STREET FOOD
Whatever next?
With Pop-ups popping up all over the place in our city centres recently, and many coming into the category of Street Food, it may be interesting to look at this culture in other places. From banana leaves stuffed with sticky rice sold for a few baht on a Thai train to roasted chestnuts proffered in paper cones come winter in Zurich, street food—the cuisine of the people—is found in practically every country. Here are a few to consider:
Every evening, 365 days a year, the main square in
Marrakech, becomes a street food Mecca. Hundreds of stalls strung with blinding bulbs host Moroccan and foreign tourists in near equal measure. Locals prefer to eat in their homes, where food is always prepared by women. But on the street, it’s men who do the cooking. The overall experience is far from calm—vendors go as far as tugging on your shirtsleeves or flirting with you to entice takers. Any table you choose is guaranteed to be the best seat in the house. Dishes such as sheep’s head and couscous are prepared with a good deal of theater. There are also bubbling cauldrons of herb-infused escargot and you can follow the lead of Moroccans by plucking the snails from their shells using safety pins. For tamer tastes, there are brochettes (kebabs of minced beef) and chicken tagine.
Spilling from narrow alleys and ancient squares, the markets in
Palermo still have a Moorish allure (the Arabs once traded here). Vendors shout their prices while boiling fresh artichokes and hawking chickpea fritters called panelle. There’s caponata—a Sicilian eggplant dish made with capers that’s similar to ratatouille, cannolis, and baked riced balls called arancini, too. More adventurous eaters can opt for pani ca meusa—a sandwich made from simmered beef spleen and perhaps a bit of lung.
Pushcarts laden with inexpensive eats are practically as prevalent as people in
Istanbul, where you can find sustenance for every meal without ever entering a restaurant. For breakfast, take your Turkish coffee or tea with simit—a donut-shaped piece of bread covered with sesame seeds that’s lovely with jam or cheese. Kofte—skewers of minced meat shaped into sausage-like forms that are grilled and stuffed into bread—make a good lunch. And you can puzzle-piece together dinner by hitting vendors selling corn on the cob (grilled or boiled), lahmajun (grilled flat bread topped with a thin layer of meat, tomatoes, onions, peppers and parsley) and midye dolma (mussels stuffed with rice, pine nuts, raisins and fresh herbs).
Ho Chi Minh City's street food offerings are staggering. Hit a street stall and pull up one of the mini plastic chairs alongside the locals to feast on Vietnam’s breakfast of champions—Pho. The noodle soup originally hails from Hanoi but is a breakfast and lunchtime staple across Vietnam. Streetside snacks include dried squid strung like flapping laundry outside shops and tiny shrimp stir fried with their shells on—both go down well with a Tiger beer, typically served over ice. For dessert, there’s che—soupy sweet bean and coconut desserts proffered in plastic bags.
So – with the pop-up tradition growing all the time here, and the need to give customers something new and original, what will we see next appearing on our streets, maybe sheep’s head stalls will become the next big thing, or Pho vans will appear?
It’s no good saying you won’t like it – until you’ve tried it!