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Street food
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Street food is food obtainable from a streetside vendor, often from a makeshift or portable stall. While some street foods are regional, many are not, having spread beyond their region of origin. The food and green groceries sold in farmers' markets may also fall into this category, including the food exhibited and sold in various gathering fairs, such as agricultural show and state fair. Most street food is both finger and fast food. Food and green groceries are available on the street for a fraction of the cost of a restaurant meal and a supermarket.
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Encyclopedia
Street food is food obtainable from a streetside vendor, often from a makeshift or portable stall. While some street foods are regional, many are not, having spread beyond their region of origin. The food and green groceries sold in farmers' markets may also fall into this category, including the food exhibited and sold in various gathering fairs, such as agricultural show and state fair. Most street food is both finger and fast food. Food and green groceries are available on the street for a fraction of the cost of a restaurant meal and a supermarket. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, 2.5 billion people eat street food every day.
Concerns of cleanliness and freshness often discourage people from eating street food. Lack of refrigeration is often construed as a lack of cleanliness or hygiene; on the other hand, street food often uses particularly fresh ingredients for this very reason.
Street food is intimately connected with take-out, junk food, snacks, and fast food; it is distinguished by its local flavor and by being purchased on the sidewalk, without entering any building. Both take-out and fast food are often sold from counters inside buildings. Increasingly the line is blurred, as restaurants such as McDonald's begin to offer window counters.
With the increasing pace of globalization and tourism, the safety of street food has become one of the major concerns of public health, and a focus for governments and scientists to raise public awarenesses. FSA hence provides comprehensive guidances of food safety for the vendors, traders and retailors of the street food sector. Other effective ways of curbing the safety of street foods are through mystery shopping programs, through training and rewarding programs to market stallers, through regulatory governing and membership management programs, or through technical testing programs.
Africa
South Africa
In South Africa, boerewors and other braai food are available in the street. In townships, ethnic foods are available.
In Cape Town, a popular street food is the Gatsby, a baguette filled with meat (often bologna sausage), salad, cheese and chips. It is said to have originated from a single restaurant, and has become popular throughout Cape Town.
Another popular food is bunny chow. It is a scooped out loaf with curry or atchar inside and with the scooped out bread placed on top. A legend states that Indian golf caddies invented it during apartheid, as they were not allowed to use cutlery.
Ethiopia
Injera bread is the method of eating several types of street foods. Tibs Wat, a spicy stew is placed on a plate with a folded piece of injera and fried Neeka stalks.
Ghana
Street food in Ghana is mainly based upon local cuisine. Street food is available from travelling pedestrian vendors, street stalls, and ubiquitous "chop bars". Street breakfasts across the country usually consist of omelettes and bread served with tea. Traditional African dishes, such as fufu, kenkey, banku, fried yams, and bushmeat are popular across the country; regional varieties use local foods, such as tilapia in Ashanti Region and fresh seafood along the coastline. African-style Chinese food is very common, consisting of fried rice served with noodles, segments of fried chicken, and often baked beans. Coconuts are a popular street food served from barrows, as are bananas. Kebabs made from beef and pepper are also widely available from travelling vendors.
In the evenings, many street food vendors offer omelettes instead of usual daytime fare. Beverages are rarely sold by food vendors except at breakfast, and the most common street beverages, purchased from separate drinks vendors, are small plastic bags filled with purified water (carbonated drinks in West Africa are only available from permanent shops and not temporary vendors, as the drinks are sold in glass bottles which must be returned to the shop for recycling and refilling). As is the case in many members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Ghanaian law prohibits the sale of alcoholic beverages except within licensed establishments, and as such alcoholic drinks are not sold by street vendors.
Morocco
Typical street food includes: grilled corn on the cob, merguez, and snails.
Nigeria
Chin chin is a popular dish in Nigeria, and west Africa.
Tunisia
Sweet pastries are the most common street food, as well as the ubiquitous tuna baguette.
Asia
Street eaters in those parts also enjoy various jicama salads.
In Malaysia, Singapore, and India, putu mayam, a cold coconut/rice-noodle concoction, is eaten for breakfast or a snack.
China
) halal beef noodles, Chongqing (Sichuan) mala bunch, and Xi'an (Shaanxi) cold noodles]]
Getting snacks from food stalls on the street is an ancient practice in China that continues to thrive today, though many vendors now serve their food indoors from hole-in-the-wall establishments. The variety of snack foods available is staggering, and varies from region to region. In Sichuan street cooking, a variety of xiaochi such as grilled rice balls and pan-fried noodles are sold. Beijing’s Wangfujing Night Market, a popular tourist destination, is dedicated to street food vendors that feature many of the more unusual items one might purchase, like a large assortment of insects, as well as more typical foods like kebabs. Islamic food, stemming either from the western Uyghurs or the Hui minority, is another form of street food in China, especially thinly cut kebabs cooked over a barbecue pit. Sweets are also sold as street foods in China.
