It is impossible to come to another country and not explore the local cuisine in all its manifestations. Street food allows you to have a snack on the go while walking around the city, enjoying its architecture, monuments and national flavor.
Although such food cannot be called particularly useful, and many people get goosebumps at the prospect of eating shawarma bought at a kiosk, but street food in Istanbul is unique in that it is absolutely safe. Moreover, Istanbul residents themselves love it, because it contains only fresh and high-quality ingredients.
Moreover, it certainly cannot be called monotonous. Here you can find the freshest seafood, sweets, juicy meat with vegetables in soft buns, and traditional Turkish pastries – a choice for every taste. Much of what is sold in the former Ottoman capital, you will not try anywhere else.
The recipe for the most popular pastry in all of Turkey has been known since the Ottoman period. Moreover, there is nothing exotic in it – water and olive oil, flour and eggs, salt and sugar, yeast, a little molasses and a lot of sesame.
However, everything together creates a magical combination of taste, and it is simply impossible to resist the temptation to buy fragrant simit.
It’s also easy to prepare. The classic ingredients are kneaded into a dough and allowed to rise. Then it is shaped into a woven bagel, twisted in a certain way, and again allowed to rest.
After this, they are dipped in molasses diluted with water or simply in water, after which they are rolled in toasted sesame seeds and sent to bake. On the outside you get a crispy, aromatic crust, and on the inside there is a tender, airy crumb.
The bagel is sold all over Istanbul, so you don’t have to look for a specific place to enjoy it. Since they are quickly dispersed, the baked goods are always fresh.
It’s better to eat it right away, because the next day it won’t be so delicious. The cost of Simit depends on where you buy it. The lowest price on the street is about 1.5 Turkish lira. In a cafe it can jump up to 2.5 lire.
Also, the price is tied to the baking recipe. The classic ones come without filling and are not sweet, but some are filled with cheese or jam, which gives the bagels an extra taste and therefore a little more expensive.
If you translate “Balık ekmek” literally, it would be “fish bread”, but we would rather call it a fish sandwich.
This treat is equally enjoyed by both locals and visitors to the city. As is clear from the translation, the main filling is fish.
Moreover, it is always the freshest carcass, literally recently caught from the bowels of the sea, and fried right there behind the counter, carefully laid on freshly baked bread, seasoned with fresh herbs, pickled carrots and onions, and at the end lightly sprinkled with lemon.
There are especially a lot of tents on the Eminonu pier, but in other parts of the city they are not difficult to meet, but along the coast, nevertheless, there are most outlets.
If you want to wash down your meal, the locals prefer to combine balyk ekmek with shalgam (şalgam suyu) – turnip juice. It tastes similar to brine, although it has a rich wine color.
Who doesn’t love a baked potato? Everyone will definitely like this dish, especially vegetarians. First, large potato tubers are washed well and wrapped in foil, baked until fully cooked.
After that, each one is stuffed according to one’s own preference. To do this, the potato is cut so that the tuber can be slightly pushed apart.
The classic version is a filling of butter and cheddar. However, other ingredients are often put in the middle: fried mushrooms, sausages or chicken, corn or peas, raw or pickled vegetables, olives, butter and kashar cheese made from goat’s and sheep’s milk.
Also, a mix is used as a filler, which we call Olivier salad, and the Turks call it Russian salad. Often the composition is seasoned with homemade sauces based on tomatoes or natural yogurt.
So that the buyer himself can choose what he wants to see inside the tuber, the filling is laid out in trays in the display case. The price is usually from 15 to 26 lira, and depends on the composition chosen.
Although the dish is easy to find in any part of Istanbul, a particularly large concentration of hawkers can be observed on Istiklal Street and in the Ortakoy district, where three establishments with the name “Kumpir” are located not far from each other:
Turkish restaurant “Mr. Kumpir” (“Mr. Baked Potato”).
Moroccan restaurant “Class kumpir” (“Classy baked potatoes”).
Kiosk “Atomic Kumpir” (“Atomic Baked Potato”).
Kokorech belongs to some unusual dishes. The main component is sheep giblets wrapped in intestines and fried on a spit over coals.
When they are ready, they are finely chopped and spread on fresh bread, spices, pickled vegetables and sauces are added for piquancy.
The filling resembles shawarma, only offal is used instead of meat. If you are not squeamish or scrupulous, be sure to try this national treat.
Buying kokorech in Istanbul is easy on the street and in cafes. And it is better to drink cold ayran. Many stalls with Kokoreç are located near the main attractions: the Egyptian and Grand Bazaars, Nurosmaniye Mosque and New Valide Sultan, Bayazit and Galata Towers, and others.
