Mezedes

Mezedes. Mezz or Meze. It's a Greek snack. It's not exactly an appetizer, but it can be. It can be satisfying all by itself.

The simplest meze is bread and extra virgin olive oil - Greek olive oil of course. There is Italian, Tunisian and olive oil from other countries. The olive trees they come from were planted by the Greeks. Alexander the Great carried bags of olive pits on his campaigns. He planted them all over the Mediterranean and North Africa.

Meze can be almost anything to snack on by Greek men and women at the local taverna. Fried haloumi cheese. Little fish in olive oil and vinegar. Meatballs - tsoutsoukakia. Fried calamari and cold, marinated octopus.

Here we have fresh tomato, feta, Kalamata olives, English muffin pieces, good olive oil, lemon juice, fresh oregano, sea salt and fresh ground black pepper.