk) mixed with cucumbers, garlic, salt, olive oil, red wine vinegar, and dill or mint or parsley.

[19][20] Turkish cacik also has many variations, different recipes use wheat berries, carrots, scallions, mint, radish, red pepper, parsley, dill, basil, chondrilla juncea, vinegar, walnuts, hazelnuts and unripe almonds.

It is made of yogurt, cucumber, garlic, walnut, dill, vegetable oil, and water, and is served chilled or even with ice.

In Bulgaria, tarator is a popular meze (appetiser), but is also served as a side dish along with Shopska salad with some meals.

In North Macedonia, tarator is popular summer cold dish or meze made from yogurt or "kiselo mleko", cucumbers, garlic and sometimes dill.

In Cyprus, the dish is known as ταλαττούρι ("talattouri")[33] and is similar to the Greek recipe with a more characteristic flavour of mint and added acidity in the form of lemon juice.

[34] It is made from strained yogurt, sliced cucumbers, minced garlic cloves, lemon juice and sprinkled with dried mint, oregano or olive oil.

In South Asia, a similar dish is made with yogurt, cucumber, salt and ground cumin (sometimes also including onions) called "raita".

In Iran, ash-e doogh is another type of yogurt soup; instead of cucumbers it contains a variety of herbs such as basil, leek, mint, black pepper and raisins.