Meze
Meze or mezze is a selection of small dishes served as appetizers in parts of the Middle East, the Balkans, Greece, and North Africa. In some Middle Eastern and African regions where it is present, especially predominantly Muslim regions where alcohol is less common, meze is often served as a part of multi-course meals, while in Greece, Turkey, and the Balkans, they function more as snacks while drinking or talking.
Etymology
The word is found in all the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire and comes from Persian مزه "taste, snack" < مزیدن "to taste". The word "meze" is a reference to the meal platters as a whole. The individual dishes that make up the meze do not share the same name.Common dishes
In Turkey, meze often consist of beyaz peynir, kavun, acılı ezme, haydari, patlıcan salatası, beyin salatası, kalamar tava, midye dolma and midye tava, enginar, cacık, pilaki, dolma or sarma, arnavut ciğeri, octopus salad, and çiğ köfte.In Greece, Cyprus and the Balkans, mezé, mezés, or mezédhes are small dishes, hot or cold, spicy or savory. Seafood dishes such as grilled octopus may be included, along with salads, sliced hard-boiled eggs, garlic bread, kalamata olives, fava beans, fried vegetables, melitzanosalata, taramosalata, fried or grilled cheeses called saganaki, and sheep, goat, or cow cheeses.
, a popular meze in Greece
Popular meze dishes include the following.
| Arabic | Greek | Turkish | Armenian | Image | Description |
| Arayes | Lahmacun | Lahmajo | barbecued flatbread filled with lamb meat, onions, tomatoes and spices | ||
| Asbe sawda | Arnavut ciğeri | a liver dish | |||
| Baba ghanoush | Melitzanosalata | Patlıcan ezmesi | mashed eggplant | ||
| Ful | Fava | Bakla ezmesi | fava beans mashed and mixed with seasonings | ||
| Burek | Boureki | Börek | Boureg | phyllo/yufka-based filled pastries | |
| Wara Enab | Dolmathakia | Sarma | Sarma | Leaves rolled around rice-based filling | |
| Falafel | falafel | a deep-fried ball or patty made from ground chickpeas, fava beans, or both | |||
| Fasuliya | Fasulye pilaki | Fasoulia | |||
| Fattoush | Fettuş | salad of vegetables and toasted or fried pieces of pita bread | |||
| Hummus | Humus | Homus | a dip or spread made from cooked, mashed chickpeas | ||
| Kalamarάkia thganhtά | Kalamar tava | fried squid | |||
| Khyar Bi Laban | Tzatziki | Cacık, Haydari | Jajik | Cucumber, yogurt, herbs, seasonings, served thick as dipp in Greece and thin like a cold soup in Turkey and Arabic countries | |
| Kibbeh | İçli köfte | Ishli Kyufta | meatballs made of bulghur, chopped meat, filled with meat, pine nuts and spices | ||
| Kafta | Köfte | Şiş köfte | Kufteh | meatballs made of chopped meat, onion, parsley, and spices | - |
| Kibbeh nayyeh | Çiğ köfte | Chi Kufte | raw meat dish | ||
| Kısır | Eech | bulgur salad with finely ground parsley, and tomato paste | |||
| Kolokythάkia gemistά | Kabak çiçeği dolması | Stuffed squash blossom | |||
| Labaneh | Labne | Lebni | yoghurt that has been strained to remove most of its whey, resulting in a thicker consistency than unstrained yoghurt | ||
| Ljit kousa | Kolokythokeftédes | Mücver | zucchini fritters | ||
| Muhammara | Cevizli Acılı Ezme | a hot pepper dip with ground walnuts, breadcrumbs, garlic, salt, lemon juice, and olive oil | |||
| Piyaz | salad made from any kind of dry beans with onion, parsley and sumac | ||||
| Salatit Roka | Róka Saláta | Arugula | rocket salad | ||
| Şakşuka | vegetables cooked in olive oil | ||||
| Sikh lahme, Shish taouk | Souvlaki | Şiş tavuk Çöp şiş | bite sized meat cubes, grilled on a skewer over charcoal. | ||
| Sujuk | Soutzoúki | Sucuk | Sojoukh | dry, spicy sausage | |
| Tabbouleh | Maintanosalata | Tabbule or Arap salatası | Tabuleh | bulgur, finely chopped parsley, mint, tomato, spring onion, with lemon juice, olive oil and seasonings | |
| Taramosalata | Tarama | dip made from tarama, the salted and cured roe of the cod, carp, or grey mullet mixed with olive oil, lemon juice, and a starchy base of bread or potatoes, or sometimes almonds | |||
| Tajin | Dip made of fish and Tarator | ||||
| Gemistά | Dolma | Dolma | peppers, eggplants, or courgettes stuffed with rice and meat |
Other meze dishes include cheeses or meat dishes, fish, ofter served with Flatbread.
