Mazza from the Middle East and North Africa

Meze (or mazza, as it is transliterated from Arabic) is universally described as Middle Eastern appetizers. Mazzat (plural) are little tidbits served on little plates and they certainly bear a resemblance to appetizers or tapas. In fact, there is nothing wrong in serving them as appetizers. Mazza are called meze in Greek and Turkish, qimiyya in Algeria, and ādū in Tunisia. But, for the record, it is incorrect to speak of the Middle Eastern meze table as appetizers. To think of these small dishes as appetizers is to misunderstand the Arab culinary sensibility. For the Arab, the notion of a food needed to “open the appetite” is completely foreign, although the influence of Western cuisine is felt and today one can find traditional appetizers, called muqabbilāt from the word for “appetite,” qabaliyya. But in the traditional cuisine the Arab simply starts eating; one is hungry and the stomach enzymes are ready to go to work.