Melis Aydın

Aegean plates from the bazaar to the boat

Based in Kemeraltı, İzmir.

Melis works the Kemeraltı bazaar and the Kadifekale slopes for the city's Cretan-rooted cooking — wild-herb pies, boyoz pastries at breakfast and sardines grilled along the Kordon. She reviews the Bostanlı fish market and the Alaçatı producer stalls on a weekly cycle and tracks which ocakbaşı grill has quietly changed hands.