Serving meze in restaurant in Athens.

The Meze platter should offer a variety of foods, textures, colors, and flavors for people to nibble on as they enjoy wine or ouzo and the company of friends.

As a general rule, ouzo and tsipouro go best with seafood meze platters, while wines are a better match for cured meats and cheeses. Vegetables meze items, such as baked giant beans, eggplants preserved in olive oil, roasted red Florina peppers in brine, olives, capers, and the range of Greek spreads, from roasted eggplant to taramosalata (fish roe puree) and tzatziki (yogurt-garlic-cucumber), can pair up on either platter or can stand separately on their own.

Here are three basic ideas for meze platters:

For red wines: Greek yellow cheeses, such as aged kasseri, kasseri, graviera, kefalograviera, kefalotyri, smoked cheeses, herb-infused cheeses. Mild white cheeses such as manouri. Any of the cured meats that make up the Greek charcuterie tradition , including Lefkada salami, singlino Manis, and dried sausages. Roasted red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, roasted eggplant spreads, all go well on this platter. Kalamata olive puree, preferably on bread or crackers are a good match, too.

For white wines: Avgotaraho (botargo), trimmed and cut into thin slices. Salmon and other fish pates (Ergon Gy make some great seafood pates), with a little bread or crackers or Greek rusks or bread sticks. Stuffed grape leaves (dolmades). Green olive puree and green olives. Roasted red pepper-cheese spreads. Tzatziki (especially with robust Retsina). Feta, flavored feta, and soft goat’s cheeses such as geremetsi and erifi (you can find these at the Hellenic Gourmet shop and at the Pantopoleion tis mesogeiakis Diatrofis). Any soft, sharp cheese. (Feta may be seasoned with a little olive oil, red pepper flakes or herbs.)

For ouzo and tsipouro: Salted Sardines. Cured anchovies. Octopus meze (Yiam makes a good one, and you can probably find other, similar meze in Greek shops across America, Australia, and Europe). Avgotaraho (botargo), trimmed and sliced. Any of the delicious fish pates produced in Greece. Any variety of olives. Any variety of brined peppers, including roasted red Florina peppers and pickled green peperoncini. Kalamata and green olive pates. Roasted red pepper and cheese pates.

To prepare the meze platters, simply choose 4-7 different items per platter and place decoratively on large platters, so that there is a variety of color, texture, and foods. You may serve bread, bread sticks or rusks with the meze platter. Greek extra virgin olive oil in a bowl with herbs and sea salt, served with good bread, is also a great meze.

Grilled Haloumi Souvlaki

Haloumi makes a great meze and dinner party treat. Check out my other recipes for haloumi, too. The grilled cheese haloumi sandwich is a terrific snack or light meal, too.

For 6 servings

2 packs Haloumi cheese

18 pearl or other small onions, peeled and whole

4 tablespoons extra virgin Greek olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 cup golden Sultana raisins

½ cup dark Corinthian raisins

¼ cup chopped fresh mint

Pinch of salt

½ cup Ouzo

Freshly grated black peppercorns

Fresh mint for garnish

Soak 6 six-inch/15-cm wooden skewers in water for 30 minutes.

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a medium skillet over medium flame and cook the pearl onions until lightly caramelized, about 15 minutes. Set aside to cool

Cut the Haloumi into 1 ½-inch/3-cm squares.

Melt the butter in a nonstick skillet and warm the raisins and together. Carefully pour in the ouzo. Season with pepper and a pinch of salt. Cook until the alcohol has cooked off and the contents of the skillet are a bit thick. Stir in the chopped mint.

Skewer the Haloumi and whole small onions in alternating pieces, three pieces of cheese and three onions per skewer. Brush the skewers with olive oil. Light a flat or ridged stove-top griddle pan over medium heat and brush with a little olive oil. Grill the skewers over high heat, to sear and lightly brown the cheese, turning on all sides to do so.

Serve the skewers and spoon the raisin-ouzo sauce over them. Garnish with fresh mint leaves and serve.