Common Street Foods:
Chuanr, a kind of kebab, are a popular item in Northern China, and are instantly recognizable for their distinctly enticing scent. They are traditionally made with lamb and generously seasoned with cumin, red pepper flakes, and other spices before being roasted. Chuanr are derived from the cuisine of Chinese Muslims, particularly the Uyghurs of the northwestern province of Xinjiang.
In the Northeastern part of the country, many variations of bing, or pancakes, are available. Bing are typically made with flour and then fried in oil. They can be served relatively plain or come stuffed with meat or seasoned with scallions, among a plethora of other options. , a crepe-like snack, is prepared with an egg cracked onto batter, which together form a base for different fillings and sauces. The final product is then rolled up for easy portability, much like a crepe.
Tang hu lu are skewers of fruit, usually Chinese hawthorn, coated by a hardened sugar syrup. Chinese hawthorn is a crab apple-like fruit found on trees. These treats are especially popular in northern China, and can be seen eaten by adults as well as children.
Throughout the country, people looking for a quick meal can turn to the numerous local mian guanr, or noodle houses. These establishments commonly serve noodle soups, though some also serve pan-fried noodles. In Sichuan, these dishes become distinctly spicy with addition of chili oil and peppercorns.
Business
These days, true street vendors are becoming less common as local governments have cracked down on the practice, citing safety and traffic congestion as major problems. Many vendors have also moved towards opening small restaurants, and “street food” is thus now commonly eaten indoors at established locations. The disappearance of traditional neighborhoods, like Beijing’s hutong, has also contributed to the decrease in outdoor food vending.
Hong Kong
In Hong Kong notable foods include skewered beef, curry fish balls, stuffed peppers and mushrooms, and dim sum. Street side food vendors are called gaai bin dong (literally "street side stalls"). Street food in Hong Kong can grow into a substantial business with the stalls only barely "mobile" in the traditional street food sense (see dai pai dong).
India
The quintessential North Indian street food is Chaat—a generic name for a tangy and spicy mix, whose ingredients can be quite varied. The tangy flavor is usually imparted by the use of lemon, pomegranate seeds, Black salt, tamarind, and various chutneys. Chaat can be prepared with fruit, with popular ones including guava, banana, apple, melon, etc. It could instead be made using small crisp pancakes made from fried flour, called "paapri", along with yogurt. Potatoes sauteed with black cumin powder constitute another variant. In Indian cities, street vendors also sell drinks including Lassi (yogurt drink sold plain/salty, sweet, or fruit flavored), Sherbet and Jaljeera. Additionally, hole-in-the-wall kebab shops can be found in major cities.
Other items are:
- Pani Puri (also known as gol gappas or phuchkas) and Bhelpuri. Panipuri are hollow crisp balls made from dough, and filled as-you-eat with a spicy concoction of water and potatoes, topped by a choice of sweet or spicy chutney.
- Aaloo Tikki These are patties made up of mashed potatoes and masala deep fried in oil. They are served typically with a curry called Chholey (chick peas). They are popular in winter in North India.
- Chaap is a version of potato patties dipped in flour batter and deep fried. They are served along with onion and beet slices. They are referred to by this name in the Eastern part of the country. One can obtain "chaap" on local trains travelling to and from Kolkatta. The word "chaap" is probably a corruption of "chop".
- Poori-Subzie(or Bhaajee) This is available mostly in North India, especially in Uttar Pradesh. The curry (subzie) consists usually of potatoes in gravy. Sometimes, especially in the southern part of the country the potatoes do not have gravy and the poories are exclusively made up of refined flour (maida).
- Chai-faen This term refers to tea with a roasted biscuit called "faen", possibly a corruption of "fan" which the shape of the biscuit resembles. The biscuit is also called "khaaree biscuit" in other parts of the country. This is available in North India, especially in Uttar Pradesh in cities like Agra and Mathura.
- Vada pav is an example of West Indian street food. Masala chai,: a spiced tea, is also for sale. A syrup-covered deep-fried sweet is sold in the North as jalebi and the South as jangiri. It is generally very cheap and easily available throughout India.
