HALLIE EPHRON: Many years ago Jerry and I traveled to Mexico. Mexico City. Cancun. Oaxaca. Carillo Puerto. We fell in love with the country and the people.
My husband, adventurous eater that he was, and despite all the warnings that he'd suffer what was euphemistically referred to as Montezuma's Revenge, relished the street food.
There was whole fish barbecued on a hibachi on the side of the road. Served on a paper towel. Eaten with the fingers. I was not brave enough to try it but he declared it delicious and he did not get sick.
Elote--grilled corn cobs impaled with a wooden skewer and coated with cotija cheese.
Street vendors sold cucumbers, peeled and sliced (to order) so they opened up like exotic flowers, sprinkled with lime juice and chili pepper.
Of course tacos -- a fresh corn tortilla stuffed with grilled meat topped with fresh pico de gallo, avocado salsa, or salsa verde. Chopped onions and of course, Cilantro. Yum. But you can't really eat one "on the hoof" without getting it all over yourself.
And tamales. Corn husks stuffed with a corn-based seasoned dough (masa) with all kinds of toppings and salsa.
And jicama.
I'd never heard of jicama. It's a tuber. Looks like a white beet. Tastes more like an apple. A lovely sweet apple.
As street food, it's peeled and cut in strips and sprinkled with (of course) lime juice and chili pepper. I think of it as first cousin to a Daikon radish in terms of texture, but sweet instead of spicy.
Whenever I see jicama on a menu, I order whatever dish it's in, and recently it showed up on the menu at a local restaurant in a salad--jicama and avocado and tomato... and it was lovely.
We also enjoyed street food in Trinidad. There were doubles: soft flatbreads filled with curried chickpeas scooped by a corner vendor from a metal drum in a busy town. Sublime.
Montezuma occasionally took his revenge. But only occasionally. And weirdly it was more likely to strike in France than in Mexico. Go figure.
Is there such a thing as street food near you? Have you traveled and enjoyed it?
Sad to say, there is no street food near us. However, we did have an opportunity to enjoy some delicious street food when we were in New York City . . . . .
ReplyDeleteAh, I remember street kiosks serving potato or kasha knishes in Manhattan oh so many years ago. So delicious!
DeleteYUM! And the pickle guy who had a barrel on one of the corners! We used to go to Yonah Schimmel's Knish Bakery for knishes and buttermilk.
DeleteThe only hot dogs better than the ones on NY streets are sold at the ballpark. I never tried the roasted chestnuts back in the day, but now I wish I had. They smelled so enticing.
DeleteWe had a popular roasted chestnut vendor who worked in front of the Italian grocer in the ByWard Market. He was a fixture there for decades but passed away during the pandemic.
DeleteWe had hot dogs . . . . soooooooo good 😊
DeleteOttawa only has street food during festivals. Asian festivals in the summer, Winterlude maple taffy on snow, beavertails (deep fried whole wheat pastry with sweet toppings such as cinnamon sugar or nutella).
ReplyDeleteTaiwan had unique street food that I had not tried anywhere else:
Oyster omelette, taro balls, stinky tofu, scallion pancakes, clay-oven baked buns stuffed with meat. And plenty of meat skewers, grilled seafood (squid, shrimp), sausage.
Maple taffy on snow! ! I grew up in california so never had it but I had a children's book in which the kids mixed maple syrup and snow to get candy. Oh my how I yearned to try that.
DeleteBeavertails! Sounds marvelous. And the street food in China is sublime.
They did that in one of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, Hallie!
DeleteGrace, I know how much you love Asian food and I thought of you this week while reading: The Fourth Daughter by Lyn Liao Butler. The main character is a chef and most of the book is situated in Taiwan and there is a lot of descriptions of food and meals.
DeleteDANIELLE: I downloaded the same book this month as part of First Reads but have not read it yet. And I actually love eating all types of food. That's probably why I go to Montreal several times a year to eat food I can't find in Ottawa.
DeleteI guess I have been posting a lot about Asian food since I had been travelling to several Asian countries during the past 2 years.
Grace, every year I took the 4-H kids to the Ottawa Ex. The final treat was the Oktoberfest sausage - it was worth waiting for. For some reason it is not reproducible.
