Monday

Cigerci Lutfi: The Man with the Golden Liver

Post a Comment January 31, 2011 – 9:00 am | Permalink |  Print This Post |

There was something jarring and disjointed about the sight of an old man sitting beside an eight-lane highway selling liver sandwiches from his perch on a concrete planter – as if a character from a traditional Ottoman shadow puppet show had wandered onto the set of the film “Bladerunner.” But this is Istanbul, a city perpetually on the make, where commerce knows no boundaries and any public space presents an opportunity. Like a hustler in a Nelson Algren novel, Lutfi usta said, “Everybody’s out for theirs and I’m going to get mine too,” as he passed a liver sandwich into the open car window of a taxi idling at the curb.

We love this itinerant liver man and his sandwiches for many reasons, including his wisdom. Of all the wandering food vendors, the cigerci has the niftiest gear. Lutfi usta, a wandering cigerci for more than thirty years, carries a large metal and glass lantern-shaped case which holds fried cubes of liver and grilled peppers in the bottom and whole tomatoes in an upper compartment. It is at once a cooler and an attractive, portable vitrine complete with foggy windows.

But a man in this economy cannot survive on looks alone. Lutfi’s “Albanian-style” liver sandwich is a delightful mid-day snack. We took a seat next to him and ordered a ceyrek, or quarter loaf. He pulled a pre-cut 5-inch fresh loaf of crusty white bread from wicker basket and started loading it up with a generous spooning from each compartment of the liver case – first the liver, then the peppers and tomatoes and finally a dash of salt – before handing it over.

The liver, bulked up with cubed potatoes and laced with onions, was warm and tasted less like the liver from some of our favorite grill spots but more like a hash. The liver’s batter barely gave way to a peppery oil bath it sat in, softening the loaf and the pepper and generally creating unity within the confines of the sandwich.

We handed over the three lira for the sandwich and thanked Lutfi usta, saying we’d see him again soon.

“Inshallah,” he said. Apparently, not even the will of an Istanbul street hustler can challenge that of fate.

Address: IMC Blok 1 (Near the bank machines), Ataturk Bulvari, Unkapani
Hours: 10-2pm (Inshallah)

(photo by Ansel Mullins)