A Street Food Love Affair

From food trucks to hot dog stands to county fair favorites, 'street food' has enjoyed a rich and storied history in American cuisine. However, street food has been around for thousands of years. In fact, street food is believed to have originated as far back as Ancient Rome. - Author: Homaro Cantu

On my bucket list is a world tour for the sole purpose of sampling as many kinds of street foods as possible.

What is Street Food

Street food is ready-to-eat food or drink sold by a hawker, or vendor, in a street or other public place, such as at a market or fair. It is often sold from a portable food booth, food cart, or food truck and meant for immediate consumption. Wikipedia

Street food heritage

Throughout time, there has always been a vendor selling ready-made bread, cheeses, desserts, and other culinary delights. However, in more recent times, street food vendors have often come from immigrant cultures looking for a means of income or the love of sharing their native cuisine.

Then, fast-food chains populated the streets and independent street food vendors became harder to find, especially where I live in the US. However, in other parts of the world, street food is common and easily found.

What draws me and others to the street food experience

“After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relatives.”– Oscar Wilde

Adventure — who doesn’t like to discover new things?

Realism — who doesn’t like authenticity?

Diversity — who doesn’t like something new?

Reward and escape — who doesn’t like something special and outside their norm?

Treasure hunting — who doesn’t like the mystery and allure of a new food vendor, food truck, or food stall who may be here today and gone tomorrow?

Location — who doesn’t love the ethnic, cultural, and touristy areas where you’re likely to find food vendors with magical fare?

The next best thing to a street food world tour

“One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating.” – Luciano Pavarotti

Have you ever noticed that your city or a larger city nearby will have a special event each year called A Taste of (whatever city)

This is an event where 10–40 different restaurants prepare sample portions of their menu foods that you can taste for a reasonable ticket fee.

Be sure to plan for this event. If all the restaurants aren’t serving in one location, then map out the restaurants you want to try and start early when the food will be the freshest.

Bring along your appetite and don’t be scared to try new things. Carry a lightweight bag to keep giveaways, coupons, menus, and other special items offered by the participating restaurants.

And if a miracle happens

If by some miracle you do get to take that world tour of street food, be sure to try these just for me.

Lahmacun — Turkish Pizza

Zapiekanka — Polish open-faced sandwich

Char kway teow — Singapore shrimp and rice dish

Suppli — Rome’s deep-fried rice croquette

Chilli Crab — Singapore

Appam — Sri Lanka bowl-shaped pancake

Vada pav — Mumbai’s sandwich

Coxinha — Brazil’s chicken and cream cheese croquette

Espetada — Madeira’s marinated beef cooked on a stick

Pulled Pork — North Carolina, USA

Poutine — Quebec, Canada

Gimbap — South Korea

If you’re passionate about food, then a love affair with street food sounds ideal, doesn’t it? When brainstorming your next travel adventure, why not plan it around food, either local or international. And do let us know how you did.