Small plates

Tapas served in Barcelona, Spain

Meze on display in Adalar, Turkey

Small plates is a manner of dining that became popular in US food service after 2000. Small plates may either refer to small dishes resembling appetizers which are ordered à la carte and often shared (such as tapas), or to the small courses served as part of a more formal meal.

Some types of small plates which have influenced the modern US concept are:

• Tapas, a wide variety of appetizers in Spanish cuisine
• Mezze, a wide variety of appetizers in Turkish cuisine, and sometimes in Greek cuisine
• Antipasti and cicchetti in Italian cuisine
• Banchan, in Korean cuisine
• The small and usually shared dishes served at an izakaya, a Japanese pub
• The pu pu platter of Hawaiian cuisine
• Zakuski in Russian cuisine

References