DeleteMARGO: Sadly, I never went to the Ottawa Ex! They stopped the annual summer expo in 2010 so that the Landsdowne area could be renovated. I moved back here in 2014.
DeleteNo street food around here unless you count the Food Trucks. We do have those, but I haven't tried anything from them. There is restaurant down the street that has a mango salad that has jicama. I really like the salad, which is weird because I'm not a huge fan of mangos.
ReplyDeleteI count food trucks! Oh gosh, mango AND jicama... two of my favorite foods!
DeleteNew York City is abound with plenty of street foods on almost every corner. Some are good, some are not. Avoid the dirty hot dog. I grew up eating street foods whenever we went to the city. But hygiene among the mostly male vendors gave me some concerns so I stopped. I may eat street food at a street fair, but I am cautious.
ReplyDeleteI saw a wonderful pic on FB of SJ Rozan eating a hot dog in NY. I've been craving one ever since!
DeleteI've always eaten hot dogs from corner venders (Sabrette??) in NYC. The dogs are floating in boiling water which always made me convinced that they'd be ok. We used to get roasted chestnuts in winter in NYC, too.
DeleteHallie, there used to be a baseball announcer who grew up in New York. He said when he was a kid, he would eat hot dogs at the ballpark only at the beginning of the baseball season “when the water was fresh”, implying they used the same water to cook the hot dogs all season long without changing it! — Pat S
DeleteLots of food trucks here in Ocala. I haven’t been to any events that had street food.
ReplyDeleteBack in Rochester, MN we had an event every Thursday downtown during the summer where there were street vendors. Many were local restaurants. County fairs and the annual Rochesterfest also had food vendors but those are akin to food trucks. They all were required to have permits and subject to inspections by the county health dept. I know our concession stand at the history center for our vintage base ball team was inspected every year. Claire would show up unannounced and she was very thorough. And sometimes she would just be in the crowd observing before she made her presence known.
This has me wondering if anyone has written a mystery with a street vendor as the main character... or the health department inspector!
DeleteHallie, there is a food truck series from a few years ago, but I can't think of the author's name, or any of the titles.
DeleteI googled this: The "Biscuit Bowl Food Truck Mystery Series" by J.J. Cook. This series features Zoe Chase, a Southern food truck chef in Mobile, Alabama.
DeleteThe "Food Truck Mysteries Series" by Chloe Kendrick, starting with "Murder to Go."
A "Food Festival series" by Penny Pike (though this one is also short, with only three books).
A food truck series by Gretchen Allen.
Thanks, Coralee!!
DeleteKylie Logan has a series called Chili Cook-Off Mystery
DeleteWe saw lots of amazing-looking street food in India, but were strictly warned not to try it. We followed those instructions! Jerry was a class-A eater:)
ReplyDeleteBut even he passed up the barbecued bugs that were offered in the open markets of Beijing.
DeleteNow I'm hungry! The only street food vendor around here is Hot Dog Man, and I've never tried his wares. We discovered jicama in California college days and I've loved it ever since.
ReplyDeleteStreet food I have known and loved abroad: Little deep-friend ground-bean fritters on the streets of Niamey, Niger. Hot sweet potatoes on a cold night in small town Japan. A just-caught fish taco in Baja California. A small pineapple peeled and the greens trimmed so you could hold it like a popsicle on a beach in Cote d'Ivoire. Roasted meatballs served in round soft flatbread in Fez, Morocco.
Also yakitori - little teriyaki chicken skewers in Japan.
DeleteYes to yakitori but also takoyaki and okonomiyaki!
DeleteI need a guide to Asian street food. It's a part of the world I've never been. Oops, except China which I found completely inscrutable but delicious.
DeleteHere in Braga, Portugal, during most festas street stalls sell churros, among other treats. And at the end of the Sao Joao Festival, there is an all night street party, where restaurants set up grills on the street and serve pork, sardines, and small potatoes. But during the year there aren't many street stalls. What is billed as street food is served like takeaway from a small cafe bar.