Regional Variations
Mumbai, Maharashtra, is the place where Vada pav originated. Pav bhaji, is another such concoction. It acquired the status of restaurant food but had humble beginnings as street food. It has retained its original roadside availability despite this. Another peculiar concoction is pav-sample which is found at several places in Maharashtra. The "sample" refers usually to Sambar and the dish is simply pav (white bread) to be had with the curry called Sambar which is well known in India. Sambar being widely used for several other dishes as well, it was perhaps used in experimentation with pav. An extra dish of sambar is referred to as "sample". Although widely used in Maharashtra in roadside eateries, sambar is not native to the local culture. "Sample" could also mean a plate of curry called "Usal", which is a water based preparation of cooked sprouted lentils. Occasionally the term "sample" could mean anything that goes conveniently with pav (usually implying a liquid nature).
Kerala, situated in the South, has "thattukada"s: a covered cart or van with stoves and utensils. They offer "thattu dosa"—a light rice-flour crepe fried in coconut oil and served with coconut chutney. The menu at a thattukada includes omelettes, spicy pork fry, and parottas (like naan, but beaten and mixed with oil).
Tamilnadu has its "thalluvandi"s similar to Kerala's "thattukada"s popularly called "Kaiyendhi Bhavans", a subtle irony to the famous bhavan hotels like Saravana Bhavan etc.
Karnataka has its own food items such as idli, masala dosa, vada, chakkuli, ragi rotti, jolada rotti etc.
Indonesia
Street foods are common in Indonesia. They are commonly sold by hawkers peddling their goods on bicycles or carts, known as pedagang kaki lima. The art of food being sold varies from mixed rice, fried rice, soups, satay, cakes or even Indonesian beverages, such as Es kacang hijau.
Japan
In Japan, udon, soba, and ramen noodles are ubiquitous, as highlighted in the film Tampopo. Takoyaki (octopus dumplings), nikuman and Castella (a kind of sponge cake) are also famous as street food in Japan. Sweet cakes, such as taiyaki and imagawayaki are also popular.
Korea (South)
Gun-mandu (fried dumplings), fried squid, fried shrimp and fried wonton are among the street foods found in villages outside of Seoul in South Korea. Vendors will fire up their woks or large pots of frying oil in the evenings in anticipation of the pedestrian traffic going to and from local clubs. These Korean street foods, as well as others such as Tteokbokki, Odeng, and Korean toast sandwiches are still popular in Seoul and larger cities.
Sometimes original street food concepts become full-fledged franchises as seen in the cases of Sukbong Toast, Isaac Toast and Toastoa, large Korean toast sandwich franchise chains based in Seoul.
Pakistan
There some common items which are available all over Pakistan such as Bun Kebab (Local version of hamburger) served with halal shami kebab and usual condiments, also Gunnay ka Rus (Sugar cane juice). Other foods are Pahata roll which is either beef or chicken stuffed in a fried oil bread; onions, tomato, and raita (yogurt) are also added. Jalebi is a popular sweet dish served throughout Pakistan. Chaat is a staple, usually extremely loaded with spices.
Karachi Corn or maize along with chick peas are sold all over the city by moving vendors. They are mixed with sand on a hot plate and then sifted through. Chicken corn soup with or without eggs, pathan soup (more traditional chicken soup) are the regular delicacies. In Karachi Peshawar Chiras are the local delicacy, which are quails cooked on charcoal fire and eaten whole.
Philippines
The most common Philippines street foods include fried squidballs, fishballs, kikiam—a type of processed chicken, which are served on a stick, with a variety of dipping sauces.
Roadside stands also serve barbecued pork, chicken and offal, such as pig's blood (colloquially, Betamax after its rectangular shape), chicken heads (helmet), chicken feet (adidas) pig's ears and chicken intestines (isaw). Among more esoteric foods are balut and penoy (duck eggs; with fetus and without, respectively), tokneneng and quek-quek (battered, deep-fried chicken and quail eggs) and deep-fried day-old-chick.
Taho, a type of soft beancurd served with syrup and tapioca balls is another snack, as are more Western offerings, such as burgers, hotdogs and cotton candy.
Palamig (literally, coolers) are sold, such as traditional offerings like halo-halo to fruit juices. Sorbetes (or, colloquially, "dirty ice cream") and locally-produced ice cream in exotic flavors such as mango, cheese and yam.
Also, in addition to everything, the "now" famous Calamares (battered squid pieces deep-fried in cooking oil [a lot cheaper than the traditionally available]) is also widely consumed all throughout the country. It's gaining its popularity mainly and can be attributed to because of its cheap price.
Taiwan
Taiwan's street food is well-known in Chinese culture, especially that from the area of Tainan.
Because Taiwan was moved in from 1620s, many farmer worked hard on lands and had no time to cook so many food sellers took food near fields and influences include the (Min Nan) flavor brought by the emigrants during the Ming loyalist rule era and Japanese tastes in the Japanese colonial period, to 1949, when the Nationalist retreated to the island with people from every other province of the mainland.
