Meze

Meze is a selection of small dishes served as appetizers in Eastern Mediterranean cuisines. It is similar to Spanish tapas and Italian stuzzichini. A meze may be served as a part of a multi-course meal or form a meal in itself. Meze are often served with spirits such as arak, rakia, raki, oghi, ouzo, or grappa at meyhane and ouzeri, or at regular restaurants.

Etymology

The word meze, used in all the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire, is borrowed from the Turkish meze, which was in turn borrowed from the Persian مَزه .

History

The custom of serving small dishes with alcohol dates back to medieval times. , a concept mentioned in medieval Arabic texts, referred to small dishes like salted toasted almonds. Food historian Nawal Nasrallah considers them to be comparable to mezze.

Common dishes

In Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, 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 spread, fried vegetables, melitzanosalata, taramosalata, fried or grilled cheeses called saganaki, and sheep, goat, or cow cheeses.
Popular meze dishes include the following:

Levantine	Greek	Turkish	Armenian	Image	Description
Arayes lahmacun		Lahmacun	Lahmajoun, misahats		Barbecued flatbread filled with lamb meat, onions, tomatoes and spices
Asbe sawda	Sykotákia	Arnavut ciğeri			A liver dish
Baba ghanoush	Melitzanosaláta	Patlıcan ezmesi	Mutabal		Mashed eggplant
Burek	Bouréki	Börek	Boureg		Phyllo/yufka-based filled pastries
Wara Enab	Dolmathákia	Sarma Dolma	Sarma		Leaves rolled around rice-based filling
Falafel	Revithokeftédes	Falafel/Felafel	Baklayov kyufta		A deep-fried ball or patty made from ground chickpeas, fava beans, or both
Fasuliya	Gigantes plaki	Fasulye pilaki	Fasoulia
Fattoush		Fettuş			Salad of vegetables and toasted or fried pieces of pita bread
	Fáva Santorínis				Lathyrus clymenum seeds boiled and mashed into paste, with olive oil and chopped onion
Ful	Koukiá	Fava			Fava beans mixed with seasonings
Hummus	Hoúmous	Humus	Homus		A dip or spread made from cooked, mashed chickpeas
	Kalamarákia tiganitá	Kalamar tava			Fried squid
Khyar Bi Laban	Tzatziki	Cacık, Haydari	Jajik		Cucumber, yogurt, herbs, seasonings, served thick as a dip in Greece and thin like a cold soup in Turkey and Arabic countries
Kibbeh	Koúpes	İçli köfte	Ishli Kyufta		Meatballs made of bulghur, chopped meat, filled with meat, pine nuts and spices
Kafta / Kufta	Keftédes	Köfte	Kufteh		Meatballs made of chopped meat, onion, parsley, and spices
		Şiş köfte			Kebab-style köfte
Kibbeh nayyeh		Çiğ köfte	Chi Kufte, Hoom Kufteh		Raw meat dish
Tabboule		Kısır	Eech		Bulgur salad with finely ground parsley, and tomato paste
	Kolokythoanthoí gemistoí	Kabak çiçeği dolması			Stuffed squash blossom
Labaneh		Labne Süzme Yoğurt	Lebni		Yoghurt that has been strained to remove most of its whey, resulting in a thicker consistency than unstrained yoghurt
Ijjit kousa	Kolokythokeftédes	Mücver			Zucchini fritters
	Maintanosaláta				Dip made from finely chopped parsley mixed with olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic and a base of either bread or potatoes
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 Jarjīr	Róka Saláta	Roka Arugula			Rocket salad
		Şakşuka			Vegetables cooked in olive oil
Sikh lahme, Shish taouk	Souvlaki	Şiş tavuk Çöp şiş	Shish kebab, Khorovats		Bite sized meat cubes, grilled on a skewer over charcoal
Sujuk	Soutzoúki	Sucuk	Sojoukh		Dry, spicy sausage
Tabbouleh		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
	Gemistá	Dolma	Dolma		Peppers, eggplants, or courgettes stuffed with rice and meat

Other meze dishes include cheeses or meat dishes, fish.

In [regional cuisine]s

The Levant

In Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Cyprus, and Israel, meze is often a meal in its own right. There are vegetarian, meat or fish mezes. Groups of dishes arrive at the table about four or five 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 specialties, 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. Arak and Beer are often drunk with mezze, especially if meats are ordered.

Turkey

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. A selection of mezes can be served as appetizers in a multi-course dinner, or as snacks accompanying drinks such as rakı.

The Balkans

In Southeast Europe, meze is very similar to an Italian antipasto in that cured cold-cuts, cheese and salads are dominant and cooked foods are not included. In Greece, Albania, 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 savory pastries. For Muslims, meze replaces pork products with sudžuk and the pastirma-like cured beef suho meso.
In southern Croatia, Herzegovina, and Montenegro, 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 and sirene. The Bulgarian-made shopska salad is also a very popular meze. It is made with tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, peppers, and sirene. Ajvar and pindjur are popular mezes in North Macedonia. In Romania, mezelic means a quick appetizer and includes zacuscă, cheeses, and salamis, often accompanied by tuică.
In Greece, meze is commonly served as a plate of snacks to accompany drinks such as ouzo and tsipouro.