Street food

Street foodis food sold by ahawkerorvendoron a street or at another public place, such as a market, fair, or park. It is often sold from a portablefood booth,food cart, orfood truckand is meant for immediate consumption. Some street foods are regional, but many have spread beyond their regions of origin. Most street foods are classified as bothfinger foodandfast foodand are typically cheaper than restaurant meals. Thetypes of street foodvary between regions and cultures in different countries around the world.According to a 2007 study from theFood and Agriculture Organization, 2.5 billion people eat street food every day.While some cultures consider it to be rude to walk on the street while eating,a majority of middle- to high-income consumersrely on the quick access and cheap service of street food for daily nutrition and job opportunities, especially in developing countries.
Today's governments and other organizations are increasingly concerned with both the socioeconomic importance of street food and its associated risks. These risks includefood safety,sanitation, illegal use of public or private areas,social problems, andtraffic congestion.
In ancientGreece, small fried fish was a street food;however, the Greek philosopherTheophrastusheld the custom of street food in low regard.Evidence of a large number of street food vendors was discovered during the excavation ofPompeii.Street food was widely consumed by poor urban residents ofancient Romewhose tenement houses did not have ovens or hearths.Chickpea soupwith bread and grain pastewere common meals.
A travelling Florentine reported in the late 14th century noted that inCairo, people brought picnic cloths made ofrawhideto spread on the streets and sit on while they ate their meals of lamb kebabs, rice, and fritters they purchased from street vendors.In RenaissanceTurkey, many crossroads had vendors selling "fragrant bites of hot meat," including chicken and lamb that had been spit-roasted.In 1502,Ottoman Turkeybecame the first country to legislate and standardize the sale of street food.
In the 19th century, street food vendors inTransylvaniasold gingerbread nuts, cream mixed with corn, and bacon and other meat fried on top of ceramic vessels with hot coals inside.French fries, consisting of fried strips of potato, probably originated as a street food in Paris in the 1840s.Street foods in VictorianLondonincludedtripe, pea soup, pea pods in butter,whelk,prawnsandjellied eels.
Aztecmarket places had vendors who sold beverages such asatolli("a gruel made from maize dough"), almost 50 types oftamales(with ingredients ranging from the meat ofturkey,rabbit,gopher,frogandfishtofruits,eggsand maize flowers),as well as insects and stews.Spanish colonization brought European food stocks likewheat,sugarcaneand livestock toPeru, but most commoners continued to primarily eat their traditional diets. Imports were only accepted at the margins of their diet, for example, grilled beef hearts sold by street vendors.Some ofLima's 19th-century street vendors such as "Erasmo, the 'negro' Sango vendor" and Na Agardite are still remembered today.
During the American Colonial period, "street vendors sold oysters, roasted corn ears, fruit, and sweets at low prices to all classes."Oysters, in particular, were cheap and popular street food until around 1910 when overfishing and pollution caused prices to rise.Street vendors inNew York Cityfaced considerable opposition. After previous restrictions had limited their operating hours, street food vendors were completely banned in New York City by 1707.Many women of African descent made their living selling street foods in America in the 18th and 19th centuries, with products ranging from fruit, cakes, and nuts in Savannah, to coffee, biscuits, pralines and other sweets inNew Orleans.Cracker Jackstarted as one of many street food exhibits at theColumbian Exposition.
The selling of street food inChinastretches back millennia and became an integral part of Chinese food culture during theTang Dynasty.  In ancientChina, street food generally catered to the poor, though wealthy residents would send servants to buy street food and bring it back for them to eat at home.Street food continues to play a major role inChinese cuisinewithregional street foodgenerating a strong interest inculinary tourismamong both domestic and international travellers.Because of theChinese diaspora, Chinese street food has had a major influence on other cuisines across Asia and even introduced the concept of a street food culture to other countries. The street food culture of much of Southeast Asia was established bycoolieworkers imported from China during the late 19th century.
Ramen, whose predecessor was originally brought toJapanby Chinese immigrants in the late 19th or early 20th century, began as a street food for Chinese laborers and students who lived inYokohama Chinatown.However, ramen gradually became a "national dish" of Japan and even acquired regional variations as it spread across the country.