Bubble/Boba Milk Tea originated on the streets of Taiwan.
Popular Taiwanese street food includes fried stinky tofu, oyster pancakes,Zongzi(especially in Tainan),fried meatball,sugarcane juice(Taiwanese sugarcane was sweet famous with Cuba),soup of boiled Trionychidae,fish ball soup,Baozi and water fried Baozi, rice cakes made with pork blood, and various other rice and noodle dishes.
Thailand
Street food in Thailand includes noodle dishes, among them are Pad Thai, Rad Naa, flat noodles with beef, pork, or chicken and vegetables, topped with a light gravy, and Rad Naa's twin, Pad See Iw, the same flat noodles dry-fried(no gravy) with a dark soy sauce, vegetables, meat, and chili. Other dishes include Tom Yum Kung (a soup), Khao Pad (fried rice), various kinds of satay, various curries. Japanese chikuwa and German sausages have also appeared in Bangkok. Canal food has been sold from boats on Thailand's rivers and canals for over two centuries, but since the early 20th century King Rama V's modernizations have caused a shift towards land-based stalls. In modern Bangkok parlance, a housewife who feeds her family with street food vendor is known as a "plastic-bag housewife."
Many Thai people will eat 4 or 5 meals a day, and often these will be taken with friends or family at streetside dining carts. In some areas of Thailand, an inconspicuous car-park or roadside area may be empty by day, but turn into a bustling food district as the sun goes down, when local street vendors arrive with their carts. This is the case in virtually every provincial capital.
Middle East
Falafel is the king of street food in the Middle East. Shawarma is popular as well, and is usually made of chicken or lamb. Ful, a dish made from fava beans, is common in many Arab countries. In Syria and Lebanon, pastries made with a soft dough are sold, either open like a mini-pizza or filled, and are termed fatayir, man'oushe, or basbouse depending on the type. Toppings or fillings include zaatar, chili, spinach, meat, sausage meat, cheese, and olives. Fruit juice counters in Syria and Egypt provide fresh juice from all seasonal fruit as well as sugar-cane.
Sweets such as knafeh, made from cheese and pastry, and madlu'e, made from sweet cheese curds on a rich biscuit dough, are also sold from counters, drenched in syrup, and eaten on the street in Palestine, Syria, and Israel. "Cheese sweets" are a specialty of Hama in central Syria.
Israel
In Israel, street eaters enjoy sabikh, a pita stuffed with hard-boiled egg, eggplant, tahini, and a mango pickle similar in taste to chutney or atchar. It was introduced by Iraqi Jews. Bourekas are common, being sold out of carts in front of bakeries. The most common street foods are Falafel and Shawarma.
Syria
In springtime in Syria, whole green almonds are sold from carts on the street. In summer, prickly pears and whole fresh pistachios are sold. Pavement vendors, as well as drink sellers in traditional costume with their goods in a pot strapped to their back, sell mulberry and liquorice juice.
Australia
The most common street food in Australia is the sausage sizzle, usually consisting of a thin sausage or sandwich steak cooked on a barbecue and served on a slice of bread with optional fried onions and tomato or barbecue sauce. The stalls are usually run by local sporting or charity groups as fundraisers.
A pie floater is a meal served at pie carts in Adelaide and elsewhere in South Australia. It was once more widely available in other parts of Australia, but its popularity waned. It consists of an Australian meat pie covered with tomato sauce, sitting in a plate of green pea soup.
People can buy soft serve and other ice creams from vans which drive around the streets. The vans alert potential customers with a tinkling tune, for example Greensleeves or The Entertainer.
Caribbean
Barbados
In Barbados, fishcakes are a common street food. Fishcakes are made with bits of saltfish, seasoned and mixed with flour and then deep fried. Fishcakes are sold at most community events such as school fairs and concerts and can also be found at fish fries such as those in Baxter's Road in the capital city of Bridgetown or the Friday evening event in the southern fishing town of Oistins. Fishcakes are commonly eaten with saltbread, a thick, round bread; the sandwich is called a "bread-and-two" and can be found at most village shops throughout the island.
Dominican Republic
Fried foods are common in the Dominican Republic. Empanadas are a very typical snack, made of fried flour, though empanadas made out of cassava flour, called catibias, are also common. Fillings include cheese, chicken, beef, and vegetables, or a combination of these. Yaniqueques are sold at many empanada stands. Yaniqueques (from Johnny Cakes) are essentially round flour shaped cakes which are fried and usually eaten with salt and/or ketchup. Other vendors sell plantain fritters and fried or boiled salami.
