Now you can enjoy the food and fun of a meze feast. Meze, the small plates of just about everything from seafood, meat, and vegetables to handheld pies, colorful salads, nuts, olives, and cheeses, is the food of hospitality and conviviality, food meant to be shared with friends and family and savored with wines and spirits.

Here, in Meze, Diane Kochilas, the award-winning author of The Glorious Foods of Greece, chef, restaurateur, and cooking teacher, takes you on a spirited journey across Greece and the rest of the Mediterranean, exploring these simple and simply irresistible dishes. The recipes are robust, dear, and easy to follow. These uncomplicated dishes are charged with flavor and based on fresh, accessible ingredients. The results are spectacular.

Meze makes every meal a party, and no one knows how to throw a party better than the Greeks. Youll find tangy, skewered meats and juicy meatballs, delicious seafood dishes from simple steamed mussels to creamy ouzo-flavored shrimp. You'll find a healthful selection of aromatic bean dishes, and a recipe for the best fried potatoes in the world, Greek fries, which are hand cut and cooked in olive oil.

The convivial and festive nature of the meze table is reflected in Diane's warm, inviting style. The innate attractiveness of the food — the colors, textures, and shapes — are captured in brilliant photographs that evoke the sunny, warm Mediterranean dime. Whether you make just a few dishes for informal entertaining, or create an entire meal of meze, Diane Kochilas makes it possible to bring the spirit of fun and sharingthe essence of meze throughout Greece and the Mediterranean — to your own table at home.

"These piquant, lively foods are 'a savory flirtation,' and an array of them on a table is a delightful thing." Publishers Weekly

- The Glorious Foods of Greece won the prestigious Jane Grigson Award from the IACP.

“ Ms. Kochilas’ s book resonates with the economy and simplicity of Greece’ s regional cuisines. There are no airs. Just flavor.”

The award-winning author of "The Glorious Foods of Greece, " Kochilas introduces the dazzling array of Greek meze and explores its rituals and traditions. Filled with dozens of color photos, "Meze" adds Mediterranean flavor to any gathering.

The author of five cookbooks, including Meze and the IACP Award-winning The Glorious Foods of Greece, Diane Kochilas writes for Saveur, Gourmet, and the New York Times; runs the Glorious Greek Kitchen Cooking School on the Greek island of Ikaria; is the consulting chef at Pylos, an acclaimed Greek restaurant in New York City; and is the food columnist and restaurant critic for Ta Nea, the largest-circulation daily newspaper in Greece. She divides her time between New York City, Athens, and Ikaria.