Turkey's pre-dinner spread — yoghurt dips, aubergine salads, roe cream, stuffed mussels — eaten with rakı over two hours. Never rushed.
About Meze
Turkish civilisation's greatest expression of hospitality — an array of cold small dishes that precede every formal meal: haydari (strained yoghurt with dill and garlic), acılı ezme (spiced tomato and walnut paste), patlıcan salatası (smoky roasted aubergine), midye dolma (mussels stuffed with saffron rice), tarama (cured roe cream), arnavut ciğeri (fried liver with onion and sumac); eaten with rakı and never rushed.
The array of cold small dishes that precede every formal Turkish meal: haydari (strained yoghurt with dill and garlic), acılı ezme (spiced tomato and walnut paste), patlıcan salatası (smoky roasted aubergine), midye dolma (mussels stuffed with saffron rice), tarama (cured roe cream), arnavut ciğeri (fried liver with sumac onion). Eaten with rakı and never rushed.
A Turkish meze table without rakı is incomplete. The anise spirit is diluted with water (which turns it cloudy white) and sipped slowly between small bites.
What to Expect
The meze arrive in small dishes covering the table. You eat slowly, moving between dishes and returning to favourites. The rakı is poured. The conversation takes over. The main course is almost beside the point.
Why Try It
Meze is Turkish food culture's most social expression — a meal designed to make two hours pass without noticing.
Insider Tips
- Rakı diluted with equal water and ice is the correct serve — never neat.
- The stuffed mussels (midye dolma) from Istanbul street vendors eaten as meze are a separate tradition worth experiencing.
- Çiya Sofrası in Istanbul's Kadıköy serves the most interesting regional meze selection.