Hamburgers are sold at stands called chimis, which also offer sandwiches called chimichurris, though these bear little to no resemblance to the South American sauce of the same name. Chimis occasionally also offer hot dogs and other sandwich varieties.
Corn on the cob can be bought on the street, usually sold by traveling vendors who move around on a tricycle. Sweets vendors who sell treats such as candied coconut and dulce de leche sell their goods at major intersections in cities and sometimes have their own stands.
Jamaica
The most common Jamaican street food is jerk chicken or pork and can be found everywhere on the island. Jerk is marinade that is a blended primarily from a combination of scotch bonnet peppers, onions, scallions, thyme and allspice (there are numerous combinations which a jerk can be composed of). Once marinated, it is often barbecued on converted steel drum or whatever else locals can construct as a grill/smoker. It is often accompanied with breadfruit and/or festival, a sweetened fried dough.
The popular beef patties in a sweet bread called "coco bread" is the most popular street food. Bun and cheese is also eaten regularly.
Trinidad and Tobago
In Trinidad and Tobago there are many roti and shark & bake stands that provide quick foods like roti, dahl puri, fried bake, and the most popular, Doubles.
Roti is a thin flat bread originating from India that is fluffy on the inside and crispy and flaky on the outside. It is cooked on a flat iron plate called a tawah (< Hindi tawa)or plateen and served with curried chicken, pork or beef.
Dahl puri is similar to the roti but is softer and pliable and has crushed dahl lentils cooked with saffron and placed in the centre of the dough before it is rolled out and cooked. This is also served with either curried chicken, pork or beef.
Fried bake is made by frying flattened balls of dough that becomes fluffy and increases in height as it is fried. It can be served with fried ripe plantains, any meat or gravy. At the shark & bake stands fried bakes filled with well-seasoned shark fillets and dressed with many different condiments including pepper, garlic and chadon beni can also be found.
Doubles is made with two flat breads called baras (from Hindi bara, "big") that are filled with channa (from Hindi "chick peas") and topped with pepper, cucumber chutney, mango chutney, coconut chutney or bandania/chadon beni. It can be eaten either wrapped up as an easy to eat sandwich, or open it up and eat each bara separately.
Haiti
In Haiti street vendors sell various local dishes such as legume (vegetable stew famous for the lone crab leg protruding from the center) as well as Conge.
Europe
There are many national street foods in Europe, but some foods have transcended borders. A good example of this is shawarma, brought to Europe by Arab and Turkish immigrants. The Quartier Latin in Paris is packed with shawarma vendors.
Balkans
Street food in the Balkans, like the rest of Balkan cuisine, is heavily influenced by the cuisine of the Ottoman Empire. Different variations of the burek, a filled flaky pastry, is common throughout the Turkey and the Balkans. Cevapi, a sort of kebab, is popular throughout the region comprised by the former Yugoslavia, and Romania where it is called Mititei.
Benelux
In the Netherlands and Belgium, French fries are popular and are frequently served with sauces such as mayonnaise or ketchup.
The combination mayonnaise, ketchup and onions is called "speciaal" (special) and mayonnaise plus peanutbuttersauce is called "oorlog" (war).
French fries
In Belgium, a thicker variety of fries is used, called "friet" or "frieten". In the Netherlands, they are thinner and generally referred to as "patat" (potato) or sometimes "friet" (fried) or "patat friet" (fried potato). Some shops also sell "Vlaamse friet", but this is less common than "patat". The Dutch version is more similar to the version known in most of the world than the Belgian version is.
The Netherlands
In the Netherlands, street foods are usually sold by a small store which is a mix of a cafe/bar and a fast-food restaurant, known as a snackbar or cafetaria. In these stores, while "patat" forms the main portion of the food sold, many other things are also sold, including all types of fried meat and cheese snacks. Often, the assortment includes things such as hamburgers, ice cream, sandwiches, and occasionally even pizza, falafel and shoarma.
There are also street vendors selling salted herring served with raw onion, bread rolls come optionally.
At festivals and especially on the eve of 31 December around the country, a kind of donut called oliebollen, "oily balls", is eaten throughout the country. Oliebollen are particularly popular for old and new year's night.
Belgium
In Belgium, "friet" or "frieten" are mainly sold by street vendors (see picture), known as a frietkot.
In Belgium, Liège-style waffles (Dutch: "Wafel" or French: "Gaufre") are served warm as a street snack, similar to what is known in other countries as "Belgian Waffles". The pancake is also popular here, being sold fluffier than the French crêpe or the Russian blin.
