I could listen to the soft hum of drizzling outside as I sat in a warmly lit-up Lebanese Restaurant in the posh and lively Hauz Khas Village Market. The street romanticizes multi-ethnic diners serving diverse international cuisines. Couples and singles bustling around in the fine lane leading to the Hauz Khas Fort. People are dancing in the pubs and discs, they are charmed by the very eloquence this place is gifted with.
Back to the moment, I was in the restaurant, after waiting for few minutes, I was offered a very exciting and good looking tray of dishes with white ceramic bowls filled with exquisite-looking sauces. Yes, you got it right! (I assume some of you) — I’m talking about mezze (or meze) platter dips and in my case Lebanese Mezze Platter Dips. They sure were mouth watering — the aroma just hit me sweetly at my lubricating tongue!
Mezze (/ˈmɛzeɪ/) — pronounced ‘meh-ze-ee’ is basically a selection of small dishes served as an appetizer (starter to the main course) or to accompany alcoholic drinks as a light-on-stomach-but-rich-on-tongue course in the Middle East, the Mediterranean, the Near East, and the Balkans. It is the most common and the favorite food of masses there. In Levantine (including Lebanese), Caucasian and Balkan cuisines, mezze is served at the beginning of all large-scale meals. It usually comes in two major varieties: veg mezze platter and a non-veg mezze platter. Fish Mezze Platter — sometimes part of the non-veg platter is another (less common) variant of it.
The Mezze is generally accompanied by traditional distilled drinks of the Middle-East such as rakı, arak, ouzo, aragh sagi, rakia, mastika, or tsipouro — which are all generally not available in South Asia, including India. It may also be consumed with beer, wine and other alcoholic drinks — a great delight! It’s a culinary artist’s assortment of chips and dips, lamb, mutton, fritters and fries, salads and rolls. You can count the number of items on the tray or plate, they are plenty! They are one of the snack trays cherished worldwide, varying slightly in style and flavor depending on where it’s being served.
Dips are the main thing in mezze which gives it an ethnic, traditional flavor and aroma. There were a total of Five Sauces and One Fine-Salad in my tray: Tabbouleh (the salad), Garlic–Sauce(Toum), Tzatziki, Hummus (or Hoummus), Feta Sauce and Baba Ghanoush (or Ghannouz). Some places have four, others have six — it depends on the food provider. Muhammara is another dip served with mezze — it’s made up of crushed walnuts, red pepper flakes, and pomegranate molasses. Some restaurants provide one more dip called labneh — a tart, yogurt-like cheese sauce made from strained Greek yogurt cheese or labneh (labnah, pronounced leb-neigh).
All the six dips were garnished with a black olive on the top, in the middle and a parsley leaf each. I started tasting one by one with a small tablespoon — each of them was unique in taste and texture.
Baba Ghanoush — the main and one of the most authentic dips — is made by mixing minced garlic paste, eggplant (aubergine or brinjal), salt, and tahini and salt, lemon are added. It is generally garnished with chopped parsley, black olive cuts, sun-dried tomato chunks, radish roses, or miniature eggplant.
Feta Sauce is another dip I like very much — it tastes somewhat like the Indian raita made of cucumber & onion. It is prepared by blending plain yogurt, well drained & crumbled feta cheese with extra-virgin olive oil, minced garlic, fresh lemon juice, table salt, and a pinch of cayenne. Chiffonade fresh mint leaves are added in the end.
Hummus or Chick-Pea Dip is made by blending dry chickpeas („white grams‟) mashed with olive oil, tahini, and garlic paste. Lemon juice, salt, and pepper are added to the smooth to form a thick paste. It is generally garnished with radishes (radish roses), tomato roses, reserve chick peas, parsley and/or cayenne pepper. There are a few versions of the hummus, like classic hummus made from creamy chickpea puree (a staple in the Middle East) and other versions topped with whole chickpeas, fried mushrooms or marinated lamb chunks.
Tabbouleh was the winner! No mezze table is complete without it. The green salad tasted rich and divine: finely chopped fresh parsley and mint bathed in fruity extra-virgin olive oil and lemon juice. It also had small tomato pieces adding lentils, pomegranate seeds, fried or marinated artichoke hearts, large green olives, kalamata olives and turnips marinated in yogurt, as well.
Tzatziki is another yogurt based dip, which is prepared by mixing strained and chopped cucumber with plain Greek yogurt. Lemon juice, pressed garlic cloves, chopped dill, salt and black pepper are added afterward.
Toum (garlic sauce) is prepared with freshly peeled garlic cloves which are crushed and mashed with pestle and hammer, with some salt added to it. Then, a tiny bit of olive oil is added and mashed more while adding a few drops of lemon juice throughout. Another way to do it is to wait on adding the lemon juice until the end.
