Turkish Street Food - Kokorec - Midye Dolma - Cig Kofte - Doner - Turkish Sokak Yemekleri - Esnaf Yemekleri

In New York City, it’s the ubiquitous pretzel and hot dog stand, in Mexico it’s the the taco and in Belgium it’s the fries, in their trademark paper cone.  Streetfood is the original fast food.  The chef is the one who wheels the cart to the street corner, fires up his grill, cooks, serves, makes the change and cleans it all up at the end of the day (come rain, shine, wind and snow).  How can this simplistic kitchen create some of the best food on earth?  

I am sometimes cautious of eating from places that look like they haven’t seen a scouring pad...ever...but my Turkish friends insisted that there were certain street foods that are all part of the experience of living in another culture.  I happen to agree and so I decided to put my concerns aside and trust that my friends wouldn’t steer me wrong.  After all, I thought, they would be the ones to run to the eczane (pharmacy) should I get a case of food poisoning.  So it was four friends, four different turkish street foods and four bottles of turkish wine (yes, 4!) brought to my place one evening that happened to become one of our most memorable meals in all of Turkey.

We started our feast with a dish that is often sold along the walking path of the Bosphorus.  It is known as midye dolma (stuffed mussels).  To say it is fresh is an understatement.  The fishermen in their boats catch the mussels directly from the Straight, loosen the mussel from its shell and stuff it with a rice mixture.  To eat them, you simply remove the top shell, squeeze a wedge of lemon over the rice and spoon it out with the shell.  It is a one-bite wonder- you will be surprised at just how many you can eat.  We washed this appetizer down with a glass of Vinkara Doruk Narince (22TL at Kavist.com). Narince is one of Turkey’s indigenous grapes.  This wine has a light, citrus and fruity flavor, perfect with the lemony rice and seafood. ( Deniz mahsulleri, beyaz sarap, kirmizi sarap)

We then dug into the next dish that our friend Tamer brought.  This dish, cig kofte (chee kufta) is also served as an appetizer.  Now, what is cig kofte you may ask? Dare I say that this next street food is basically raw meat.  Yes, I know, raw meat and street food are not two words that should ever go together.  My friends once again assured me that it is cooked by the spices that are kneaded into the meat.  The action of the kneading also “cooks” the meat.  Even after this explanation, I was not convinced, but after observing my fellow diners, I realized that it was safe to at least have a little nibble.  I wrapped one cig kofte in a leaf of lettuce and had a bite.  It was creamy, smooth, not unpleasant.  I actually enjoyed it.  The wine of choice for this dish was a Kalecik Karasi grape variety red wine by Melen called Melencik Rezerve (36TL at Kavist.com).  It has a deep flavor and intense red color that complimented the beef. Online Shopping in istanbul Turkey. Shopping Turkey

Zeynep brought kokorec.  On the road into the center of Ortakoy  there is a row of stalls all selling what looks like tightly-wound rope on a rotisserie.  This rope is in fact the intestines of a young lamb that is cooked against hot coals.  It is sliced off the skewer as it is cooked and then placed into a half of a pocket of bread.  It was absolutely delicious and I can’t imagine it could be made any better than right here on the side of the road.  The wine (sarap, sarabi, saraplar) that we had with the kokorec was a Kayra saraplari Tilsim (kirmizi -red, 15TL from Kavist.com) wine made with Gamay, Alicante, Bogazkere grapes (uzum sarap).  With hints of fig, raspberry and chocolate, it was perfect with the lamb dish.  

The epitome of Turkish street food must be “doner”.  I purchased the doner sandvicler (doner sandwiches) from my favorite doner place called Sena in the Ulus neighborhood.  No one does it better.  They serve chicken doner (tavuk doner) and meat doner (etli doner), both of which are served in a soft and fresh pita with onions, tomatoes, pickles, a few fries and sauce if you like.  We washed it down with a glass of Doluca saraplari ‘Villa Doluca Klasik Roze (Carignan and Okuzgozu)’ (17TL at Kavist.com), with raspeberry and banana notes.  Light and Delicious! (lezzetli) icecek

After this feast, we barely had room for turkish coffee and a little lokum (turkish delight), ( We bough lokum from Kahve Dunyasi ) but we forced ourselves.  The food, the friends and the culinary adventure created one night that I will remember for a long time to come. Try Turkish street food. ( yemek, icmek, yiyecek, icicek )

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About the author

Liz Smith is a freelance Wine & Food writer. She resides in Miami Beach and Istanbul, Turkey.

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