The Czech Republic
The most common and traditional Czech street food is Smažený sýr, which is a soft piece of cheese deep-fried and served on a hamburger bun. It is typically served with tartar sauce, but some prefer ketchup.
France
In France, sandwiches are a common street food. Most of them are baguette bread sandwiches with different kinds of fillings such as "Jambon/Beurre" (ham / butter), "Jambon/Fromage" (Ham with cheese) or "Poulet/Crudités" (Chicken with vegetables).
In France, crêpes are another street food. They are sold on the street cheaply and are filling portions: a crêpe complète containing ham, shredded cheese, and an egg provides a filling lunch. Sweet crêpe, containing Nutella and banana or Grand Marnier and sugar is also a snack.
Other street foods include slices of pizza, kebab type sandwiches and panini, a grilled and pressed sandwich.
During the winter, roasted chestnuts can be bought.
Germany
Germany, with its high Turkish population, has a number of Turkish street foods beyond the pan-European shawarma. Döner is similar to shawarma and extremely common in Berlin, particularly in the Kreuzberg district. More traditionally, there is Fleischkäse and various types of sausage, as well as the recent hybrid curry-sausage, Currywurst. French fries ("Pommes" in German, derived from French but pronounced according to German orthographic rules) are very popular, served with ketchup and/or mayonnaise, and sometimes with sausage. Beer is sold at all sidewalk snack stands, which usually feature a wide selection of beers and often small bottles of whiskey and vodka as well.
There is an increasing number of North African stalls that sell shawarma, falafel and halumi.
Hungary
Street food is not particularly common in Hungary, although gyros shops are becoming more common. Rétes (strudel) is fairly common, and lángos (a deep fried bread) is usually available at markets and during celebrations. In general, Hungarians looking for quick food will stop to sit down and eat, even if only at a Chinese buffet or a fozelékfaló (vegetable purée bar).
Italy
The most notable Italian street food is pizza, sold in take-aways. Take-away pizza (or "pizza a taglio") is quite different from pizzeria pizza. Unlike the round pizza normally found in restaurants, which originated in Naples as a street food itself, it is generally made on large square trays, and square or rectangular portions are sold. It usually has quite a thick base, again unlike the traditional Italian restaurant pizza.
Toppings include margherite, mushrooms, Italian sausage, ham, and vegetables.
Other street foods are the Genoese Focaccia di Recco, a double layer of thin dough filled with quark cheese and baked, Farinata, a thin, baked chickpea-flour batter, topped with salt, pepper and olive oil, often served with Focaccia (a thin bread, also with salt and olive oil), Florentine Trippa and Lampredotto, ox stomach cooked in a seasoned broth and served in a bread roll, Roman "Supplì", rice balls filled with cheese and/or various fillings, covered in egg and breadcrumbs and deep fried, similar to Sicilian Arancini, where the usual filling is a meat sauce with green peas.
In Naples, fried food stalls, known as friggitorie, sell filled, deep-fried pastries and other foods. In Palermo, a street food would be "Pani ca meusa" (bread rolls with sliced, cooked pork spleen), and "Panelle", deep-fried chickpea flour batter. In central Italy "porchetta" is common, a spicy roasted pork meat (from the whole, boned animal), usually served in a bread roll.
Vendors sell watermelons during the summer months, as well as roasted chestnuts ("caldarroste") stalls during the winter, and especially before Christmas.
's kiosk in Macerone, Cesena]]
Rosticcerie, while most often selling food to be eaten at home, also sometimes have a counter for immediate consumption of their goods, the most common of which are roast chicken, roast potatoes, fried polenta and other accompaniments.
Substantial immigration from Turkey and the Middle East has also gained Shawarma, as well as other middle-eastern traditional dishes, an increasing popularity.
Gelato (icecream) is of a very high standard.
In Romagna region, and expecially in Forlì-Cesena province, is very popular a flatbread called Piadina. It's sold in typical kiosks, usually as sandwich filled with mixed cold cut meats, cheese and/or vegetables. A widely used variant is the Crescione, a Piadina cooked like a turnover; in this version the most common filling are "tomato souce - mozzarella" and "pumpkin - boiled potato - sausage".
Malta
Pastizzi are small, ricotta cheese or pea-paste filled puff-pastry squares that can be bought from vendors in practically every village in Malta. "Pastizzi", or its singular form "pastizz" is also a derogatory term in colloquial Maltese which refers to female genitalia, probably due to the similarity in shape of these local delicacies to the notorious body part. Ricotta pastizzi (Pastizzi tal-irkotta) are diamond shaped with a hole in the middle where the ricotta stuffing can be seen whilst pea pastizzi (Pastizzi tal-pizelli) are of the same shape but are more like an envelope of puff pastry with no discernible holes.
