Meze "acılı ezme" (hot pepper paste often with walnuts), "haydari" (thick strained yogurt with herbs), "patlıcan salatası" (cold eggplant salad), "beyin salatası" (brain salad), "kalamar tava" (fried calamari or squid), midye dolma and "midye tava" (stuffed or fried mussels), enginar (artichokes), "cacık" (yogurt with cucumber and garlic), "pilaki" (foods cooked in a special sauce), "dolma" or "sarma" (rice-stuffed vine leaves or other stuffed vegetables, such as bell peppers), arnavut ciğeri (a liver dish, served cold), octopus salad, and "çiğ köfte" (raw meatballs with bulgur). In Greece, Cyprus and the Balkans, "mezé", "mezés", or "mezédhes" (plural) are small dishes, hot or cold,
Stuffed eggplant of different flavors of the dish by region like tamarind, date, etc., also there is a wider use of spices than there is in Iran, Turkey and Azerbaijan. The ingredients include eggplant, minced meat, rice, bulgur, onion, tomato paste, sumac, tamarind juice, lemon juice, date honey, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, pine nuts, almonds, walnuts, tomato, parsley, mint, salt, black pepper and olive oil. In Italy, stuffed eggplant are cooked in oven, and can be filled with mozzarella cheese (in Rome), or with minced meat (in Sicily). In Sicily, eggplants of the violet variety are used. Stuffed eggplant Stuffed eggplants (, Iran: