This is my attempt to recreate a memory. When I was a teenager, I used to buy sandwiches from fishermen who would moor their boats next to one of the pillars of the Galata Bridge, just across the road from Istanbul’s spice market. They would fillet their catch and cook fish pieces over a little charcoal grill, then shove them inside pide. Nowadays, this has turned into a tourist experience, where colourful boats, permanently moored, sell frozen fish cooked on flat griddles.

You can come close to the original experience by walking across to the other side of the Galata Bridge and turning left into the fish market. There they sell genuine fish sandwiches from carts in the street. They use locally caught fish and cook them over charcoal. They then add salad and lemon—not the walnut tarator (sauce) in this recipe, which is my improvement on the memory.