Talk:Meze/Archive 1

Archive 1

Meze is food of Turkey

Meze is a very important part of Turkey not only in seafodd but with kebabs too. There is a mistake it is not Bosnia and Herzegovinian nor Greek origin (actually there are very small numbers of mezes Greek origin but it is not much). CrashMex 13:06, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

I don't see how your complaints relate to the article. It doesn't seem to make either of the points you are objecting to. In any case, this is hardly a neutrality issue, so I will remove the POV tag. Perhaps you could indicate here what you think the article shoudl say instead of what is currently there? Palmiro | Talk 14:55, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

I've put a citation request onto the statement about many Turkish meze being of Greek origin. If no-one comes up with a source for that in a week or so, we can take it out. Palmiro | Talk 15:10, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

The Food Programme

Did any one hear "The Food Programme", a BBC programme broadcast on Radio Four on October 14, and repeated on October 15? This was about mezze, and perhaps the insights could be used in this article. One thing considered was ambiguity about the origins of the term "mezze".

ACEOREVIVED 16:15, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

Halloumi as part of a greek meze

unless someone objects over the next ten days or so, i am going to remove the halloumi reference in the list of dishes one might have as a meze in greece. the fact of the matter is that this is totally innaccurate, and you'll need a damned good reason to keep it there —Preceding unsigned comment added by Hotspury (talk • contribs) 17:34, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

Western Armenian cuisine category

Western Armenian cuisine is its own thing, no doubt. However, it is clearly part of several culinary regions, including Middle Eastern and Ottoman cuisine, with which it shares most of its dishes. When there is an overarching category that includes subcategories, individual categories should not be mentioned. Otherwise, we'd have to include in the categories for Meze every single national and regional cuisine in the Balkans, Anatolia, the Levant, and other areas. --Macrakis (talk) 04:07, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

Deletion of etymology section

Hi Macrakis. I see you deleted this. I realize that the information is speculatory, but I think the information is interesting and relevant to the article. If you would prefer it not be in a section entitled "Etymology", that's fine. But the meanings of the word in Persian, Arabic and Italian and the notes on what they meant or consisted of are certinaly relevant to the history for example. Would you mind restoring the information and placing it where you think it might be more appropriate? Or just restoring it and allowing me to do so? Thanks. Tiamut^talk 18:44, 19 September 2009 (UTC)

By the way, the source is a very good one and has more information on the names for mezze in other languages as well, as well as what it means in different places. I would like to add more from it. Do you have problems with the source? Tiamut^talk 18:48, 19 September 2009 (UTC)

The source is a book on Mediterranean vegetable cookery. I see no evidence that the author has any background in philology, and the way he writes about it doesn't inspire confidence. I don't know why Wright says that the origin of the word is unknown, when the OED has a detailed etymology with no gaps. The OED isn't perfect, but I would trust it over a food writer who doesn't even give sources for his claims.

About adding more names for mezze, please keep in mind that WP is an encyclopedia, not a multilingual dictionary. --macrakis (talk) 19:10, 19 September 2009 (UTC)

Introduction – excess prominence of drinks

Meze or mezze (...) in the Eastern Mediterranean is a selection of appetizers or small dishes often served with beverage, like anise-flavored liqueurs such as arak, ouzo, raki or different wines, similar to the tapas of Spain or finger food.

It seems odd that the introductory sentence spends more time talking about drinks that it does about food! Are they really such an important part that they should be mentioned here, rather than just in the article body? Amniarix (talk) 13:58, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Right, afaik Meze are allied with the consumption of alcohol in most muslim countries. If fe. in Egypt someone talks of ordinary fingerfood, then its called Moshahiat. It should also be noticed that Meze as a culinary tradition were allready known not only in pre-islamic Persia but also allready in the Byzantine cuisine (most certainly under another term). Which was a precursor of the Levantine cuisines.-- 77.117.11.1 (talk) 19:24, 3 January 2012 (UTC)

Good sources relating Persian and Byzantine eating and drinking habits to meze would be great. Ayla Algar (cf. Oxford Companion) claims it is of Persian origin, originally consisting of tart furits, later nuts and roasted meat. Interestingly, the appetizers discussed in Zaouali's Medieval Cuisine of the Islamic World are generally quite different from the modern mazza tradition. --Macrakis (talk) 20:43, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

Being served with drinks is what defines 'meze'. Something as simple as a plate of slices of carrots and cucumbers counts as 'meze' if served with a beer, while a full array of all the dishes listed will never be termed 'meze' unless served with alcohol - instead, it will be called 'muqabbilat' - 'starters' - in Arabic-speaking countries. 197.162.37.156 (talk) 23:05, 5 May 2014 (UTC)

Anyone got any references that connect "Meze" with "Maza" (in Greek, a barely cake or cake or mixture) vs the Hebrew "Matza"? Are they cognates for example between Greek and Persian (hence the turkish term?), and what relationship do these bear to the Hebrew version of the biscuits? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.165.25.37 (talk) 04:15, 7 September 2012 (UTC)

Bulgur rice?

I have tried to find a definition for bulgur rice and failed. Is it a typo for "bulgur wheat or rice"?

Arabic word

The Arabic word is مزّة or less frequently مازا (consistent with the other language variants) مقبلات is a general term meaning apetizers. --Fjmustak (talk) 21:48, 2 January 2017 (UTC)