Balik Ekmek

Grilled mackerel, usually filleted and griddled hard until the skin crisps and the flesh stays moist: served in half a soft white bread roll with sliced raw onion, lettuce, lemon wedges, and salt. The Istanbul harbour street food, eaten standing at boats moored on the Galata Bridge or at small kiosks along the Bosphorus. The signature is the contrast of oily, char-edged mackerel against the soft bread and the sharp raw onion, with lemon as the unifying acid. Trimethylamine rules out oak absolutely.