Haloumi makes a great grilled cheese sandwich.

Haloumi, the Cypriot sheep’s milk cheese flavored with mint, is one of the best grilling cheeses in the Mediterranean. Over the years, I’ve used it a lot in many different ways. What follows are two variations on the grilled haloumi theme, one a double-decker grilled haloumi cheese sandwich and the other a haloumi souvlaki. Both dishes are paired with fruit, grapes and raisins respectively. Both have a spritz of ouzo, which is a beautiful counterbalance to the somewhat salty flavor of the cheese. You can make a main-course dinner out of the sandwich if  you accompany it with a good salad. The skewers are great for a dinner party.

Double-Decker Grilled Haloumi and Raisin Bread Sandwiches with Ouzo-Fired Grapes 

We make a variation of this dish at Pylos, where I am consulting chef. The original recipe comes from my book, Mediterranean Grilling.

For 4 servings

12 half-inch thick slices whole wheat, walnut or raisin-walnut bread

8  ¼-inch thick slices haloumi cheese, about one pound

6 tablespoons butter, softened

4 tablespoons pine nuts

1 ½ cups seedless red grapes, halved

½ cup anise-flavored liqueur, such as ouzo or Sambucca

2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

Light the grill to medium.

Remove the crusts from the raisin-walnut bread and cut each slice to the same size as the haloumi slices. Spread half a teaspoon of the softened butter on both sides of each slice of bread. Grill the bread lightly on both sides, for about 2 – 3 minutes total. Place the haloumi on the barbecue, too, and grill it on both sides until it begins to melt, about 5 minutes, turning once.

Remove cheese and bread slices and assemble the sandwiches: Place one slice of haloumi on a slice of toasted bread, place a piece of bread on top and repeat to make a double decker sandwich. Set aside for a few minutes.

Place a cast iron or nonstick skillet with a flame-proof handle on the grill. Have your serving plates ready and nearby. Brown the pine nuts in the dry skillet for 2-3 minutes, shaking the pan back and forth to avoid burning the nuts. Add the remaining butter. When it melts, add the grapes and liqueur carefully, with your face and head away from the barbecue in case the liqueur flames up. Cook on the grill for 4-5 minutes until the alcohol cooks off. Toss in the mint.

Place the sandwiches back on the grill for a few seconds, just to warm through. Place one sandwich in the center of each plate, cutting in half diagonally if desired, and pour the liqueur-grape mixture on top. Serve immediately.

Haloumi is grate grilled and grated over pasta.

Haloumi (ha-LOO-mee) is the national cheese of Cyprus but is also popular in Turkey and the Arab world. Haloumi traditionally is made with sheep’s milk, but nowadays is also produced with a combination of sheep’s and cow’s milk. The cheese has two distinct characteristics: its square or rectangular, relatively flat, folded shape and its strong mint flavor, derived from the shreds of fresh mint leaves that are encased in between the folded layers of the cheese when it is produced. It falls into the category of cheeses, like kashkeval and kasseri, whose set curds are dipped in boiling water or whey so that the cheese attains its semifirm, almost squeaky texture. Haloumi is usually sold vacuum-packed in pieces about a half pound each. It is a mild cheese, yet it can be salty, and some commercially made haloumi is exceedingly so. The cheese is eaten as a table cheese in Cyprus but is also widely consumed as a snack and meze, especially grilled in a dry skillet or over a barbecue. It goes very well with warm pita bread and dried fruit.

Kefalograviera, a Greek cheese, is made in the mountainous north.

Learn more about Greek cheeses. This week, I am talking about Kefalograviera, one of the most popular Greek cheeses.It is produced in the rugged mountains of Epirus and Macedonia from sheep’s milk or a combination of sheep’s and goat’s milk.

