Meze ( MEZ-ay; also spelled mezze or mezé) 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 oghi, ouzo, arak, rakia, raki, or grappa at meyhane and ouzeri.
Etymology
The word meze, used in all the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire, is borrowed from the Turkish meze ('appetizer'), which was in turn borrowed from the Persian مَزه maze ('taste' or 'relish'). Ayla Algar locates the possible the origins of the word in ancient Persia, where, before nuts and roasted meat were added to the spread, meze may originally have consisted of fruits such as pomegranates, quinces, and citrons to counterbalance the bitterness of unripe wine.
History
The custom of serving small dishes with alcohol dates back to medieval times. The meze tradition began in the Byzantine Empire and developed in Ottoman Greek houses and tavernes. In addition, Naql (نقل), a concept mentioned in medieval Arabic texts, referred to small dishes served with alcohol like salted toasted almonds. Food historian Nawal Nasrallah considers them to be comparable to mezze.
Common dishes Common features of meze include cubes of cheese, olives, grilled meats, or snacks like stuffed leaves, dolma, salads like tabbouleh, or dips like hummus. 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 (eggplant salad), taramosalata, fried or grilled cheeses called saganaki, and sheep, goat, or cow cheeses. Popular meze dishes include the following:
Other meze dishes include cheeses (such as halloumi, labneh, tulum, or shanklish) or meat dishes (like afelia, lountza, or pastirma), fish (like fried whitebait, calamari).
In regional cuisines In many Muslim-majority countries where the consumption of alcohol is less common because of Islamic dietary laws (with the exception of Turkey), meze often manifests as part of the meal structure rather than accompanying spirits. In Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, mezé, mezés or mezédhes (plural) are small dishes, hot or cold, spicy or savory.
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 (usually between five and ten groups). 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. In Palestinian cuisine, mezze typically refers to the sample dishes served at the start of a formal meal. Mezze is also served alongside a nargila. Palestinian ethnographer Tawfiq Canaan described mezze in 1923 as fruits, nuts, and bread that accompany spirits. In Syrian cuisine, mazza is typically only savory.
Turkey
In Turkey, meze often consist of beyaz peynir ('white cheese'), kavun (sliced ripe melon), acılı ezme (hot pepper paste, often with walnuts), haydari (thick strained yogurt with herbs), patlıcan salatası (cold eggplant salad), beyin salatası (brain salad), kalamar tava (fried calamari), midye dolma and midye tava (stuffed or fried mussels), enginar (artichokes), cacık (yogurt with cucumber and garlic), pilaki (foods cooked in a special sauce), dolma or sarma (rice-stuffed vine leaves or other stuffed vegetables, such as bell peppers), Arnavut ciğeri (a liver dish, served cold), octopus salad, and çiğ köfte (raw meatballs with bulgur). 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 (clotted cream) or smetana cream, salami, ham, and other forms of suho/suvo meso (cured pork or beef), kulen (paprika flavoured, cured sausage), cured bacon, ajvar, and various savory pastries. For Muslims, meze replaces pork products with sudžuk (dry, spicy sausage) 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 (capsicum) or green olives marinated in olive oil with garlic. In Bulgaria, popular mezes are lukanka (a spicy sausage), soujouk (a dry and spicy sausage) and sirene (a white brine cheese). 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.
See also
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