Street food was commonly sold by theethnic Chinese populationofThailandand did not become popular among native Thai people until the early 1960s,when the rapid urban population growth stimulated the street food culture, and by the 1970s it had "displaced home-cooking."As a result, manyThai street foodsare derived from or heavily influenced by Chinese cuisine.About 76% of urban residents in Thailand regularly visit street food vendors. The rise ofthe country's tourism industryhas also contributed to the popularity of Thai street food. Thailand's 103,000 street food vendors alone generated 270 billion baht in revenues in 2017. Suvit Maesincee,Minister of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, expects the Thai street food segment to grow by six to seven percent annually from 2020 forward.Multiple studies showed that contamination of food that street food vendors sell is at the same level as the contamination at restaurants.An estimated 2% or 160,000 vendors provide street food for Bangkok's 8 million people.
TheArthashastramentions food vendors in ancientIndia. One regulation states that "those who trade in cooked rice, liquor, and flesh" are to live in the south of the city. Another states that superintendents of storehouses may give surpluses of bran and flour to "those who prepare cooked rice, and rice-cakes", while a regulation involving city superintendents references "sellers of cooked flesh and cooked rice".
In Delhi, India, it is said that kings used to visit the kebab vendors on the street, which are still in operation. During the colonial times, fusion street food was created, which was made with British customers in mind.
InIndonesia, especiallyJava, traveling food and drink vendors have a long history, as they were described in templebas reliefsdated from the 9th century, as well as mentioned in 14th-century inscription as a line of work. In Indonesia, street food is sold from carts and bicycles. During the colonialDutch East Indiesperiodc.19th century, several street foods were developed and documented, includingsatayanddawet(cendol) street vendors. The current proliferation of Indonesia's vigorous street food culture is contributed by the massiveurbanizationin recent decades that has opened opportunities in food service sectors. This took place in the country's rapidly expanding urban agglomerations, especially inGreater Jakarta,Bandung, andSurabaya.
Singapore has a large number ofhawker centreswhich evolved from the traditional commerce of street food and was incorporated intoUNESCO'sList of Intangible Cultural Heritageon 16 December 2020.
Street food vending is found all around the world and varies greatly between regions and cultures.
Dorling Kindersley describes the street food ofVietnamas being "fresh and lighter than many of the cuisines in the area" and "draw[ing] heavily on herbs, Chile peppers and lime," while street food of Thailand is "fiery" and "pungent with shrimp paste and fish sauce."Street food in Thailandoffers a varied selection of ready-to-eat meals, snacks, fruits and drinks. The capital of Thailand, Bangkok, has been listed as one of the best places for street food.Popular street offerings in Bangkok includePad Thai(stir fried rice noodle),green papaya salad, sourtom yumsoup,Thai curriesandmango sticky rice.
Indonesian street foodis a diverse mix of local Indonesian, Chinese, and Dutch influences.Indonesian street food is often strongly flavored and spicy. Much of the street food in Indonesia is fried, such as fritters,nasi gorengandayam goreng.Bakso(meatball soup),satay(skewered chicken) andgado-gado(vegetable salad served inpeanut sauce) are also popular.
Indian street food is as diverse asIndian cuisine. Some of the more popular street food dishes arevada pav,misal pav,chole bhature,parathas,bhel puri,sev puri,gol gappa(also calledpani puriin Karnatake and Maharashtra or puchka in West Bengal)aloo tikki,kebabs,tandoori chicken,samosas,kachori,idli,pohe,egg bhurji,pav bhaji,pulaw,pakora,lassi,kulfiandfalooda. In Hindi-speaking regions of India, street food is popularly known asnukkadwalafood ("corner" food). In South India, foods likemirchi bajji,punugulu, and mokkajonna (corn roasted on coal) are common street foods, along with breakfast items like idli,dosaandbonda. Other popular Asian fusion street food includegobi manchurian, momos and omelette. While some vendors streamline the recipes of popular dishes to sell them on the street, several restaurants have taken their inspiration from the street food of India.
Falafelis a popular dish in theMiddle East. Vendors sell it on street corners in Israel, Egypt, and Syria. Another food sold commonly on the street inEgyptisful, a slow-cooked fava bean dish.
InDenmark,sausage wagonsallow passers-by to purchase sausages andhot dogs.
InJamaicaa traditional dish isJamaican jerk chicken. The original marinade calls for ingredients such as Scotch bonnet peppers, allspice berries and sometimes wood from laurel trees.
Mexican street foodis known asantojitos(translated as "little cravings") and features several varieties of tacos, such astacos al pastor, as well ashuarachesand other maize-based foods.
New York City's signature street food is thehot dog, but New York street food also includes everything from Middle Eastern falafel to Jamaican jerk chicken to Belgian waffles.
InHawaii, the local street food tradition of "plate lunch" (rice, macaroni salad, and a portion of meat) was inspired by thebentoof the Japanese who had been brought to Hawaii as plantation workers.
