This little gem deserves its own entry! Another food spotted on Bourdain's Istanbul No Reservations episode. Stuffed mussels! The mussel itself is packed with cinnamon and nutmeg-spiced rice, pine nuts and currants - presented in its shell.

You can find these guys on the street or in restaurants, but we were told that restaurants had the best. Still not so sure about that, but perhaps a great deal of food poisoning was avoided thanks to Hakan's advice.

Just for the record, after we snarfed the first order, we promptly ordered a second.

2.24.12