During the very few times I have gone overseas, I have always marveled at how other nations simply buy food from a street vendor and nibble on while window shopping, or waiting for the bus. You will find people in Malaysia nibbling on some skewered pork satay, people eating a bag of roast chestnuts in Singapore, the thousands of samoosa stands in Chennai, etc. The concept is simple; food on the go.
Not that I have been to all these places.
My fascination with street food started when I spent a couple of weeks in Singapore, which is the epicenter of Oriental cuisine in my opinion. At every street corner there is something for you to buy, nibble on and by the time you get to the next corner, you have finished and need to replenish. I once had a street dinner there, walked to the first stand and bought chicken satay, then to the next one and got a portion of sweet and sour pork, next was a can of Coke Light, and I had pork satay. It was pretty filling and dirt cheap, that is why I could afford Haagen Dazs for dessert.
Now back to South Africa……
We have so much good food that one can buy and eat on the go, but for some reason we don’t exploit what could be a wonderful culture. Let me give you a few, boerewors roll, the peanuts sold in central Johannesburg street corners, our lovely fruit, koeksisters, moatwana (chicken feet), sheeps’ feet, vetkoek and mince, mealies, etc. Why can’t I walk to a fruit vendor, and ask her to make me a fruit salad of banana and papaya, right there on the street?
These are just a few examples of things that could make for wonderful street food. Portable, and affordable. I think the reason we don’t have a street food culture is because we don’t walk around a lot, especially at night. Blame it on crime, or the apartheid architects who forced us into shopping in malls and not walking up and down the streets in the city centers. The reality is that we do not walk the streets in South Africa. You simply step out of your office, grab a cob of mealies and then dash back to your desk and eat it there. Why don’t you walk around the block, marvel at the city buildings while nibbling on some fresh mealies?
Just leave valuables behind.
Not that I have been to all these places.
My fascination with street food started when I spent a couple of weeks in Singapore, which is the epicenter of Oriental cuisine in my opinion. At every street corner there is something for you to buy, nibble on and by the time you get to the next corner, you have finished and need to replenish. I once had a street dinner there, walked to the first stand and bought chicken satay, then to the next one and got a portion of sweet and sour pork, next was a can of Coke Light, and I had pork satay. It was pretty filling and dirt cheap, that is why I could afford Haagen Dazs for dessert.
Now back to South Africa……
We have so much good food that one can buy and eat on the go, but for some reason we don’t exploit what could be a wonderful culture. Let me give you a few, boerewors roll, the peanuts sold in central Johannesburg street corners, our lovely fruit, koeksisters, moatwana (chicken feet), sheeps’ feet, vetkoek and mince, mealies, etc. Why can’t I walk to a fruit vendor, and ask her to make me a fruit salad of banana and papaya, right there on the street?
These are just a few examples of things that could make for wonderful street food. Portable, and affordable. I think the reason we don’t have a street food culture is because we don’t walk around a lot, especially at night. Blame it on crime, or the apartheid architects who forced us into shopping in malls and not walking up and down the streets in the city centers. The reality is that we do not walk the streets in South Africa. You simply step out of your office, grab a cob of mealies and then dash back to your desk and eat it there. Why don’t you walk around the block, marvel at the city buildings while nibbling on some fresh mealies?
Just leave valuables behind.
6 comments:
You forgot restaurants in the form of a tent with gas cookers in KL at every fourth street corner. "Not that Ive been to all these places".....Is that like the creative lady that can write about Mt Kilimanjaro without climbing it?
Oh there's Enjoli, Ive always wanted to buy Afaal from there. But now seriously the problem with some of this oriental food that is dirt cheap is that its sometimes not too far removed from dirt itself. Take for example the rows of roast full chicken that are hanged and displayed in most Chinese take out stands or trolleys, and you know Asia is not the coldest place on earth so fly kingdom would have already had half the drumstick long before you leave your house and decide to get hungry enough to buy food from one of those places. The satays I must admit Im a fan, I'll eat dirty or clean. eeeeuwwww...but then its braaied right infront of you so thats ok.
aHa ha ha ha
yeah, like the imaginary Kili lady.
I agree with you, I dont think I would eat street food in places like Cambodia or Myanmar. Singapore is pretty strict with hygiene laws.
that's another one. bowls of afaal and a slice of steamed bread.
My tummy is very sensitive, so i treat it with uttermost respect. this one time i decided to throw caution into the wind,i bought Amagwinya from a street vendor...i got sick within 5 seconds of consuming them..so i prefer to avoid them...no offence..
I know what you mean...
You should buy them early in the morning when the oil hasnt gone through ten batches of dough and changed colour in the process.
I enjoyed reading that.
Post a Comment