The shops selling these pastries are called "Pastizzeriji" and they occasionally sell items such as pies, pizza slices, sausage rolls, baked rice, baked maccaroni (timpana) and sometimes arancini.
Another local street food found in such pastizzerias is the "Qassatat". This is a ball-shaped pie crust with an open top, filled with the same two basic fillings of ricotta or peas, and sometimes a tuna and spinach mixture.
Imqaret are deep fried pastries filled with a mashed date mixture.
Hamburgers, hot dogs and other such products being sold from vans, replace perennial Maltese favorites such as Hobz biz-zejt, bigilla and timpana.
However Hobz biz-zejt is another popular street food, usually bought from the inside of shops rather than stalls. This is the local sandwich, a local flat-bun called a "ftira" or a rounder one called "hbejza" are filled with various ingredients available at the counter displays. The basic Hobz biz-zejt recipe consists of filling the bread with oil and kunserva (tomato paste), tuna-fish, pickles and other delicacies which vary from shop to shop. These shops usually serve tea with milk in small glasses to their regulars.
Occasionally one might meet a street vendor who sells "sinizza", this is a rarity nowadays. Sinizza is deep fried ball of fish, batter and other ingredients.
Russia
vendor in Kiev, Ukraine]]
In Russia, street food mostly reflects the cultures brought together in the Soviet Union. Traditional Eastern European items such as blini, pirozhki and sausages are widely available.
The cuisine of Russia's Turkic minority is popular, with dishes like shawerma, rotisserie chicken, shashlik, chebureki and plov.
Kvas, a small beer made (usually) from bread, with honey being a frequent additive (myodniy kvass), is sold out of tanks or barrels on the street.
In areas with large Chinese immigrant populations, various Chinese dishes are also available.
More universal foods are also popular. Ice cream is enjoyed even on the coldest of Moscow days. Pizza is also available.
In addition to prepared food, a great deal of products are sold on the street. Many kiosks sell candy, snacks, produce, beer and other beverages, in addition to cigarettes and various household products.
Slovakia
In Slovakia street offerings include steamed sweetcorn cobs, fried flat bread loaves with garlic and salt or other condiments (langos), fried buns with poppy seed, jam or cream cheese filling (pirozky); seasonally, ice-cream is eaten in summer and roasted chestnuts in autumn. Ciganska pecienka (gypsy-style roasted pork), roasted sausage and more are sold at Saturday markets. Crepes and fresh sandwiches are available.
Spain
The concept of eating in the street is not very rooted in the Spanish culture; some Spaniards prefer to eat inside a bar with friends (tapeo). However, in winter roasted chestnuts can be bought in the street, especially in the northern half of the country, and during fiestas, churros are also sold. Some major cities however, like Barcelona will have vendors selling ice cream from a cart on the street corners.
Switzerland
Street foods available in Switzerland are sandwich-like, either the typical grilled panini, but also pretzels or hot dogs. Sweet foods include ice cream and crêpes. Stalls will typically be motorized trucks, rather than smaller wheeled carts. Other foods eaten on the go include the prevalent döner kebab, although these are uniformly sold in indoor stores with their own seating rather than from a mobile stall.
Turkey
In the European side of Turkey (especially around Istanbul region), the main street food is döner kebap and kokoreç. Both versions of döner (cooked with gas or grilled with coal fire) can be found nearly on every street in Istanbul, usually from noon to around 03:00 am in the morning. Taksim area offers 24 hours street-döner service, 365 days a year, excluding some holidays. Another common street food is rice with freshly cooked chickpeas (referred as pilav) which usually can be found after 22:00–23:00 on Istanbul streets until around 05:00 in the morning.
A simit is a circular bread with sesame seeds, in the city of Izmir, simit is known as "gevrek," (literally, "crisp") although it is very similar to the Istanbul variety. Simit are often sold by street vendors who either have a simit trolley or carry the simit on their head.
Tea vendors carry pots of hot, sweet tea through the bazaars; many bazaar vendors have their own pot brewing for potential customers.
United Kingdom
Converted vans selling kebabs, hamburgers and chips are a common sight, especially at night. At fairs, stalls selling candy floss or doughnuts are increasingly popular. In Lancashire, one can buy hot parched peas (black peas) from stalls, especially in the colder months.
Portable ice-cream vans are considered a common sign of summer, and usually play either Greensleeves or Teddy Bears' Picnic. Street carts can be seen in some cities selling products such as roasted nuts and hot dogs, especially in places frequented by tourists.