Kefalograviera is a hard yellow cheese that’s a cross between Kefalotyri and Graviera. It has an intense, piquant flavor, akin to traditional Kefalotyri (a salty, intensely flavored sheep’s milk cheese), but also has the mellowness of Graviera. It is distinguished by its firm texture and by the air holes spread throughout its body. Its flavor ranges from mild to medium. It is made with sheep’s milk or a combination of sheep’s, and goat’s milk. Three specific areas are recognized as protected designations of origin: Western Macedonia, Epirus, and Aitoloakarnania, in western mainland Greece. Kefalograviera makes a wonderful addition to baked dishes and gratins, and an excellent accompaniment for Greek spirits and full-bodied red wines.
It is a new cheese in Greece, barely 30 years old, yet it has become one of the most important commercially, with some 3,000 tons produced around the country annually.

An aromatic fish recipe from Northern Greece, with walnuts, raisins, and paprika.

This dish comes from the northern Greek region of Goumenessa, in Central Macedonia, a gorgeous, mountainous areas punctuated by lakes and rushing rivers. Sweet water fish abound here, among them a species of carp called grivadi, which is a little like American catfish. You can make this dish with trout or with any firm fish. This recipe, based on a traditional regional dish, calls for adding a local touch at the end—a sprinkling of walnuts, which often appear in sauces as a thickener in northern Greek cuisine.

2 to 4 servings

1 large fish, about  1-1 ½ kilos (3 lbs.) (trout, catfish, or any firm fish will do)

1 cup Greek extra virgin olive oil

6 large onions, 4 of then coarsely chopped and 2 of them finely chopped. Keep the coarsely-chopped onions separate from the finely-chopped ones.

1 Tbs. tomato paste or ½ kilo (1 lb.) fresh ripe tomatoes

1 Tbs. sugar

1 cup long-grain rice

½ cup rosé wine

4 Tbs. sultanina raisins

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 Tbs. paprika

2 Tbs. ground walnuts

1.Wash, gut and scale the fish. Carefully remove the gills. Season the fish with salt and pepper and set aside, refrigerated, until ready to use.

2.Heat half the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet and cook the four  coarsely chopped onions over low heat, covered, until soft, about 10 minutes. Dilute the tomato paste in three tablespoons water and add to the onions, together with the paprika. Stir.  The onions will acquire a deep reddish color.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

3.Preheat the oven to 180˚C/350˚F.

4.Prepare the filling: Heat half the olive oil in a large heavy skillet and slowly cook the two finely chopped onions, covered, until they are lightly caramelized. Sprinkle with sugar and continue cooking until their color darkens to a light amber. Add the rice and stir to coat with oil. Add the wine. When it cooks off, add ½ cup water and season the mixture with salt and pepper. Cook until most of the liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and stir in the sultanina raisins.

5.Spread the tomato-onion mixture on the bottom of a large baking pan. Fill the cavity of the fish with the rice mixture. Using toothpicks or a needle and thread, secure the cavity closed. Place the stuffed fish on top.

6.Sprinkle the fish with the paprika. Cover and bake for about 30 to 35 minutes, or until the fish is fork tender. Five minutes before removing the fish from the oven, mix the walnuts with a little salt and sprinkle over and around the fish. Remove, cool slightly, and serve.

Alternatively, if the idea of serving a whole fish, bone in, that is also stuffed and therefore a bit of a nuisance to clean and serve, you may make the stuffing separately, and opt instead for 4 large fish fillets. To make the rice, follow the directions in step 4, but add the tomato paste, paprika and walnuts to the rice mixture and cook it all the way through until it is done. You will need to 1 1/2 cups of water instead of a mere half a cup. To prepare the fillets, simply salt and pepper them and dust them lightly in a little flour. Pan fry them in a combination of 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter. Serve the fillets over the rice, and garnish with a little paprika and some walnut pieces.

Consider a glass of wine with this delicious dish. My suggestion would be a glass of northern Greek rosé made with the local Xinomavro grape (you can find this stateside; Boutari and others produce it.) You might also consider a glass od red Xinomavro, which is dry and tannic, with this. The sweetness of the rice will offset it.