Stuffed Mussels

One of the slowly disappearing sights of Istanbul is the mussel man, with his tray of gleaming great mussels stuffed with rice and currants. In Yashim’s day there were many wandering snack merchants, right down to men who sold offal on sticks, which people would buy to feed to the street dogs. That was a meritorious act, as is stuffing your own mussels and serving them cool to your friends.