Hosting ideas: Mediterranean snack platter with dips & all
These days, sharing a meal with friends and family is a very different social event from what it was just a few decades ago. Formal meals with seating plans and food served in a series of courses have been largely replaced by informal, relaxed grazing or snack boards. A variety of finger foods served and eaten in a laid-back communal atmosphere is popularizing a centuries-old hospitality tradition practiced in the Middle East (including today’s Syria, Egypt, and Lebanon). It was a tradition common to many social cultures—from the Middle East to Morocco and Greece on one side and to the Balkans through Turkey on the other.
This Mediterranean snack platter is historically called ‘meze’ or ‘mezze’. The word comes from the old Persian root word ‘maza’, which means ‘taste’. The word has the same meaning in Turkish and Arabic. It is also used in the Balkans to signify mainly an assortment of cheese and dry meat.
Charcuterie board vs. mezze platter
While the mezze platter was traditionally served before main course meals at gatherings and parties in the Middle East, the charcuterie board was traditionally featured in formal meals as the one before last item, dessert (as in France), or as the very last item after dessert (as in Britain). Essentially, the charcuterie board tradition is embedded in French-style service. The word has French roots; the French word ‘chair’ means meat and ‘cuit’ means cooked, referring primarily to a variety of cured meat products. Cheese is an integral part of the traditional charcuterie board. Naturally, varieties of meat and cheese vary regionally throughout Europe. Modern boards also include nuts and fruits, etc.
The traditional Mediterranean mezze platter, on the other hand, is a meal starter or sometimes even the entire meal. Its spirit is informal, and it is designed to provide a culinary context to joyful gatherings with leisurely conversations. The mezze can include meat, chicken, or seafood, but the emphasis is on freshness, with vegetables and fruit as integral features of a Mediterranean mezze platter.
Given the history of platters, it is no wonder that grazing or snacking boards have become a global trend!
Design your Mediterranean snack platter with dips and healthy snacks
The Mediterranean snack platter consists of a variety of snacks, dips, cheeses, and fruit. Looking at pictures might give the impression that putting together a mezze platter is a painstaking process, but you can keep it simple, easy, and effortless!
There are no hard-and-fast rules for designing the platter. However, Mediterranean dips such as Baba Ghanoush, hummus, tzatziki, muhmmara, and labneh or lebne are the centerpiece of the mezze.
Baba Ghanoush is similar to hummus, but instead of chickpeas, it is made with roasted eggplant. Here is a simple, quick recipe from Suzy Karadsheh for making this delicious savory, smoky dip with a creamy texture.
You can make your own hummus with this super-quick recipe, together with ideas for fun and nutritious variations such as adding beet to make pink hummus!
Labneh is a creamy yogurt cheese that can be used as a spread, and to make it at home, all you need to do is strain plain whole-milk yogurt! Try it! Serve garnished with extra virgin olive oil, mint, or parsley!
Make some refreshing tzatziki dip at home. It’s simple. All you need to do is drain some grated cucumber, mix it with plain Greek yogurt, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and season with salt! Follow this recipe to make this dip.
Muhammara is a red pepper dip that brings both additional color and flavor to your mezze platter. This dip is made with roasted red peppers and walnuts. Chili flakes and pomegranate molasses are added to make it nutty, tangy, and sweet. Here is a simple recipe to make this very special dip at home.
While making all the dips is quick and easy, you can always save time and effort by using Kaiser’s fully cooked falafel patties! And while you are at it, why not add Kaiser’s crispy, flaky and flavorful spinach and Feta cheese and/or olive and Feta cheese puff pastry!
Salads for your Mediterranean snack platter—Tabbouleh and Fattoush
Your Mediterranean mezze party couldn’t be complete without salads.
Tabbouleh or tabouli is a traditional Lebanese salad made with parsley, mint, tomatoes, fresh green onions, bulgur wheat, and an olive oil and lemon dressing. The ingredients need to be mixed and allowed to rest in the refrigerator for at least eight hours, so you would need to make it a bit ahead of when your guests start arriving. Here is a simple recipe from Amira Ibrahim for making this fresh salad with parsley as its star ingredient!
Fattoush is a traditional salad from the Levant. It has lots of fresh ingredients such as lettuce, parsley leaves, and tomatoes. The dressing is made with olive oil, lemon juice, pomegranate molasses, and sumac (deep red, tangy, fruit-flavored spice made by grinding the berries of the sumac bush). The salad includes pita bread baked to a crunch. Its bits are added to the salad. The Arabic word Fattoush comes from the root word ‘fatt’, which means to crumble, referring to the crumbly pieces of pita bread. Here is a simple recipe to make this fresh and crunchy salad.
You can add olives, your favorite cheese, pickled or fresh radishes, roasted zucchini, batter-fried cauliflower, and seasonal fruits like grapes and figs to your mezze platter to round it out.
Kebabs complete your Mediterranean snack platter
You can create a fully satisfying Mediterranean snack platter to cater to the different preferences of all your guests by adding chicken, lamb, or beef kebabs from Kaiser and Colonel Kababz.
Now imagine your completed platter vibrant with colors and aromas, with its creamy dips, each offering a different texture and flavor, salads with their fresh and tangy tastes, grilled or batter-fried vegetables, an assortment of cheeses, falafel patties, savory and crispy puff pastries with Mediterranean fillings, and kebabs, all served with pita or lavash bread!
While you can have many different kinds of drinks with your Mediterranean snack platter, the traditional Mediterranean-style mint lemonade is definitely worth trying. It is frothy, with lemon rinds blended with the juice, added syrup, and fresh mint leaves. Make this wonderfully green, refreshing drink to go with your platter.
This is indeed food designed for you and your guests to enjoy each other’s company. Everyone gets to try out different dips with pita or lavash bread, combine fresh salad and roasted vegetables, and add kebabs of their choice to make delectable personalized bites!
Concluding words…
The global popularity of the Mediterranean snack board is a testament to enduring culinary traditions shaped by cultural exchange taking place across vast regions over centuries. Nothing brings people together like food, and you can be confident that your Mediterranean snack board will make your guests remember you as a great and generous host!