ReplyDeleteBTW, Hallie, the series I referred to yesterday, The Missing, is the one with James Nesbitt. (There are others by that name.) Stellar aching, and he is awesome.
That was stellar acting. (sigh)
DeleteChurros! I should have mentioned that for Mexico.That festival souds fantastic. THE MISSING: so noted.
DeleteThis post is making my mouth water! Lots of food trucks in Portland, and I've tried different offerings over the years. I didn't try street food in Mexico and still managed to get sick a couple of times, despite the best efforts of our hosts.
ReplyDeleteI think I've been done in by ICE. The Coca Cola is fine it's the ice melted in it that gets you.
DeleteOur area is not a street food place, but there is a truck that goes around to various other places (they post where they will be). We tried it once; it was delicious but the size of the serving! We had the fish and chip platter which was two huge pieces of fish and delicious home made fries – we shared it and took some home. It was $20, which I thought was expensive, but so good.
ReplyDeleteMy father bought cockles in York – just a bunch in a paper cup with a toothpick. We both loved them, having never eaten them before, but my mother was having apoplexy as she was sure would both die – and probably before the bus picked us up!
My youngest had a street food truck cater his wedding. It seems to be a trend around here. Lobsters and French fries each fried individually and hot for 75 – weird but it worked. Somehow there was no waiting.
We had cockles, too! Steamed and eaten with a pick. Mostly just chewy, as Irecall. And mussels -- you use the empty hinged shell to pick an uneaten one up and pop it in your mouth.
DeleteNope nope nope to street food! I am way too nervous about that, and I am not eager to spin the gastrointestinal distress roulette wheel! And I have exactly the opposite reaction to that “hot dogs in boiling water “ — I always imagine the water is a million years old.
ReplyDeleteAlthough, thinking about it now, I would definitely eat anything from a carnival. Cotton candy, fried dough, lemonade. For some reason all that seems fine. So it makes no sense at all.
Those are street food!
DeleteOne thing when considering what is street food is if the vendor is checked by the city for health standards. I would think carnivals may fall under that category whereas true street food doesn't necessarily.
DeleteGood point, anon! Although after many years as a reporter, I am wary of those food inspections :-)
DeleteThe only jicama I've had was shredded in salads. I'll have to give it a try again!
ReplyDeleteAmerican street food is featured at every county fair, ever. Roasted corn with the husks pulled back and the cob dipped in melted butter. Giant roasted turkey legs, curly fries, deep-fried Oreos, cotton candy, and so many others.
The ultimate street food event, in my opinion, is Taste of Cincinnati. Maybe your areas have similar events? It's been going on for 45 years here. This year's 3-day Taste featured 76 vendors, each with a "taste" of their usual menu, on a street food scale. For under $5, usually, you can have a walking around portion of each restaurant's best items, which are judged for "Best of Taste" awards and bragging rights. It's a fun way to discover new local places and foods. Oktoberfest Zinzinnati has been going on even longer, with fare centered around German foods like potato pancakes, brats and wursts, and sauerkraut. The Bahama Mama is always a big hit, a huge sausage on a bun covered in sauerkraut.
I love your description of this event, Karen - worth a trip to Cincinnati. I see it's in late May. Our neighboring town, Quincy, MA, used to have a regular event with local restaurants offering tastes of their specialties. Killed by Covid, I think.
DeleteCome visit, Hallie! We could be foodies together.
DeleteIt's a date!!
DeleteI was thinking "no" to the street food until the topic of food trucks came up. I remember one that sold gourmet mac and cheese. LOBSTER mac and cheese. OMG. So good.
ReplyDeleteAnd, Hallie, as I currently have a garden exploding with cucumbers, I'm going to make my own with lime juice and chili pepper. That sounds amazing.
Mmm lobster mac and cheese...
DeleteI remember reading that turista tummy declined precipitously in Mexico City during Covid because every street cart had a bottle of hand sanitizer. It wasn't the food that was causing the problem, it was eating it with nasty been-everywhere, touched-everything hands! 🤢 We went to Mexico City in 2024, brought our own hand sanitizer, ate like gorditos, and never had a problem.
ReplyDeleteGlad you returned... Love that image, "ate like gorditos"
DeleteThat is so interesting Mary, of course that makes sense! Never thought about it that way.
DeleteBefore the pandemic there were shaved ice Carribean Vendors near middle schools. Now like the others Tampa features food trucks. My understanding is they are gathered near the tourist zones, like the cruise docks, or Ybor City.
ReplyDeleteI buy a lot of my groceries from restaurant vendors, so I if I am craving the 2 lb turkey leg, I will cook it myself. In fact... this might be dinner. Instant Pot turkey leg,& kale, cajun style with 'dirty' rice.
We had shaved ice treats (Granita) in Italy from street vendors. And it's reminding me of aguas frescas in Mexico. Wish I could join you for dinner...
Deleteadding jicama and the recipe will be sent soonest
DeleteWhen I travelled to the UK, I remember wonderful street food. We were in Oxford when we saw a street food vendor selling Baked Potatoes. There were many toppings in addition to the usual sour cream. A food blogger friend writes about Street Food whenever they travel. In Switzerland, I had the best Rosti (similar to American Hash Browns). In Venice, Italy, we had flatbread pizza. Yum!
ReplyDeleteAt farmer's markets, sometimes you see Street Food vendors selling wonderful creations. Before COVID, I would say that I am an adventurous eater. Which is ironic because I was a picky eater as a child. Now I think it is because my taste buds were not mature yet.
Hallie, I recently discovered jicama and it is so good! It is crunchy like an apple.
Baked potatoes as street food! What a treat, but not so easy to eat it while "on the hoof" still sounds fantastic.
DeleteAs I recall, the baked potatoes were in newspapers or paper baskets.
DeleteBaked potatoes! Genius. I would eat that street food in one second!
DeleteWe live on the border (or near it!) and when we were kids we'd just walk across the TJ International Border because there was no border patrol. We'd stroll along the main street and eat from little mini restaurants (not street type vendors). Years later when I was an adult I went to Ensenada and ate tacos my fiance bought from a street vendor. They were terrible - basically shredded cabbage and tomatoes which must have been fried in some kid of heavy oil. Fortunately we didn't get sick.
ReplyDeleteWe ate our way thru France many years ago, we only ate at nice recommended restaurants and my husband got very sick from the food. But the French food is sooo good. Go figure.
My husband got the sickest he'd ever gotten after having fresh sardines at a French restaurant, I think in Lyon. we had to stop at every gas station and parking area between there and Paris the next day as we had to get back for our flight home. I remember getting really sick somewhere else in France and the waiter Tut-tutting me for ordering sparkling water and mixing it with my wine. (We also had the MOST FABULOUS food ever, all over in France.)
DeleteWe are an area of small towns and rural expanses, and food trucks are everywhere around us now. You'll see facebook postings that such and such a truck will be at a small manufacturing place outside our town, or parked by the TSC store, etc. Summer markets on the square in a nearby town offer a selection of food trucks. They actually began during covid--an easy way to get a meal--social distancing no problem, and a variety of foods offered. Christmas event at the garden center? Food truck in the parking lot. So, all year-round, too. Our local Basket Festival (y'all come!) is having a Thai food truck among the offerings this year.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great addition to the area! A Thai food truck? I'd be there in a heartbeat.
DeleteI just got a lobster roll at a sidewalk/wharf “restaurant” yesterday in Wiscasett (Maine). Does that count as street food?
ReplyDeleteIf you sat down and tipped the waiter then it doesn't "count" - but we ca count it anyway. Lobster roll is such a treat and so easy to find great examples in Maine.
DeleteWe often go to our local farmers market where there a tons of food booths from full meals, to snacks, to coffee stands. I would guess they may be regulated though by the operators?
ReplyDeleteRegulated probably by the health department would be my guess.
DeleteThe best Elote I’ve had is from Baby Blues BBQ on Lincoln in Venice CA. Guy Fieri recommends Baby Blues too!
ReplyDeleteif you can’t get there, Alexia offers a good elote dish found in the freezer at your grocery store.
From BetsyBarkerMedia.com
DeleteThanks for the pointer... I've found an awful lot of surprisingly good stuff in the freezer section lately. I'll look for this.
DeleteThere are an increasing number of wonderful food trucks in Portland and in a few other coastal Maine towns, so if you're visiting, please do enjoy them!
ReplyDeleteThinking it over, I never have had street food. Visiting Mexico, I was too chicken, and other than gelato or ices, I don't recall street food anywhere I went in Europe. Of course, it used to be eating in public (except in a cafe or restaurant, of course) was considered rude! I can remember my mother correcting me for trying to eat a snack she'd brought along before we were in the appropriate place, which was seated on a bench in a park.
Portland has become a foodie's paradise. We miss the Greek food truck that was on Peaks Island (off the coast of Portland) for awhile but it's no longer there.
DeleteOooh! A Greek food truck! Be still my heart! Now that's one I'd be following!
DeleteLA is famous for its bacon-wrapped hot dogs. Leaving any concert or sporting event you will see dozens of grills set up outside.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in LA but never saw bacon-wrapped hot dogs. Mustabeen connected to the arenas (I was never in an arena). I had to look it up... it's definitely a thing. No bun? No mustard?? And most of all No sauerkraut??
DeleteAn international banker friend of m parents always told us, eat yogurt with live cultures consistently for 2 weeks prior to travel to combat any new/foreign bacterias that might be introduced. It has almost always worked for me. Unfortunately, the falafel in Jerusalem was not a good choice for me on that one trip……..
ReplyDeleteYogurt makes sense. But as you say it combats the bad germs. Too bad about the faafel. I hope it tasted good. Who'dathunk it.
DeletePittsburgh does have food trucks on street corners, usually selling some kind of ethnic food, be it Mexican, Indian, or whatever. They vary in quality and, um, effects.
ReplyDeleteHallie, I love jicama.
Pittsburgh... Sad to say I've never been to the downtown - just swung through to go to Mystery Lovers bookshop
DeleteHallie, thanks for the memories! I was seven on my first trip to Mexico City. There were many subsequent trips, as well as a stint living there, and a lot of time spent in Guadalajara where my parents had a house for some years. I ate ALL the street food and loved it, but my absolute favorite was the cucumber with chili and lime. I love jicama, too.
ReplyDeleteCurrent street food: I had a breakfast taco last Saturday from the Mexican food truck at the farmer's market. So good. And iced coffee from the coffee stall!
I can't believe I've never heard of jimaca--I'll have to find i and try it.
DeleteOooh that sunds good. Mexican (or Cuban or just about any Latin American...) coffee is wonderful.
DeleteThe only regular street food in Bern is roasted chestnuts in the fall, sold in a twisted paper cone. Yum. But I grew up in San Juan, PR, where my parents bought themselves and us all kinds of wonderful street food, especially after weekend trips to the beach: fried cod fritters, pastelillos (deep fried dough pockets filled with meat or cheese), tamales (not too different from Hallie's Mexican version), alcapurias (deep fried rolls of yuca dough filled with meat), and other delicious things. My husband and I also ate street food in Vietnam and Thailand when we traveled there and never had stomach problems. I think that's because we didn't drink tap water or have ice in our drinks.
ReplyDeleteThe ice is what sneaks up on you. I'll bet the street food in Vietnam and Thailand was great. I wish we'd tried more of the street food in China but what with the language barrier. It would be easier now with phone apps that translate for you on the fly.
DeleteRealizing I forgot the street food in Amsterdam. Rollmops - herring fillets wrapped around a sour-tangy pickle. So yummy... for those of us who lve pickles and smoked (or maybe pickled?) fish.
ReplyDeleteJicama is wonderful stuff, and sliced, it makes a good vehicle for dips/spreads/etc. (since I'm trying to cut down on crackers and chips).
ReplyDeleteOh, I love street food! Had an amazing sausage and onions on a baguette in Paris, cheese and mustard sandwich in Germany, but a questionable shrimp cocktail in Mexico!
ReplyDeleteDanish polsers, don’t know the exact spelling-a cross between an American hot dog and a sausage
ReplyDeletecarts all over Copenhagen
So….street food in NYC is a slice…never tastes as good anywhere. In Miami churros sold on the median strips and finally, falafel from street vendor in Israel!
ReplyDelete