While I spoke to the fellow food aficionado in the restaurant who served the mezze dish with a warm smile, I got to know about quite a few traditions and histories of the special mezze platter and how universally food connects the hearts of people across the cultures and countries. Soon I got my another plate of the real relishes — with non-veg items (the mouthfuls), bread and fresh salad — to tickle my tongue.
Shish Taouk: Believe me, this thing is so rich and smoky in taste — you’d just want more. The marinated chicken is skewed along with onions, pepper and the shish‟ (red, green, yellow capsicum) in between the chicken pieces — also called the bell papers — onto metal skewers, with a sprinkle of parsley on them. It‟s then cooked on preheated grill until the chicken is golden and no longer pink in the center. I just loved it!
Jujeh Kebab: Yogurt, juice, oil, zest, cumin, salt, pepper, saffron, coriander, garlic and onions are mixed and then chicken is added and tossed to coat. It is then put in the fridge for a few hours and then cooked in the same way like shish taouk. It is cooked until the chicken is a little charred and the tomato pieces soft & somewhat charred. The skewers are sprinkled with sumac that has entirely different flavor.
Lamb Kippeh: The main ingredient in Lamb Kippeh is Bulgur wheat — the base in which lamb stuffing is filled. Roughly chopped onions, allspice, cumin, Greek yogurt and mashed lamb are mixed together to prepare the stuffing. Then on a piece of flattened bulgur mix, the lamb stuffing is put in the center and a lemon shape balls or kofte (koftesi or kubba in Arabic). Sunflower or peanut oil is used for deep frying.
Lamb Cigar Roll: Another favorite — it is crunchy and laden with cheese. To make this, mashed lamb is mixed up with allspice, sumac, finely chopped onion, kumara (peeled & finely chopped), lamb mince, cloves, crushed garlic, ground cumin, cinnamon, and filo pastry. Then the filling is put on a flattened piece of kneaded-flour-dough and rolled in thin shape like a cigar.
Fattoush is a bread salad made from toasted or fried pieces of pita bread (khubz’arabi) combined with mixed greens and other vegetables, with some olive oil in them. It contains cucumber, beetroot, tomatoes, red onion, parsley, mint, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, kosher salt, ground black pepper, and sumac. The grand salad also has red, green, yellow capsicum (the bell papers) and green, red & baby romaine lettuce. Though there were no pita chunks in my fattoush salad, the taste was awesome! First, I ate the big parsley leaves chunk in the center, and then quickly finished the entire salad that looked so fresh, beautiful and exquisite — too good for me!
Pita Bread— also called pita wedges or fingers — is the heart of a mezze meal although it is placed very subtly either at the bottom of everything, usually decorated in a circular-pivotal shape, or served on a separate plate. It’s soft, leavened bread made of flour and egg mixed together. Crunchy & crispy Lavash Crackers are served instead of pita bread. It’s greatly grilled with za’atar, a spice blend of wild thyme, tangy sumac, and toasted sesame seeds ubiquitous in the Middle East. What I got on my plate was several triangular pieces of pita bread spread along the circular edge of the plate. And, guess what? It didn’t‟t stretch or harden even after getting cold!
The Veg Lebanese Mezze Platter has usually the same dips but different wholesome items such as Falafel (also called Felafil or Filafel), All Veg Kebab and Paneer Shish Taout. Like its non-vegcounterpart, Pita Bread and/or Lavash are part of the dish.
Falafels are fried balls or patties made of chickpeas, fava beans or a mix of both. Usually, some flour is added to bind it in ball or disc shape. The chickpeas are first soaked in water overnight, then ground up, and seasoned with onions, scallions, and spices like parsley, garlic, cumin, and coriander. Then they are either baked or fried.
Veg Kebab, as the name suggests, is an all vegetables soft kebab made in a disc shape. The veggies are minced well and marinated in mezze spices like garlic, parsley, sumac, cumin and coriander. After making small discs out of the mix, they are baked or fried.
Paneer Shish Tout is just like chicken shish tout in presentation and grill style — paneer cubes roasted on a preheated grill, skewed together with bell papers (the shish) and sprinkled with a bit of olive oil and parsley. Onion and tomato slices are also skewed and roasted along with.
Overall, the mezze turns out to be a ‘melikun’ (meaning king in Arabic) in the world of food — and it rules the realm of foodies coming from diverse nationalities and ethnicities! Peace.
At the restaurant, during my course of the bouquet of goodies, I was at times perplexed and stuck how to eat exactly — what item matched which dip, how to began, and how to eat. So, I asked for some advice from the helping hand I had. Suddenly I asked him, “What does mezze means, is it Arabic or Persian (Farsi)?” My buddy tried to answer me humbly with all the information he had — “It means mazaa as in Hindi-Urdu for delight or fun like you’re delighted at the taste of food or some fun activity.”
The best places to have Lebanese Mezze Platter, both veg and non-veg, in Delhi are Farsi, Hauz Khas Village Market; Fidahh, TDI Mall, Nehru Place; Shish Shawarma, Community Centre, NFC, and others.
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