Mmmm – Mezze

… or meze or kemia

Lebanon, Turkey and Morocco respectively. The spirit of mezze is that of a sociable, sharing experience.

There's something really decadent about picking and choosing from small bowls or plates, using your fingers and delicious bread.

Everything changes when you're sat round a table, you are much more likely to try dishes you've not tasted before or even to re-visit a dish you've previously disliked. It's like the salad bar principle, because you can serve yourself and there's no pressure - if a dish looks colourful and therefore tempting you give it a go and who knows – you might like it!

I think the other crucial ingredient is good bread – not just for dipping but to use almost like a piece of cutlery picking up small pieces of food. Once again there are loads to choose from and if you don't want to go to the bother of making your own you can buy great varieties, pitta I suppose being the most widely available. If you are lucky enough to live in an area that has an artisan bakery you're sure to find a rustic bread that will fit the bill for your mezze. One to put on your list is “pide” - a Turkish bread that uses semolina and it is absolutely delicious.

There are so many mezze dishes to choose from – some you can make ahead so the flavours can infuse – a bonus when catering for the guests. There are the popular dishes that we're all familiar with, hummus made with chickpeas, tarama (which is known as taramasalata in Greece) made with smoked cod's roe and baba ganoush (ghanouj) made with aubergine.

If you think about it you can transfer the same principle of sharing plates, appetisers, call them what you will, all over the world – Tapas in Spain, Cicchetti in Italy to name but two.

Whatever Country takes your fancy the end result is the same – who doesn't like tearing and sharing bread and dipping in.

As usual, this is just the tip of the iceberg!

P.s. If you can't find pide then Italian focaccia is a good alternative.