Ditch the store-bought hummus and try a different Middle Eastern dip or spread

Around the Middle East, people of all nationalities relax during the long, languorous summer afternoons. Conversation slows and becomes softer, and attention turns to the mezze, or appetizer, plates. Like tapas, mezze offer little bites of something intriguing. The shared plates encourage conviviality around the table.

It’s a great tradition, and suited especially to summer, when humidity and high temperatures can drive appetite into hiding. A lunch or supper of small plates may be just the ticket on a torpid day. If that day includes the appearance of guests, all the better.

Hummus is the most famous mezze, of course, but it has become a sad cliche in this country. Chocolate hummus? Hummus made from white beans? Those aren’t hummus — they may be good, but they’re their own thing.

Baba ghanoush, the smoky, garlicky eggplant puree that Middle Eastern food writer Claudia Roden famously called “vulgarly seductive,” pleases even those who think they don’t like eggplant. But it, too, suffers from a little too much familiarity. We have three alternative ideas for your summer mezze. The lively Egyptian nut-seed-spice mixture called dukkah makes a refreshing change from more sedate offerings.

If you ever needed an excuse to eat a lot of good bread with good olive oil, dukkah provides one. If you have leftover dukkah, use to it bread plain ol’ chicken breasts before sauteeing.

Eggplants, with their deep purple skin catching the light, look so appealing at the farmers market and supermarket. The Persian dip called kashk-e-bademjun gives you a reason to scoop up three of the prettiest ones you can find. It traditionally uses whey to provide a lactic acid zing, but you can substitute buttermilk for almost the same effect.

Lebanese muhammara gets sweetness from the roasted bell peppers, and walnuts lend texture and rich flavor. Although it’s not traditional, we’ve added a couple of chipotles to bump up the heat and complement the roasted peppers’ smoky flavor.

Leftover muhammara makes a terrific sauce for grilled, baked or broiled poultry or fish.

Robin Mather is a longtime food journalist and the author of “The Feast Nearby.” Her third book, “The Feast of the Dove: How to eat well in good times and bad,” will be published later this summer.