Midye dolma

Stuffed mussels , or midye, is a generic name for plump orange mussels that contain herbed and spiced rice. Midye dolma is a popular and common street food snack in the coastal cities of Turkey and in Armenia. The historical preparation of midye dolma is generally attributed to Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. According to TH. Maggakis' 1888 work Bizans Salnamesi Armenians had used big mussels and prepared the dish using sheep's tail fat or "zibir yağı", a solid fat imported from Siberia. Balıkhane Nazırı Ali Rıza Bey (1842–1928) also notes that in Bahariye, Kadıköy [tr] brickworks owner Şahbaz Efendi's Armenian cook was preparing stuffed mussels. During the 19th century it was reported that İstanbulite Turkish women were also cooking stuffed mussels. In the 1960s, midye dolma preparation and sale came to be dominated by immigrants from Mardin, who had at the time recently immigrated to İstanbul's Galata district. In the following decades they have kept the market share and today, most of the food carts are still being operated by people from Mardin. It was noted that there are flavor differences between Armenian-style and Mardin-style stuffed mussels, the latter being more spicy.

Source: Wikipedia