‖ meze
(ˈmeɪzeɪ)
Also mese, mezée, mezze, mezzeh.
[Turk. meze snack, appetizer.]
A type of hors-d'œuvre served esp. with an aperitif in Greece and the Near East. Also attrib.
| 1926 Manch. Guardian Weekly 19 Feb. 151/2 It is taken as a habit with the dried fish and mézés that accompany a summer beer. 1950 E. David Bk. Mediterranean Food 146 Tarama is the name given to the dried eggs of grey mullet pressed and sold out of a barrel—a favourite mézé in Greece and Turkey. 1955 Times 16 July 1/5 It is customary, throughout Greece and the Near East, to serve Mezedes with your aperitif. 1957 L. Durrell Bitter Lemons 25 We..shared a stirrup-cup and a meze. 1958 R. Liddell Morea ii. ii. 58 The bit of cheese or the meat ball, brought to me with a slice of tomato by way of mézé, when I drank my ouzo. 1966 J. Aldridge Statesman's Game ix. 67 He drained his martini and said ‘Louise! Bring in that mezée trolley will you?’ 1968 J. Cleary Season of Doubt xii. 216 Lucille..passed around a tray of mezzeh, the traditional Lebanese hors-d'oeuvre. 1974 Times 16 Feb. 15/2 Mezes—a distinctive form of eating throughout the Middle East, where the concept of hors d'oeuvres is Lucullan. |