Midye Dolma or Stuffed mussels
Many Middle Eastern countries have this stuffed vegetable dishes that are also in common with the regions around them including Russia, the Caucasus, the Balkans and Central Asia.
Dolmas are the name they get in Turkey all this preparations and are usually served as ‘Meze’, a selection of different dishes in small portions acompanying some alcoholic beverage as appetizer before dinner or as a full meal when they take long time. Great for vegetarians, in Turkey most of the dolma’s and Mezze are vegetarian so you’ll be able to enjoy almost all of them!
Midye Dolma’s are stuffed mussels filled with a mixture of rice, herbs and spices. They are normally served as Meze but more often you will see them as a very common street food, so you eat them on your way to home -we found them to be perfect to eat right before partying-. They are in every corner in Taksim area in Istanbul, in many places along the country, my favorites were in Izmir.
They have bad reputation as everybody knows what can happend whit seafood not keeped cold and fresh, but I prefer to take the risk and enjoy this delicacy, never had any trouble or heard about someone food poisoned with them!
Value
The price depending on size goes from 50kurus, 70kurus or 1TL
Another great variation of midye is deep-fried mussels called Midye Tava. I had it at a street stall along Istiklal Caddesi & it’s served with a dash of tasty garlic pine nut sauce!