So it turns out…

…that Russia has comically terrible internet connections outside Moscow, there are no computers in Mongolian gers, and China blocks wordpress. But, I’m in Nepal now and happily at a computer so I’ll begin catching up on all the great street food I’ve tasted, relished and snagged recipes for.

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A Little Bit of China in Flushing

When I moved back from China in 2003, I had forgotten how to communicate in English (I couldn’t really speak in Chinese either) and I craved Chinese street food. I spent hours on the internet tracking down recipes, testing the authenticity of cookbooks I discovered, and traipsing from Brighton Beach to Manhattan and Queens and back again to indulge in the flavors I missed. I had some hits and misses (one miss involving a very hungover friend and a 45 minute subway ride on the Q train and some dismal food) and some delicious rewards. And while these experiments were fun, I would have killed for this brilliant interactive map and feature in today’s NY Times about the Chinese food in Flushing.

Chinese street food is clearly a popular topic for a newspaper feature as the Olympics are around the corner and hundreds of previously uninitiated tourists are about to taste Chinese street food for the first time. The Star wrote a Beijing Street Food Top 10 List. While I don’t think a list of ten can do Chinese street food justice, this list does show the brilliant breadth of Beijing street foods and its origins from Xinjiang to Wuhan.

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Word on the Street

I used to work in fashion (before I quit my job last month) and a big part of my job was figuring out what trends would take off and ensuring we had enough inventory to support those sales. I’m no longer concerned about fall’s hem-length, but having recently seen a slew of street-food inspired restaurants open and TV programs exploring exotic street dishes launched, I’m quite certain we’re in middle of a street food trend.

Some of the street-food inspired events, news and restaurants that seem worth checking out…

Slow on the Go: Alice Waters is bringing her Slow Food Nation to Fort Mason and the Civic Center in San Francisco. With events over Labor Day weekend that promote sustainable, fresh, and organic street food, the $45+ tix don’t seem too expensive.

The New York Times has reviewed sweet mobile treats in its $25-and-under dining section and a few weeks ago wrote a round-up of fried milk street foods around the globe.

In San Francisco, Kasa Indian Eatery opened to rave reviews, introducing Bay Area foodies to kati rolls—an Indian burrito-like street food staple. Further north in Portland, Andy Rickter is the chef at Pok Pok which serves Thai street food and won the 2007 Portland Restaurant of the Year. Great blog post about Andy at the rambling spoon.

In NYC, Tuck Shop sells authentic Aussie street food—meat pies—in midtown and Macondo, named after Gabriel García Márquez’s fictional town in One Hundred Years of Solitude, recently opened downtown serving up-scale Latin American street food. Check out this Times article to create one of Macondo’s cocktails. If it’s Venezuelan street food you’re craving however, East Village staple Caracas still impresses. And I’m pretty much willing to sell my soul for the recipe of their spicy sauce…

Al Jazeera has a program exploring street food around the world and if you don’t have access to that channel, check out the shows online. And of course with the Travel Channel’s No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain, there’s no lack of street food programming.

If you’re in Jackson Heights, Jim Leff has created a Google map of obscure street food.

And if none of these street eats are nearby, enjoy Thomas Swick’s ode to street food.

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Street Food News and Article Roundup

A round up of Street Food news around the world…

Kate Armstrong, from the Sydney Morning Herald, writes a colorful round up, with great historical research, of street food in Dolores Hidalgo, Mexico.

…and Dan Perlman puzzles over the lack of street food in Buenos Aires before he discovers where to find it.

…meanwhile Christine Grimard discovers a street in Hanoi, Vietnam dedicated to cooking bbq chicken wings.

And cities around the US and Canada have been changing their street food licensing laws, some, like Toronto are attempting to compete with NYC’s vibrantly varied street food scene, though it seems the plan has momentarily stalled and others, like LA, are limiting the ability of vendors to sell their foods. DC is trying to ease its regulations though some fear the new regulations are having a negative effect.

In India, the Urban Development Department in Kolkota has been teaching the city’s 120,000 food vendors about food hygiene and safety to great results. I’ll be traveling through there in November and look forward to tasting this abundance of (hygienic) street food.

While in Mumbai, a political party uses street food to promote its anti-immigrant ideology.

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