Uskumru Ekmek
Istanbul's fish-in-bread built on uskumru, Atlantic mackerel: an oily fillet grilled over coals, slid into a half-loaf with raw onion, lettuce, and a hard squeeze of lemon, sold off the Eminönü boats.
Balık Ekmek
Ton Balıklı Sandviç
Tuna sandwich; canned tuna, common in cafes.
Sardalya Ekmek
Whole sardines off the coals in split bread with raw onion and lemon: the Turkish Aegean's summer sandwich, fat midsummer fish in a season that closes by autumn. The fig weeks are the good weeks.
Palamut Ekmek
Bonito fish sandwich; palamut (Atlantic bonito) when in season (autumn).
Midye Ekmek
Deep-fried Bosphorus mussels slid off a skewer into a soft roll and spooned with walnut taratoer: Istanbul's late-night fried-mussel sandwich, carried by a street trade that changed hands.
Mezgit Ekmek
Turkey's plainest fish-in-bread: Black Sea whiting dredged in flour and fried tava-crisp, slid into a crusty loaf with rocket, raw onion and a hard squeeze of lemon.
Lüfer Ekmek
Bluefish sandwich; lüfer (larger bluefish) grilled.
Karides Ekmek
Turkey's Aegean shrimp-in-bread. The coast already eats prawns in garlic butter and in güveç crocks with bread set alongside; the karides ekmek is the day the cook packs the shrimp and their butter.
Kalamar Ekmek
Kalamar ekmek rides on its crust, and the crust is cornmeal: a sandy jacket that shatters over squid rings, dressed in walnut tarator and a hard squeeze of lemon and folded into a loaf.
Kılıç Ekmek
Swordfish sandwich; kılıç (swordfish) grilled, more upscale.
İstavrit Ekmek
Horse mackerel sandwich; istavrit fried or grilled.
Hamsi Ekmek
Anchovy sandwich; fresh hamsi (Black Sea anchovies) fried and served in bread. Seasonal (winter).
Çupra Ekmek
The çupra ekmek is the Aegean's own fish-in-bread, not a borrowing from Istanbul's mackerel boats. Bodrum farms gilt-head bream by the tonne, and the loaf is what the coast keeps for itself.
Çinekop Ekmek
Baby bluefish sandwich; small çinekop fried or grilled.
Balık Ekmek
'Fish bread'—Istanbul's iconic fish sandwich; grilled or fried fish (usually mackerel/uskumru or bonito/palamut) in half a loaf of white ...
Balık Ekmek Karaköy
Fish sandwich from Karaköy fish market area; same style, different location.
Balık Ekmek Eminönü
Grilled mackerel in a split loaf, handed up from a boat that rocks on every ferry wake. The Eminonu fish sandwich is anchored to one dock the city has spent two decades trying to evict.
Balık Dürüm
Fish in wrap form; less traditional but exists.