It Begins, Post 1: Mussles on the Streets of Istanbul

Two Types of Mussels from a Street Vendor in Taksim Square

This first post is going to start with my recent trip to Europe. The trip took my girlfriend Terry and I from Istanbul --where I met up with Terry who had already been there for two weeks-- through Athens, Santorini, and Rome. I will be putting up posts of various meals and snacks from the whole trip.

Back to Istanbul. As you can see in the picture above the mussels are different from what you would expect when ordering them here in the U.S. The first plate has fried mussels on a stick accompanied by a type of yogurt sauce. This was the first meal that I had in Turkey, and is one of only two meals seeing that I was there for just under 24 hours. At this point, 11:00 p.m. I am starving and those mussels are looking really good. I dipped the fried mussel into the sauce and took a bite not knowing what to expect, and was pleasantly greeted with a crisp fried shell with a nicely cooked moist mussel waiting inside. The sauce is a good addition due to its consistency, and not having too strong of a flavor thus leaving the taste of the mussel intact. This was really good, and a departure from any mussel dish I had ever tried before that point.

Now the first dish is totally different from the second. The second mussel dish was more what I was used to seeing, being that it was still in its shell, but the stuffing was what made it interesting. The mussel shell had been stuffed with a spiced/herbed rice. Some say that this is also accompanied with pine nuts and currants, but this was not the case with these. Perched on top of the rice is the mussel, with a squeeze of lemon ready to be taken in a single bite. Upon taking that bite you are met with a tender mussel, and the wonderful slightly spicy slightly sweet seasoning on the rice. The rice is thick, and stuck together giving it some body, and a really good texture. This is all brought together with the spritz of lemon.

First impression: pretty good for food from a street vendor. I am not sure I would normally trust seafood from a street vendor as my first meal in Turkey, but Terry insisted that we head straight to the mussels, and she was right. It was Ramadan when we were there so the streets were teaming with people, and there was a lot of energy. This was the perfect snack to have before getting some beers and watching the scene of a Friday night in Taksim Square (a popular area for nightlife, and the nicer hotels of Istanbul.)

That was all the food we had that night as we left the street vendor to find a place with beer, and ended up sitting at a nice little bar catching up, and people watching (photo below.) If you are interested in what those stuffed mussels tasted like, but don't think you will be in Istanbul anytime soon then take a look at this link where I found a recipe claiming to be mussels Istanbul street style: Stuffed Mussels Recipe. I have not tried this yet, so please let me know what you think if you decide to make it.

The view from the bar we found after eating the mussels