Meze

While netsurfing, I encountered the word "meze". According to one article, "Meze, short for mezethes, denotes small dishes served typically at small eateries like `mezethopoleion'; ouzeri, similar to the Italian wine shop; and the tsipouradiko, serving Greek eau-de-vie. The object of these establishments and their meze fare is to offers its patrons a place to eat, drink, and have conversation in the hours between large meals. Although there is a strong similarity in portion size and preparation similarity to Spanish tapas, the dishes were specifically developed to be eaten only as an accompaniment to drink in the middle of the day, not as a `before the meal' bite to get you started on the main meal of the day. It is much more comparable to bar nuts, pretzels, and pickled eggs on American bars."

Meze is pronounced  "mezei"  and I like the sound of it.  I thought that if ever I decide to name a cafe or a bakery, I would include it. "Mezecafe" or "mezeicafei"? Either one would be all right but definitely not "Mezethopoleion" , a difficult term to remember that simply means an eatery of mezethes. 

After knowing about the phonetic symbols of the word, I started to carve an eraser with the word "mezei"- and instantly used it to stamp the new brown bags I had in store. 

My brown bag original stamper

After stamping my bags, I searched the internet for books on meze and got one through Amazon.

The book I bought and the "Sambusak"
(meat pie) I made using the recipe in the book.

Check out my posting entitled "Empanadas" for the Sambusak recipe.