Since feta is the main ingredient here, it really does make a difference if you can get hold of chunky fresh feta from a deli or a Middle-Eastern store, but this still works with good-quality feta in packages. A bowl of baby spinach salad on the side is, along with puffy — rather than crisp — Turkish flatbread (or side), my favourite accompaniment. Steeping the onions in vinegar — and old trick of mine, which many of you may recognise — not only takes away the acrid rasp of raw onion, but also turns the red strips to a lambent crimson or, further, a positive puce if left to steep long enough. Two hours is optimum: longer is even better, and it does keep. If time is short, 20 minutes should be enough, in which case double the amount of vinegar, letting the onion drown rather than bathe in it. For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.
