The Spanish do it with olives, jamón ibérico and chorizo. The Greeks serve up hummus, vine leaves, and pita bread, and in Italy, you’ll find Parma ham thrown into the mix. But whether you call it tapas, meze, antipasti or just a plain platter, there’s something heartening about food designed to be shared.
For one thing, it means that you get to taste bit of everything without openly stealing your dining companion’s food, or having to employ puppy-dog eyes so that they donate a bite. But more importantly, it brings the whole table together, making it the perfect food to share amongst friends, family, or with a blind date.
For the summer, we’ve put together a list of where to find great tapas, meze and platters.
Johannesburg
Share: the meze platter with hummus, moutabel, fried kiwi, vine leaves, taboulli salad, green beans and cabbage roll for R80.
Or: Beirut grilled platter of all the kebabs on the menu for R110.
Share: jamón ibérico: a plate of thinly sliced Iberian ham for R80.
Or: empanadas Argentinas: six mixed pies, chicken, beef, spinach, jamon and cheese for R60 to R70.
Or: cheeses for R65.
Share: the meze platter with spicy dukka, feta, salami, olives, ciabatta bread and a dipping olive oil.
Price: R58.
Share: artisan tapas of cheeses, cold hams, preserves, prunes and biscuits.
Price: R95.
Share: local sausages, pickled cucumber and German mustard for R35.
Or: extra-mature rump, Dijon mustard, anchovies and capers for R42.
Or: baked mushrooms, Manchego cheese, and sherry vinegar for R30.
Share: the ploughman’s platter with gypsy ham, artichoke paste, seed bread, cheddar, gherkins and olives for R120.
Or: the Park’s platter with Parma ham, salami, cheeses, pear and Italian bread for R140.
Share: the Pigalle platter of prawns, baby lobster and oysters for R495.
Or: a selection of meze like chorizo, calamari, chicken livers, and almond and pear salad. These come on the set menu for R250 to R290.
Share: the hot meze platter of deep fried halloumi cheese, grilled calamari, chicken livers, deep-fried squid heads, spanakopita, mini beef and chicken kebabs and two pita breads.
Price: R165.
Share: tapas of prawns, mussels, chorizo, black mushrooms, sardines grilled and dressed with peppers and garlic, or smoked salmon served with onion rings and creamed horseradish.
Price: R69.90 each.
Pretoria
Share: meze meat selection available for that day like Parma ham and chorizo, and a bread basket.
Price: R53.
Share: assorted deli meats for R58; marinated brinjals and pita for R35; mushrooms with port and cream and pita for R47; salmon, cottage cheese and rye for R50; or grilled calamari strips for R45.
Share: the meze platter of hummus, tabouli, mujadara, babba ghanoush, falafel, kibbe, pita bread, olives, chicken livers, chicken kebabs and beef kebabs.
Price: R125 per person.
Share: hummus, aubergine and garlic lemon dip, spicy meatballs, chickpea falafel and harissa chilli-paste.
Price: R95 for platter for two and R150 for a platter for four.
Share: the platter for four which has a selection of dolmades, keftedes, bourekia, two dips, skordalia, calamari and pita bread
Price: R199.
Durban
Share: risotto volcanoes stuffed with mozzarella and porcini mushrooms served with arrabiatta dressing, flatbread parsley, anchovy, creamy ricotta, blackpepper and honey.
Price: R29 for a plate.
Share: platter for two of a variety of cold meats like salami and chorizo, as well as mozzarella and porcini.
Price: R104.
Share: teppanyaki seafood platter for two which consists of a variety of seafood of the day. (Add fried rice for R40.)
Price: R350 for the platter.
Share: Thai spring rolls, chicken satay, chilli calamari and crispy wonton for R42.
Or: sushi platter for two with six futo maki, four salmon sandwiches, eightmaki, eight California rolls, eight sashimi and eight nigiri for R299.
Share: every Friday there’s a tapas evening with a set menu of three different hams, bread, cheeses and fruit.
Price: R120 for platter for two people.
Western Cape
Share: the meze platter with pita bread, olives, feta and tomato for R85.
Or: salt and pepper prawns for R88.
Or: smoked salmon egg rolls for R49.
Share: local cured meats, olives, pickles and focaccia for R46.
Or: crispy fried calamari strips for R44.
Share: Carne Con Rucula, which is seared sirloin slices topped with rocket,grilled zucchini, sundried tomato relish and pine kernels for R59.
Or: lamb keftas, which are Middle Eastern-style mince kebabs on skewers served with lafa bread with roasted red pepper hummus for R65.
Share: samoosas for R38; vegetable spring rolls for R36; beef stew for R40; and crispy prawns for R13.50 each.
Share: bread board with butters and dips for R35; chicken wing tagine for R32; fried potatoes for R22; fried calamari, harissa and mayonnaise with coriander for R36; or chickpea ragout for R24.
Share: deep fried goat’s cheese on sundried tomato biscuits with port and onion marmalade; grilled tiger prawns wrapped in pancetta; raviolone with spinach, ricotta and poached egg, or beef, served with sage butter and chilli; or poached egg served with rosemary butter and crispy pancetta.
Price: from R35 to R55.
Share: prawns, calamari, peri peri chicken livers, goat’s cheese, flat bread and complimentary ciabatta.
Price: the tapas dishes range from R30 to R50 each.
Share: the carne for two, which consists of 400g grade-A rump strips, potato bake, grilled zucchini and anti-galbi for R230.
Share: seafood or meat paella, which comes with salad and Spanish-style bread.
Price: R250 for seafood paella; R200 for meat paella.
Share: calamari stuffed with feta, lemon zest, chilli, garlic and onion forR55; mücver (mint croquette fritter) with cheese, herbs and onion for R35; spanakopita for R35; or dolmades (vine leaves wrapped around a savoury ricefilling) for R30.
Share: Kurdish kebabs of grilled chicken breast with green pepper, ginger and parsley; kizartma (fried brinjal) served with green pepper, baby marrow andgarlic yogurt; or potato with chicken fillet breast, spring onion and parsley.
Price: R29.50 each.
Share: the meze platter of olives, grilled aubergines, pickled cucumbers, feta, marinated tomatoes, vegetables crudités, mushrooms, dolmades, falafel, pitabread and various dips.
Price: R88.
Share: the Mediterranean platter for two of flatbread, grilled aubergine, lamb meatballs, and two dips for R150.
Or: choose from a variety of tapas like calamari and prawns with different dipsranging from R32 to R38.
By Katharine Jacobs
Research by Kelly Pluke