Because of differences in culture, social stratification, and history, the ways in which family street vendor enterprises are traditionally created and run vary in different areas of the world.Often, women's success in the street food market depends on trends of gender equality. This is evidenced in Bangladesh, where few women are street vendors. However, in Nigeria and Thailand, women dominate the street food trade.
Doreen Fernandezsays Filipino cultural attitudes towards meals affect the street food phenomenon in the Philippines, because eating street food outside does not conflict with eating at one's house, which typically lacks dedicated eating rooms.
Other cultural phenomena that affect the street food market include the cultural implications of eating while walking down the street. In some cultures, this is considered to be rude,such as JapaneseorSwahili cultures. Despite not being allowed for adults, it is culturally acceptable for children to do.In India, Henrike Donner wrote about a "marked distinction between food that could be eaten outside, especially by women," and the food prepared and eaten at home, with some non-Indian food being too "strange" or tied too closely to non-vegetarian preparation methods to be made at home.
In Tanzania'sDar es Salaamregion, street food vendors produce economic benefits beyond their families. Because street food vendors purchase local fresh foods, urban gardens and small-scale farms in the area have expanded.In the United States, street food vendors are credited with supporting New York City's rapid growth by supplying meals for the city's merchants and workers.Proprietors of street food in the United States have had a goal of upward mobility, moving from selling on the street to their own shops.However, in Mexico, an increase in street vendors has been seen as a sign of deteriorating economic conditions in which food vending is the only employment opportunity that unskilled labor who have migrated from rural areas to urban areas are able to find.
In 2002,Coca-Colareported that China, India, and Nigeria, where the company's expansion efforts included training and equipping mobile street vendors to sell its products, were some of their fastest-growing markets.
The libertarianReasonmagazine states that in US cities, food trucks are subject to regulations designed to prevent them from competing withbrick and mortarrestaurants. For example, in Chicago, a regulation prevents food trucks "...from selling food within 200 feet of brick-and-mortar restaurants and, hence, prohibit them from operating throughout the city's downtown area," which critics have called an "anti-competitive" rule for food truck operators.
Since 1984,Folsom Street Fairin San Francisco is home of one of the most diverse street food fairs.In addition to much leather, and people in various states of dress and undress, the event features an outdoor food court serving a variety of street food. For donations of $10 or more, visitors get a $2 discount on each drink purchased at the fair. In 2018, the street photographer Michael Rababy documented it in his book,Folsom Street Food Court.
Netflixhas also featured the street foods of the world through its TV seriesStreet Food, with the first volume focusing on Asia, and the second on Latin America.
As early as the 14th century, government officials oversaw street food vendor activities.With the increasing pace of globalization and tourism, the safety of street food has become one of the major concerns ofpublic health, and a focus for governments and scientists to raise public awareness.However, despite concerns about contamination at street food vendors, the incidence of such is low, with studies showing rates comparable to restaurants.
In Singapore, street food vendors known as "hawkers", over half of which were unlicensed, were considered "primarily a nuisance to be removed from the streets".113hawker centerswere constructed between 1971 and 1986 to remove hawkers from the streets while preserving the food culture.
In 2002, a sampling of 511 street foods inGhanaby theWorld Health Organizationshowed that most had microbial counts within the accepted limits,and a different sampling of 15 street foods in Calcutta showed that they were "nutritionally well balanced", providing roughly 200 kcal (Cal) of energy perrupeeof cost.
In the United Kingdom, theFood Standards Agencyhas provided comprehensive guidance offood safetyfor the vendors, traders and retailers of the street food sector since 2000.Other effective ways of enhancing the safety of street foods include:mystery shoppingprograms, training, rewarding programs to vendors, regulatory governing and membership management programs, and technical testing programs.
In India, the government recognized the fundamental rights of the street food vendors and have imposed reasonable restrictions. And in 2006, the India legislature enacted the Food Safety and Standards Act to monitor the quality of food.
Despite knowledge of the risk factors, actual harm to consumers’ health is yet to be fully proven and understood. Due to difficulties in tracking cases and the lack of disease-reporting systems, follow-up studies proving actual connections between street food consumption and food-borne diseases are still very few. Little attention has been devoted to consumers and their eating habits, behaviors and awareness. The fact that social and geographical origins largely determine consumers’ physiological adaptation and reaction to foods—whether contaminated or not—is neglected in the literature.
In the late 1990s, the United Nations and other organizations began to recognize that street vendors had been an underused method of delivering fortified foods to populations, and in 2007, theUN Food and Agriculture Organizationrecommended considering methods of adding nutrients and supplements to street foods that are commonly consumed by the particular culture.