Islak hamburger

A small beef patty in a soft bun, dipped in a garlicky tomato sauce and left to sweat in a steamed glass cabinet until the bread is damp all the way through: that is the ıslak hamburger, the wet burger, and it belongs to one street in Istanbul. Taksim Square's büfe counters have sold it since the 1960s, Kızılkayalar being the name most people associate with it, and it is eaten at any hour but is most itself after midnight, bought by the pair and finished in the time it takes to cross the square. It costs little, it is the size of a fist, and it has almost nothing in common with an American burger beyond the shape. The point is the bun: the sauce soaks in, the steam keeps it soft and warm, and the whole thing compresses in the hand into something closer to a dumpling than a sandwich.