Darwin would have tried it. They say that, on his journey aboard the Beagle, Charles Darwin threw every exotic animal he found into the pot. Óscar López-Fonseca invites us to tour the kitchens of the world with culinary experiences that, surely, the father of the theory of evolution would have ventured to try on that trip.
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Istanbul is one of those cities that you have to travel to at least once in your life. Above all, if as a child you had to memorize the famous pirate song by José de Espronceda and his verses “Asia on one side, Europe on the other / and Istanbul in front there.” There are plenty of tourist attractions to justify a getaway, from monumental mosques to its great bazaar, without forgetting archaeological remains and, of course, its gastronomy. Beyond the famous and globally expanded kebabTurkish cuisine is varied and tasty: from kofte (grilled minced lamb skewers) ayran (drink made of yogurt and salt that is usually accompanied by meals) passing through the lahmacum (known as Turkish pizza), simit (circular bread with sesame seeds) or blakava (cake made with a paste of crushed pistachios or walnuts and distributed in a filo dough dipped in syrup or honey). The list of culinary delights is extensive.
In it, although little known, is the balik ekmek (fish sandwich, in Turkish), a simple street snack whose main ingredient is fish fillets. uskumru (mackerel) grilled. Typical, logically, of many coastal Turkish towns, Istanbul has an added feature that makes it especially recommended: the spectacular surroundings in which it is traditionally enjoyed. Nothing more and nothing less than on both shores of the mythical Golden Horn, the estuary at the entrance to the Bosphorus Strait in whose historic waters the ships of all the great empires of the Mediterranean found shelter.
On one of its shores, that of the port of Eminönü, there are three picturesque barges docked next to the Galata Bridge, decorated in an oriental style and full of colored lights that, in reality, are so many floating grills where their cooks pour one after another the mackerel fillets without heads, guts or bones so that they can be cooked from one side to the other while the orders do not stop arriving. The waiters offer the simple bite to passersby with the rhyme “balik ekmek, hazik yemek” (bread and fish, prepared food). The speed at which they ship them would be the envy of many fast food establishments anywhere in the world.
These barges are a tourist copy – and somewhat histrionic, it must also be said – of the small fishing boats that formerly docked on the shores of the Golden Horn after fishing to offer to the Istanbulites, without getting off their boats thanks to the stoves. of embers they had on board, a cheap snack with the freshly caught mackerel. It is not the only difference with those origins. The mackerel now offered is not the traditional one from the Sea of Marmara, waters that, according to a 2020 study by the University of British Columbia, Canada, are “commercially extinct” for twenty species due to overexploitation and climate change. In fact, most of the mackerel currently used in balık ekmek It is imported frozen from Norway or Morocco.
The other traditional place to taste this sandwich is crossing the Galata Bridge to the Karaköy neighborhood, on the opposite bank of the Golden Horn. There is a fish market, whose stalls are accompanied by carts where the fish are prepared. balik ekmek with a little more parsimony than its competitors on the other side. Somewhat less touristy than Eminönü, the content of the sandwiches prepared there is practically identical. A piece of loaf of bread (mediocre, yes) that contains an open fish without (practically) bones, but with skin, freshly grilled, accompanied with raw onion and lettuce. In other less touristy places, cooks usually enrich this snack with tomato, arugula, parsley and the acidic touch of sumac, a spice that is extracted by grinding the berry of the bush of the same name.
Whether enjoyed on one shore or the other, the sandwich reaches the customer's hands wrapped in a humble piece of paper. Then you can season it with lemon juice and salt. For a few more Turkish liras, you can buy accompaniment tursun, mixture of brine and pickles served in plastic cups and usually drained to the last drop. Whether you choose one shore or the other (or both) to savor this peculiar sandwich, the gastronomic incentive is reinforced by the wonderful views of the city. From Eminönü, the profile of the part of the city in which the pointed Galata Tower, from the 14th century, stands out. From Karaköy, the other side of the metropolis where the Süleymaniye mosque, from the 16th century, stands out. “And there in front of it is Istanbul,” which Espronceda wrote.
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