Mussel mission
On the hunt for the best stuffed shellfish in Turkey
The first time I had stuffed mussels on the street was in the mid-1970s. I was in Istanbul for a series of Islamic art shows; when I wasn’t visiting museums or mosques, I was in the bazaar, shopping and enjoying street food. The stuffed mussels were a revelation, and they were so delectable that I spent the rest of my week searching for the ultimate examples.
I stopped at vendor after vendor, buying one or more mussels depending on how good they were. I wondered how such a sophisticated dish could be sold so cheaply on the street. The raw mussels are prised open, filled with a subtly spiced mixture of cooked rice, pine nuts, raisins and herbs, and then steamed. As it steams, the flesh of the mussel tightens around the filling to produce something akin to an oval rice ball, which slides out of the shell and into your mouth.
I no longer remember which of the Istanbul vendors won the prize, but it wasn’t until several years later, when I went on a boat trip along the southern Turkish coast, that I found the very best examples. I got off the boat in Fethiye and almost immediately spotted an old man carrying a tray of stuffed mussels. The sweetness of the raisins counteracted the spicy seasoning to perfection; and the squeeze of lemon juice the vendor added gave it a lovely zing.
The lack of a common language meant there was no chance of finding out who had made the mussels and of getting the recipe. Not until a few years later, that is, when I bought Nevin Halici’s wonderful Turkish Cookbook. As I tucked into my very own homemade stuffed mussels, memories of the bazaars came flooding back. www.anissas.com |
