Written by Helga Sunday, 05 April 2009 09:36

Meze

In Greece and Cyprus, meze, mezes, or mezethes are small dishes, hot or cold, spicy or savory. While in Greece you order these small dishes separately, in Cyprus it's a tradition that each taverna has its own "meze", which contains 15-25 different dishes and meze is a meal in its own right.

The typical Cypriot meze is served in 3-4 rounds each time 4-5 different dishes. There is a set pattern to the dishes, typically olives, tahini, salad and yoghurt will be followed by dishes with vegetables and eggs, then small meat or fish dishes alongside special accompaniments, and finally more substantial dishes such as whole fish or meat stews and grills. In fish meze seafood dishes are served instead of meat.

The local tavernas will offer different dishes, their own specialties, but the pattern remains the same. As so much food is offered, it is not expected that every dish should be finished. People eat it together, serving each other etc. Eating a Cypriot meze is a social event.

 

The first round contains usually a village salad, olives (Crushed olives usually with coriander, garlic and fresh lemon), humus (a dip or spread made from cooked, mashed chickpeas), tahini, taramosalata (salted and cured carp or cod roe cream), tzaziki, melitzanosalata (eggplant salad), pickles (Marinated green vegetables in olive oil and vinegar ), skordalia (garlic dip), patzaria (beetroot salad), roasted red pepper, artichoke hearts, garlic and lemon mashed potatoes, tyrokafteri (pepper and feta dip), red cabbage salad, grilled oyster mushrooms, mushrooms stuffed with cheese, lunza (smoked ham). It is customary to dip pitta bread, or the locally made white bread into these dishes.

The second round has usually cooked food, both meat and vegetables. Keftedes and soutzoukakia smyrneika (both are meatballs), afelia (pork cubes marinated in red wine and coriander), stifado (beef or rabbit stew with wine and lot of onions), kleftiko (chunks of lamb cooked in clay oven), snails in red wine and coriander, liver in red wine.

 

From the vegetables it is often koupepia (Grape leaves stuffed with minced meat and rice), yemista (tomato and pepper stuffed with rice), fava beans(split beans), mavromatia beans (bleack eyed beans in olive oil and lemon juice), baked white beans, kolokithokeftedes (fried zucchini balls), tomatokeftedes (fried tomatoballs) and also fried zucchini or asparagus with scrambled eggs.

The third round is the grill round with grilled halloumi cheese, sheftalia (a kind of sausage without skin, caul fat is used instead of sausage casing to wrap the ingredients) and loukaniko (pork sausages with red wine). Hot grilled meats - kebabs, lamb chops, chicken.

At the end sometimes they serve fried vegetables or cheese again, such as feta saganaki (feta baked in the oven with tomato, peppers and onion), fried mushrooms in garlic sauce.

If you're still hungry, the dessert is usually fresh fruit or glyka - traditional sugar-preserved fruits and of course fruit, coffee or a local liqueur. Cyprus produces a good selection of table wines which are very reasonably priced and can complement any meal. Commandaria, a sweet, fortified, dessert wine is unique to Cyprus. Cyprus sherries also have long been famous and now encompass the full range from pale, dry fino to full-bodied cream sherries. The Cypriot aperitif Zivania, with its strong aniseed flavour, is refreshing in warm weather, and the locally produced lager "Keo" is an excellent thirst quencher. The very unique Brandy sour is a delicious concoction combining equal quantities of brandy and fresh lemon juice, with a dash of Angostura bitters topped with ice and soda.

A meze is meant to be lingered over, so take it slowly and savour the subtle flavours which make up each dish. Eating out in Cyprus is not just a social event, it's almost a way of life. Local restaurants have a high standard of hygiene and the quality of the food is superb. Don't be shy about asking how to prepare a particular dish which takes your fancy and any Cypriot will be delighted to tell you how it is made.