Meze

The meyhane table

A Turkish meze plate. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.

Meze are the small plates that open a Turkish meal: haydari (thick yogurt with herbs), ezme (spicy tomato-walnut salad), hummus, fava, stuffed vine leaves, grilled octopus, white cheese with melon. A meyhane meal can run to a dozen of them.

Meze is inseparable from rakı, the anise spirit: the classic order is rakı-balık (rakı and fish), with meze in between. The table is the point; nobody hurries it.

Key ingredients

Cold meze: haydari, ezme, hummus, fava, topik
Hot meze: grilled octopus, calamari, börek
Olive oil, lemon, fresh herbs; bread for scooping

Where to try it

Meyhanes in Istanbul (Nevizade, Kadıköy), Izmir and the Aegean coast.
Ordered to share, several rounds, with rakı or wine.
The fish restaurants of the Bosphorus and the Aegean.