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©TIE
2004-2008
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Imagine a feast featuring dozens
of delicious and varied crudités,
salads, pureés, pickles, vinaigrettes,
cheeses, fruits, fritters, böreks,
vegetables and meats.
That's Turkish
meze (MEH-zeh).
Waiters may bring a huge tray piled
high with plates and ask you
to indicate the one's you want. Everyone
at the dinner table indicates favorites.
Each little plate holds enough for
two or three people to have a portion
or four or five people to have a
sample. Most plates cost US$1 or
$2.
A toast of beer, wine or raki is
proposed, and the feast begins.
Fresh
Turkish bread scoops up the pureés, supports
the cheeses, and counters the tang
of pickles and salads laced with fresh
lemon juice.
Soon the table is covered
in plates. People order more. The plates
stack up two and three deep. Hours
have passed.
When you're so full you positively
can't eat anymore, your Turkish host
orders the main course! After
that come the desserts/sweets and Turkish
coffee.
It's just a typical Turkish evening.
Unfortunately for foreign visitors
used to dining as couples, meze is best when shared in a big group.
A couple or foursome can have an excellent
dinner ordering four to six plates
of meze, but the dozens typical on
big Turkish dining tables would be
overwhelming.
If you really want to experience Turkish
meze, get a big, congenial group together
and plan to spend the entire evening
eating and drinking.
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Above, stuffed vine
leaves (yaprak dolmasi), just
one of dozens of Turkish mezes.
Right, sidewalk
tables are a favorite
place to spend a few hours
consuming meze and
drinks. This is Seyhbender
Sokak in Beyoglu, Istanbul.
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