Small plates that start the meal
A Turkish table for guests usually begins with : salads, dips and small vegetable plates set out together for everyone to share. Pakistanis already do something similar with raita, kachumber, chutneys and achar around the main dishes. Meze simply makes those side dishes the centre of attention.
The salads
Kısır is a soft, tangy salad of fine bulgur mixed with tomato and pepper paste, lemon, , spring onions and lots of parsley and mint. It’s eaten with lettuce leaves at tea parties and family gatherings, and it’s even better the next day.
Çoban salatası, “shepherd’s salad”, is finely chopped tomato, cucumber, green pepper, onion and parsley dressed with lemon and olive oil. If you make kachumber, you already know how; leave out the green chilli and chaat masala, add parsley, and you have it.
Easy meze to add
- Haydari: thick yogurt with garlic, dried mint and a little white cheese.
- Cacık: yogurt thinned with water, with grated cucumber, garlic and mint, a cousin of kheera raita.
- Olives, white cheese and sliced tomatoes.
- A cool vegetable dish like imam bayıldı.
- Something warm and crisp like sigara böreği or mücver.
Tips
- Chop salads small and evenly; Turkish salads are finely cut.
- Dress çoban salatası at the last minute so it stays crisp.
- Make kısır in the morning so the bulgur soaks up the flavours.
- Add sumac to sliced onions for a bright, tangy side for kebabs.
Building a meze spread
Three or four meze plus bread is enough to start a dinner for guests. Our meze and Turkish salads post has a full make-ahead plan, and the Turkish dinner party menu shows how meze fits into a complete meal.
More to try
Now with full recipes: acılı ezme, the spicy chopped dip served with kebabs; cacık, cucumber and mint yogurt; and piyaz, the white bean salad that goes with köfte.