Menus & occasions · 3 min read ·
Meze and Turkish Salads: How to Build a Spread for Guests
What meze is, the Turkish salads and small plates worth making, and how to put together a meze spread for a dawat: kısır, çoban salatası, imam bayıldı, börek, yogurt dips and more, with a make-ahead plan.
are small plates shared at the start of a meal or alongside it: salads, dips, vegetables cooked in olive oil, cheese and pastries. A Turkish meze table is generous and colourful, and it’s built on the idea that guests should graze, talk and take their time. Pakistani tables have the same instinct, with chutneys, raitas, chaat and kachumber set around the main dishes. A meze spread simply makes those side plates the star.
The building blocks
A good meze spread mixes textures and temperatures. Pick one or two from each group.
Grain salads
- Kısır: fine bulgur kneaded with pepper paste and dressed with lemon, pomegranate molasses and herbs. Tangy, red and better made ahead.
- Bulgur and lentil salads, served with crisp lettuce leaves for scooping.
Fresh salads
- Çoban salatası: the Turkish kachumber, with tomato, cucumber, pepper, onion, parsley, olive oil and sumac.
- Piyaz: white beans with onion, parsley, olive oil and lemon, the classic partner to köfte.
Olive oil vegetables
- İmam bayıldı: eggplant stuffed with sweet onions and tomatoes and braised in olive oil, served at room temperature.
- Other dishes like green beans in tomato and olive oil.
Yogurt dishes
- Haydari: thick strained yogurt with garlic, dill or mint.
- Cacık: yogurt with grated cucumber and mint, thinner, like a raita.
- Ezme: technically not yogurt but a spicy chopped tomato and pepper salad with pomegranate molasses, served beside them.
Pastries and warm bites
- Sigara böreği: crisp cheese rolls, fried just before serving.
- Warm bread or toasted pide for dipping.
A plan for a meze dawat
Most meze is served cool or at room temperature, which makes it perfect for entertaining.
| When | Job |
|---|---|
| The day before | Make imam bayıldı (it improves overnight). Make kısır, without the cucumber. Roll and refrigerate the börek. |
| Morning | Strain the yogurt for haydari. Make the piyaz. Chop salad vegetables and keep them chilled, separately. |
| 1 hour before | Take everything out of the fridge to reach room temperature. Mix cucumber into the kısır. |
| 20 minutes before | Dress the çoban salatası. Fry the börek. Warm the bread. |
| Serving | Set everything out at once with olive oil, lemon wedges, pul biber and sumac on the table. |
Quantities
For eight guests as a starter, plan on five or six dishes, about one cup of each salad per four people, two börek per person, and plenty of bread. As a full meal on its own, double the quantities and add a hot main like köfte or tavuk şiş.
A Pakistani-Turkish table
Meze sits happily next to Pakistani food. Try a spread with kısır, imam bayıldı and çoban salatası alongside chicken tikka and seekh kebab, with a jug of ayran and podina raita. For larger gatherings, our guide to planning a dawat covers quantities and timing.
Why meze works
Meze takes the pressure off the host. Almost everything is made ahead, nothing has to arrive at the table at the same second, and vegetarian guests have plenty to eat. It also suits hot summer evenings, when a table of cool salads and olive oil vegetables feels much better than a heavy salan.
