International Lifestyle Magazine Issue 50 | Page 111

Y

ou only live once – so eat out of your comfort zone. If you’re in the Philippines and want to try a slab of congealed pig’s blood (known as Betamax because of its shape) or crispy chicken feet (known as Adidas, for the same reason), you should head for the street food markets. And if you want to try balut or penoy – incubated duck eggs with or without a 16- to 18-day-old embryo – it’s the street where you’re likely to get lucky. If ‘lucky’ is the right word. There’s nothing new about street food. It’s as old as food itself. But, as we all travel more, we see the excitement that comes from eating on the street. Ask a resident of Mumbai, and they’ll tell you – with pride – that the city’s restaurants are for tourists. They will recommend that you go and eat the food cooked by the blind chaatwala behind the railway station. Just over there. Beside the open drain. There’s something about discovering something authentic that makes it so much tastier. Visit the main square in Marrakech and, at sundown, you’ll find hundreds of men and women stringing their stalls with different coloured light bulbs. Waiters will pull on your shirtsleeves, or sing you something by Madonna – whatever it takes to get your attention, and any table you choose will be “the best seat in the house”. Whether you order the braised sheep’s head or the milled

couscous with fresh mint, it will all come with a dose of theatre. Now we’ve seen it, or heard about it, we all want to get in on the street food action. And we don’t want to wait until we’re on holiday. Which is why street food has taken off in the West. Street food is more price appropriate these days – and it’s more ‘us’. We like the idea that the trappings of a dining room are negotiable. Which is why pop-up restaurants and supper clubs are so popular. We want our dining experience to be relaxed and free-wheeling, and street food is suddenly bang on trend. Street food sellers make sense of all those difficult concepts that food writers like to bang on about – things like ‘eating local’ and ‘buying seasonal’. Street food sellers buy local and seasonal because that’s what’s cheapest – margins are so tight there’s often no choice. And the food they serve up is fresh. Unlike a lot of restaurant food, which is left standing on a hot-plate until some sniffy waiter deigns to bring it to your table. That’s why the best place to eat a burger, a crepe, or a stir-fry is on the street. In my time as a food writer and broadcaster I? e????????????????????????????????????????'?e???????????????????????????????L?????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????()??????????????????????????????????????????????5?????????????????????????????????????????????? ????????????????????? ???????????????????????????1????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????????????????????%???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????A????????????????????????
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????$????????? ????M??????????????5????A?????]????????????????????????????????????????1??????????????????????Q?????????????????????????????????????? ??????L???????????????????????????????????????????????Êe??????Q????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????]???????????????????????????????M?????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????Y?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????%???????????????????????5?????????????????????????????????????????Q??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????L???????????????()?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????t)??????????????????????????????(+?qM??????????????????????????((0