Before there were food trucks, catering trucks, lunch wagons, loncheros or the forever synonymous roach coaches, there was street food. And according to the Food and Agriculture Organization, 2.5 billion people eat street food every day. Street food has not only be part of the Los Angeles and Santa Monica scene since the beginning of the century, but has been spotted around the globe in such favorites as Japanese ramen noodles and sweet cakes to Indian Chaat, Puerto Rican empanadas, Middle Eastern kebabs and French panini.
Some of the best food around the globe comes from the streets, and that's exactly what was discussed at the "Global Street Food" event hosted by Good Food's Evan Kleiman on May 1 at the Santa Monica Broad Stage. The program, presented by KCRW and SMC Associates, brought together a lively panel, including LA Weekly's Jonathan Gold, OC Weekly's and "Ask a Mexican" columnist Gustavo Arellano, restaurant owner, Jet Tila and food writers and street food tour guides, Lesley Tellez from Mexico and Robyn Eckhardt from Malaysia via Skype.
Evan Kleiman and the panel took to the stage and relaxed in a living room-styled atmosphere behind a coffee table to chat about what street food is, how it's different from eating in restaurants, and how it is evolving into more mobile means in the form of food trucks. The panel also happily talked about some of their favorite street foods locally and abroad. "I remember eating a warm brioche stuffed with ice cream in Italy," Kleiman told the audience. "And I thought, 'Why hasn't anyone done that here?' it's the best way to start your day ever.'" Kleiman and Jonathan Gold also brought up memories of the Helms Bakery trucks that hit the streets in Los Angeles to sell jelly doughnuts from wooden drawers. Robyn Eckhardt discussed her experiences in Malaysia, "It's all about grazing. Malaysians seem to be eating 24 hours a day. If you have the stomach and the fortitude, you could start at 6 a.m. and not finish until midnight."
Gustavo Arellano talked about the allure of street food not only being cheaper, but also the immediate sensory experience you get from it. Arellano went on to say, "... street food is quick food ... anyone can make ... but the key is that you are seeing what they cook, you get the aroma, the sizzles." Everyone agreed that street food was definitely cheaper that anything you could order at a restaurant or even cooked at home, especially Gold, "... even in New York City, you're going to get a dirty water dog ... and it's the cheapest way to get lunch."
After the mouth-watering discussion, each audience member was given six tickets to line up and grub on: Mariscos Jalisco's shrimp tacos, Let's Be Frank hot dogs with devil sauce, India Jones Chow Truck curry, Piaggio Gourmet on Wheels' empanadas, a Nom Nom Truck banh mi sandwich (lemon grass tofu or grilled pork) and Crepe'n Around banana nutella or berries and cream crêpe, all while listening to music from the Masanga Marimba Ensemble.
As Jet Tila insisted during the event, "Street food is take-out, but not fast food." And the food that was sampled after the show was anything but fast food. It tasted like it was slow cooking for hours. It was fresh, rustic and full of never-before-tasted flavors that - to this taster - could only be summed up as simply, "yum" and "yes, more please."
Want to experience global gourmet for yourself? Check out the Santa Monica Food Trucks every Tuesday on the corner of Ocean Park Blvd. and Main Street from 5:30pm to 9:30pm.
Comments