In Syria, Lebanon and Cyprus, meze is often a meal in its own right. There are vegetarian, meat or fish mezes. Groups of dishes arrive at the table about 4 or 5 at a time. There is a set pattern to the dishes: typically olives, tahini, salad and yogurt will be followed by dishes with vegetables and eggs, then small meat or fish dishes alongside special accompaniments, and finally more substantial dishes such as whole fish or meat stews and grills. Establishments will offer their own specialities, but the pattern remains the same. Naturally the dishes served will reflect the seasons. For example, in late autumn, snails will be prominent. As so much food is offered, it is not expected that every dish be finished, but rather shared at will and served at ease. Eating a Cypriot meze is a social event.
In the Balkans, meze is very similar to Mediterranean antipasti in the sense that cured cold-cuts, cheese and salads are dominant ingredients and that it typically doesn't include cooked meals. In Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Montenegro it includes hard or creamy cheeses, kajmak or smetana cream, salami, ham and other forms of "suho/suvo meso", kulen, cured bacon, ajvar, and various pastry; In Bosnia and Herzegovina, depending on religious food restrictions one obeys, meze excludes pork products and replaces them with sudžuk and pastirma-like cured beef Suho meso. In southern Croatia, Herzegovina and Montenegro more Mediterranean forms of cured meat such as pršut and panceta and regional products like olives are common. Albanian-style meze platters typically include prosciutto ham, salami and brined cheese, accompanied with roasted bell peppers or green olives marinated in olive oil with garlic. In Bulgaria, popular mezes are lukanka, soujouk, sirene. In Macedonia most popular mezes are Shopska salad made with tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, peppers and feta cheese, Also Ajvar and Pindjur are the most popular mezes made in Macedonia for over 100 years ago. In Romania, mezelic means quick appetizer and includes Zacuscă, cheeses and salamis, often accompanied by Țuică.
Alcoholic accompaniment
Meze is generally accompanied by the distilled drinks rakı, arak, ouzo, Aragh Sagi, rakia, mastika, or tsipouro. It may also be consumed with beer, wine and other alcoholic drinks. Cyprus Brandy is a favourite drink to accompany meze in Cyprus, although lager or wine are popular with some.The same dishes, served without alcoholic drinks, are termed "muqabbilat" in Arabic.
Serving traditions
In Bulgaria, meze is served primarily at the consumption of wine, rakia and mastika, but also accompanying other alcoholic drinks that are not local to the region. In addition to traditional local foods, meze can include nuts, sweets or pre-packaged snacks. The term meze is generally applied to any foods and snacks consumed alongside an alcoholic beverage.In Greece, meze is served in restaurants called mezedopoleíon and tsipourádiko or ouzerí, a type of café that serves ouzo or tsipouro. A tavérna or estiatório offer a mezé as an orektikó. Many restaurants offer their house poikilía —a platter with a smorgasbord of mezédhes that can be served immediately to customers looking for a quick or light meal. Hosts commonly serve mezédhes to their guests at informal or impromptu get-togethers, as they are easy to prepare on short notice. Krasomezédhes is a meze that goes well with wine; ouzomezédhes are meze that goes with ouzo.