31 May 2021, Eda:

What about eating by the water? Apart from the restaurants and cafes aligned at the sides of water in both cities, İstanbul seems a bit more experimental in means of street food. Grilled and boiled corn, roasted chestnut, İstanbulite bagel “simit”, feta-tomato-spring onion-egg sandwiches sold in buckets around crowds, cooked rice and chicken, kebab grills, desserts to go, ice cream and of course, tea. These are the food that I can think of (there are probably more) that you can buy from a street vendor and use a corner of the city while consuming. At the coasts, as we have already mentioned, the grilled fish sandwiches are popular as well as stuffed mussels. The setting of a fish sandwich varies, it can be a boat, it can be an installed grill. In some cases, it is just some styrofoam boxes put one on top of the other and they provide as pedestals and a table for the seller to organize his production. The table made of boxes hold the small grill, vegetables -that will be cooked on the grill before entering the sandwich, bread, sauces, and fish (mostly mackerel, sadly not from the Marmara Sea but export. Though Bosphorus was abundant with mackerel years ago, it is not the case anymore. The present condition of the Marmara Sea and its underwater life is desperate, but this deserves another post.)

Another quick set-up for street food is the stuffed mussel stalls; which are portable, consisting of a folding leg, a tray, a thrash bag. The mussels are precooked, purchased wholesale for this sale on the street.

The portability and quick arrangement of these two stalls is an answer to the city’s regulations which ban the unregistered street vendors from selling food under unhealthy conditions. Yet there are many stalls that are very famous and popular in the city that appeal to the taste buds of many.

Luzern photos are taken by Eda, and İstanbul photos by Dilara.