North America
Canada
While most major cities in Canada offer a variety of street food, regional "specialties" are notable. While poutine (french fries with gravy and cheese curds) is available in most of the country, it is far more common in Quebec. Similarly, hot dog stands can be found across Canada, but are far more common in Ontario (often sold from mobile canteen trucks, usually referred to as "chip wagons") than in Vancouver or Victoria (where the "Mr. Tube Steak" franchise is notable). Montreal offers a number of specialties including Shish taouk, the Montreal hot dog, and Dollar falafels. Although falafel is widespread in Vancouver, 99 cent pizza slices are much more popular. Shawarma is quite prevalent in Ottawa, while Halifax offers its own unique version of the Döner kebab called the Donair, which features a distinctive sauce, made from condensed milk, sugar, and vinegar. Ice cream trucks can be seen (and often heard) nationwide during the summer months.
United States
In the United States, hot dogs and their many variations (corn dogs, chili dogs) are perhaps the most common street food, particularly in major metropolitan areas such as New York City. Roasted nuts and gyros are also often sold in the city also. Cheesesteaks, breakfast sandwiches, and pretzels are common in Philadelphia. Throughout America, ice cream is sold out of trucks. Chinese cuisine is sold in many large cities and Chinese neighborhoods; Mexican foods such as tacos and tortas are sold in neighborhoods with Mexican population. Pizza is often available from window counters.
Some vendors operate out of food trucks on college campuses, particularly in the Northeast, where American, Greek, Middle-Eastern, Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Indian, and other cuisines are available. Like restaurants, they are regulated and subject to inspections by the local municipal or county health departments.
Ethnic diversity and the lack of a strictly defined national cuisine (such as those enjoyed by France or Italy) has given new meaning to the term "melting pot." In most urban areas in America and Canada, it is not uncommon to find vendors selling falafel, gyros, kebobs and rice, panini, crepes, french fries, chicken tikka masala, eggrolls, or other popular international dishes. The more exotic offerings of African street vendors may not be found, but the fast-food equivalents of the Middle East, Europe, and Asia are all represented.
On the West Coast, in cities such as Los Angeles, California, the variations of street food tend towards food with a Latin American flair. Moving further north along the coast, the Latin American immigrant influences mix with Polish, Bosnian, and Mediterranean offerings, such as in Portland, Oregon.
Mexico
In Mexico, tacos, tortas (traditional Mexican sandwiches), tamales and aguas frescas are sold.
South America
Brazil
Pão de queijo, which can be translated as "cheese bread", is a street snack in the southeast of Brazil and, increasingly, the rest of the country. Hot dogs are often sold with grated cheese, grilled onions, mayonnaise, green peas or mashed potatoes (São Paulo only) as choice of toppings. Hamburgers are also offered with a wide assortment of toppings, such as mozzarella cheese, bacon, eggs, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, ketchup and mustard, the popular "X-Tudo" (or cheese-all, a souped up cheeseburger). Calabresa (Pepperoni) sausage sandwiches are also popular.
Rio de Janeiro beach vendors are famous for their Mate Gelado (yerba mate iced-tea), biscoitos de polvilho (sour manioc flour puffs), roasted peanuts and queijo coalho (grilled cheese on sticks, barbecued on the spot) as well as popsicles, cold beer and home-made sandwiches (sanduiche natural). In the northeastern state of Bahia, the region's African heritage is reflected in the iconic acarajé (deep fried black eyed pea bun filled with caruru, made from salted dried shrimp, and vatapá, a creamy combination of coconut milk, palm oil and cashew nuts) or sweets like cocada (candied coconut) and pé-de-moleque (peanut brittle). All over the country, popcorn is always offered in push carts both salty or sweet (with sugar and cocoa powder). Churros push carts (sausage shaped deep fried dough filled with a choice of doce-de-leite caramel or chocolate sauce) are also found on any major city street.
Colombia
In Colombia, the empanada, a deep-fried meat-filled patty, is sold.
Peru
In Peru, anticuchos, a type of kebab, are often sold by street vendors called anticucheras. Also, cuy, a species of Guinea Pig is served as a delicacy on religious holidays.
Argentina
In Argentina, you can easily find vendors selling choripan, a barbequeued sausage served wrapped in a bread, or morcipan, using a blood sausage (morcilla) instead.
Venezuela
In Venezuela, the "arepa" is a common fast-food meal. It consists of a flattened cornmeal bun, about the size and shape of an English muffin, split open and usually stuffed with soft cheese. Other fillings include pickled octopus.
Chile
In Chile, sopaipillas, a deep fried dough made out of flour and pumpkin, are often sold by street vendors.
See also
External links
New York Street Food Blog - http://foodietroopers.blogspot.com/
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