mezze

Mezze refers to a collection of small dishes served as appetizers or as a shared meal component in the cuisines of the Eastern Mediterranean, the Balkans, and North Africa, notably Greek, Turkish, Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinian, Jordanian, and Egyptian traditions. The term is derived from Turkish meze, with roots in Persian and Arabic meaning taste or bite. In many practices, mezze is a social format—plates are passed around and eaten with bread, often alongside beverages such as raki, ouzo, or wine.

Mezze can include cold and hot dishes. Common cold items are dips and spreads such as hummus, baba ghanoush (muttabal), taramasalata, muhammara, tabbouleh, and grape leaves stuffed with rice. Hot meze feature fried or grilled items such as falafel, fried calamari, köfte or keftes, grilled halloumi, and stuffed vegetables. The precise repertoire varies by country and region, making mezze a flexible, seasonally driven concept.

In practice, mezze functions as a social dining experience rather than a single course. In restaurants, it may appear as a fixed tasting set or a varying assortment; in homes, it is often a multi-dish spread shared among guests. The term is sometimes equated with tapas, but mezze reflects distinct culinary traditions and dining customs across the regions where it is common.