Meze

The word is found in all the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire, and originated from the Turkish word meaning a snack or appetiser. This, in turn, originated from the Persian word "Maza", which means to taste or relish.[3]

In Turkey, meze often consist of beyaz peynir (literally "white cheese"), kavun (sliced ripe melon),[2] 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 or squid), 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).

In Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria and the rest of the Balkans, mezé, mezés, or mezédhes (plural) 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 (eggplant salad), taramosalata, fried or grilled cheeses called saganaki, and sheep, goat, or cow cheeses.

Simple Greek meze: cheese and olives (feta cheese drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with oregano, served with kalamata olives and bread)

Meze plate in Albania

Tzatziki, 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 (Moutabal)	Melitzanosalata	Patlıcan ezmesi (Babagannuş)			mashed eggplant (aubergine)
Ful (Mdammas)	Fava	Bakla ezmesi (Fava)			fava beans mashed and mixed with seasonings
Burek	Boureki	Börek	Boureg		phyllo/yufka-based filled pastries
Wara Enab	Dolmathakia	Sarma (Yaprak sarma) Dolma	Sarma		Leaves (mostly grape leaves) rolled around rice-based filling
Falafel		Falafel/Felafel			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 (calamari)
Khyar Bi Laban	Tzatziki	Cacık (read:jah-juck; soupy or dry variations), Haydari(dry; no cucumber and strained yoghurt)	Jajik		Cucumber, yogurt, herbs (mostly mint), seasonings(garlic optional), 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(Kofta)	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 Süzme Yoğurt	Lebni		yoghurt that has been strained to remove most of its whey, resulting in a thicker consistency than unstrained yoghurt (Seasoning such as garlic and herbs are sometimes added)
Ljit kousa	Kolokythokeftédes	Mücver			zucchini fritters
Muhammara		Cevizli Acılı Ezme (Acuka)			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	Roka Arugula			rocket salad
		Şakşuka			vegetables cooked in olive oil
Sikh lahme (for lamb or beef), Shish taouk (for chicken)	Souvlaki	Şiş tavuk Çöp şiş			bite sized meat cubes (lamb is very common), 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 (bottarga) mixed with olive oil, lemon juice, and a starchy base of bread or potatoes, or sometimes almonds
Tajin					Dip made of fish and Tarator (Tahini and lemon)
	Gemistά	Dolma	Dolma		peppers, eggplants, or courgettes stuffed with rice and meat

Other meze dishes include cheeses (like the Halloumi, Labneh, Tulum cheese or Shanklish) or meat dishes (like Stifado, Afelia, Lountza, or Pastrami), fish (like Whitebait, Calamari or Dag Meoushan), 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 (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. 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 (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 pastry; In Bosnia and Herzegovina, depending on religious food restrictions one obeys, meze excludes pork products and replaces them with sudžuk (dry, spicy sausage) 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 (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), 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 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.

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 (served neat) 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" (starters) in Arabic.

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 (tavern) or estiatório (restaurant) offer a mezé as an orektikó (appetiser). Many restaurants offer their house poikilía ("variety")—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 (literally "wine-meze") is a meze that goes well with wine; ouzomezédhes are meze that goes with ouzo.