Mussels in Beer Batter

A speciality of Istanbul and Izmir, the freshly caught mussels are dipped in a batter made with beer, deep-fried, then served with a garlicky bread-and-walnut sauce, tarator. Hazelnuts and pine nuts can be used instead of walnuts, or the nuts can be completely omitted from the sauce. The smell of fried mussels and garlic wafts along the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn as they sizzle on the boats and in the streets, where they are often skewered on sticks and fried in deep curved pans.