The art of mezes: Variety of taste in Turkish cuisine
If you want to understand the food culture in Turkey, you’d better start with mastering the art of mezes. Call them hors d’oeuvres, starters, nibbles or appetizers, mezes are an essential part of tables across the country and Turks’ pride and joy
MEZES are one of, if not the most important, series of dishes in Turkish and Mediterranean cuisine. Considered to be an appetizer and cold starter, mezes are small dishes that are shared among the table and consist of vastly wide variations of vegetables, greens, pulses, pastes, yogurt and cheese. Pretty much every table in Turkey is adorned with some sort of meze at an evening meal at which the Turks like to take their leisurely time, enjoying small morsels of the dishes for what could be hours. Each meze has its own distinct flavor, which can be strong, spicy and savory, and come accompanied by a basket of fresh bread.
Mezes are certainly not for the starving but more geared toward those who want to satisfy their eyes and their taste buds and enjoy this shared tradition. The food you fill up on follows the starter course and tends to be either meat dishes such as kebabs or fish. That being said, it is perfectly acceptable to solely dine on meze or to request a personalized plate of smaller servings, which is referred to as a “meze tabağı.” Restaurants tend to have refrigerated display cases containing their selection of mezes for days, while some will present trays with sample dishes to the table from which customers can choose from. You don’t actually get to try them though, this is only for the customer to select from what is on offer. The hardest task when it comes to meze is deciding on which ones to try. Therefore, the following is a list describing some of
the most traditional mezes you will come across when dining out in Turkey.
Let’s start with the classics: