Dr. Bruce Kraig: Well, we do have a definition in the book, which is, food served on the street! But it’s also food served in markets, so if you go to, say, Mexico, where there are many markets, inside are fondas, and we regard those as street food also, because it’s basically food on the go.
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
Also, we thought street food should be food trucks, everything from the fancy ones you see now to ‘roach coaches’ that you see at factories all over the place. And we also looked at vending machines, which we regard as a street food—there, it’s out on the street. We looked at state fairs and county fairs as also being street food, because it is food that you eat walking around, even if it’s in a special location. So what it is is, walking around food.
Now let’s talk about the rest of the world, and the huge variety of foods in your book. One thing I noticed was how many foods in the book don’t seem particularly street friendly. I noticed this years ago, reading about bhel puri, which is an Indian snack that you toss like a salad on the street. And there’s pork loin in Scandinavia, and hot porridge in much of Asia and so on. So again, what makes it a street food and how are things like that feasible as food you walk around with?
Street food is an entry point for immigrants in North America. It’s cheap to source—the markup on a hot dog is very great—so it is that way in the developed countries. It’s a step up, though many don’t make it, this is not just a Horatio Alger story. But it’s a way to get into the market in North America.
In Latin America you’ll find wraps and encased foods, from empanadas to tacos, which is basically a kind of wrap. They come in different names, with different fillings, and they’re different depending on where you are—they’re different on the coast of South America than they are in central Mexico. And even within a country, like Mexico, there are regional styles, so a taco you find in Guerrero is not going to be the same as you find elsewhere.
In Africa, many stews. And based on manioc, a starchy vegetable imported from the New World back in the 16th century. Lot of starchy foods, beans and greens—in fact, it sort of sounds like soul food. But there are lots of relations, because it is a more substantial food meant to keep people going.
