‘Meze: Mediterranean-style Eating’

Summertime, and the livin' is easy
Fish are jumpin' and the cotton is fine.
The languid voice of Billie Holliday perfectly interpreted the feelings of long, hot, lazy summer days immortalized in George and Ira Gershwin's classic song. As I walk to work and see the cats curled up on the sidewalk, too hot to even be bothered to stretch out a paw to swipe a passing fly, this refrain comes to mind.
'a ekle

On a hot summer's day, the last thing a cook wants to do is slave over a hot oven. Guests cannot face a full three-course cooked meal, either. In the northern hemisphere, July and August are the months for salads, and cookery and lifestyle programs encourage us to build a deck (the modern name for what a previous generation called a patio) in our gardens for an outdoor meal.

It is also the time when men undergo a transformation. Instead of sitting in front of the TV asking when dinner will be ready, they are busy finding charcoal and firelighters. Their apron comes out of the store cupboard, and they take up residence as King of the Barbecue, discussing marinades and techniques for char-grilling with their admiring guests.

When I first visited Turkey in 1989, backpacking with a group of friends in the heat of August, we soon discovered that the most pleasurable way to eat an evening meal was fresh fruit juice and a variety of these delightful dishes. We became expert at saying "kayısı suyu" (apricot juice) and pointing at the dishes we wanted from the beautifully laid-out tray brought to the table. Melon or cheese, spinach pastry or stuffed peppers, hummus or marinated olives, the choice was endless. Sometimes we enjoyed a dish so much we would make hand signals to say we wanted one (or even two!) more.

Anne Wilson, in her beautifully produced yet simple cookery book "Meze: Mediter-ranean-style eating," introduces us to this essential part of Turkish cuisine. Meze can be enjoyed as hors d'oeuvres or, as we did on holiday, as a complete meal in themselves.

My favorite ingredient of Turkish cookery is the eggplant -- although, because I am British, I call it aubergine -- and I am always amazed at the wonderful ways this humble vegetable can be presented on the meze table. Eggplant puree, diced eggplant cooked in olive oil, same again but mixed with diced tomatoes, slices of eggplant fried in batter, eggplant in olive oil stuffed with ground meat, the list is endless!

So the first item I searched for in the index was eggplant, to see what Anne Wilson recommended. I wasn't disappointed: "Baked eggplant" is a variety of karnıyarık where garlic, tomatoes, parsley, dill, cinnamon, paprika, sugar and currants are fried in olive oil, and then eggplants are stuffed with this mixture and baked. The inclusion of "Tomato and eggplant börek," "Eggplant salad" and "Baba Ganuş dip" also means I have ample opportunity to tickle my taste buds with my favorite flavor.

I also checked the recipe for "zucchini patties" very carefully. Mücver is a traditional Turkish snack, and I was burned very badly by a terrible cookbook sold to tourists, where the translations into English were just lousy! The Turkish recipe calls for "kabak."

I dutifully gathered together the onion, flour, white cheese, dill, parsley, egg and pumpkin that the book said I needed. It said I had to grate 400 grams of pumpkin. Not having a food mixer, I set out by hand to grate this incredibly resistant vegetable. One hour and a very sore arm later, I had finally triumphed and vowed never to attempt to cook it again. "This must be one of the dishes designed by Turkish men to keep their wives stuck in the kitchen all day!" I thought.

When I served the finished result to my neighbors, their reaction was not what I expected. "This is interesting," they said. "It's sweet! We have something like this called mücver." They obviously thought I was serving them a British dish! "This is mücver," I protested. "But that needs zucchini not pumpkin!" I was not impressed with translator who had caused me such suffering in the kitchen by choosing the wrong word for kabak: zucchini = kabak, pumpkin = bal kabağı. Full marks to Wilson for getting it right!

English-language cookbooks often limit their usefulness by either using American measures (cups) or European measures (liters and grams). "Meze: Mediterranean-style Eating" presents both, and also has a handy conversion guide at the front.

There is a picture of every dish, so you know the finished effect you are aiming at. More difficult or unusual steps in the instructions (such as how to trim and fold vine leaves for stuffing and how to make içli köfte) are shown in a series of useful pictures.

Recipes are also graded for complexity: easy, a little care needed, and more care needed, so you can choose the level that matches your skill in the kitchen. "Combine the rich colors and textures that are typical of Mediterranean countries, relaxing with good friends, cool drinks, and dappled sunshine and you're nearly there."

Although this book cannot guarantee that the sun will shine on your evening meal, the recipes will most definitely chase the clouds away and give an "evening on the Turkish Riviera" feel to your dinner party. What could be more capable of transporting you in your mind to a Turkish resort than lentil patties, fried whitebait, griddled haloumi cheese, feta cheese spread, stewed artichokes, meatballs, mushroom börek, stuffed cabbage leaves and green beans in olive oil?

Anne recommends allowing two dishes per person, served with plenty of crusty bread. "Tradition suggests that all the meze plates should be brought out together, allowing you and your guests to have a relaxed meal, picking at a variety of dishes."

But she adds, "There are no rules to tell you how to put together a meze platter -- you can be as adventurous as you like!" Just remember, they were designed to be enjoyed with a cool drink and good conversati

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"Meze: Mediterranean-style Eating," Anne Wilson, published by Könemann, ISBN: 9783829030137