FEAST FOR THE EYES

Colourful mezze ‘a way of life’

Cookbook celebrates rich colours and flavours of the Middle East

Too often confused with the Spanish tradition of tapas, mezze is much more than a selection of small plates.

“It’s also a way of life,” according to cooks Nadia Zerouali and Merijn Tol.

“It’s a very sensorial (cuisine). It’s a very sensorial way of eating. You eat with your eyes,” says Tol.

“When the whole mezze table is there in front of you, it’s just like a feast. It’s an invitation for people to join you … to celebrate life.”

Mezze, with its roots in the Ottoman Empire, is central to Levantine cuisine.

The Levant covers much of the Eastern Mediterranean and encompasses regions including Cyprus, Jordan, Palestine and Turkey (Hatay Province).

Lebanon in particular “is famous for having the richest, most untouched and sophisticated mezzanic culture,” Zerouali and Tol say.

The style of mezze changes with the seasons and dishes vary by region.

But regardless of the time of year or location, you can count on an abundance of cold and warm dishes, occasionally followed by a selection of grilled poultry or meat and a glass of arak (an aniseed liqueur).

“It’s a wonderful way to have a table full of lovely dishes with lots of flavours and colours,” says Tol.

Zerouali and Tol united over their shared passion for Arab Mediterranean cuisine more than a decade ago.

Together they’ve hosted a culinary travel program and cooking show, and have written several cookbooks in Dutch.

Souk (Smith Street Books, 2018) — a collection of more than 100 recipes celebrating the bounty of mezze — is their second book to be translated into English.

In producing their books and programs, they’ve travelled extensively throughout Southern Europe, the Maghreb (Northwest Africa) and the Middle East.

For Souk, they focused on Lebanon, where they experienced mezze culture first-hand.

“You can always find us in the kitchens of the women,” Tol says. “We really love to learn in the heart of the kitchens with the people.”

Classic recipes — including fattoush, mujaddara (rice and lentils topped with caramelized onions) and shish taouk (chicken skewers with garlic and sumac — are presented alongside Zerouali and Tol’s interpretations of drinks and cocktails, cold and warm mezze, grilled foods and sweets.

The authors strike a balance between respecting tradition and taking a creative approach.

“We do seek freedom, but we like to stay within the boundaries of traditional flavours. So we’ll always use the flavours that are typical for that country, (but) we would use them in a different way,” says Tol.

Take labne for instance. The strained yogurt is a mezze and breakfast table mainstay, which would typically be drizzled with a spoon of olive oil and scooped up with a piece of flatbread.

Zerouali and Tol offer the classic version in Souk alongside their own dressed variations, which they admit are “not at all traditional.”

During their many visits to Beirut, the authors have cooked at Kamal Mouzawak’s internationally acclaimed restaurant, Tawlet (“table”).

Mouzawak, founder of the Souk el Tayeb farmers’ market, appreciated their take on labne so much that he has since added it to the menu, Tol recounts.

“We just sprinkle lots of things on top, like pomegranate seeds, aniseeds, pomegranate molasses, fresh oregano,” she says.

“So it looks beautiful — it becomes a feast for the eyes, which is very important in mezze culture. And at the same time, it’s something new.”

Recipes excerpted from Souk: Feasting at the Mezze Table by Nadia Zerouali and Merijn Tol (Smith Street Books, 2018).