Boston Food Bloggers & Writers
A place for Boston food bloggers and writers to chat about food :)
Boston Street Food
Whenever a friend returns from a trip overseas, I always ask, “Did you eat the street food?” I do: it’s fast, it’s cheap, and it offers a revealing glimpse into a culture, showing what ordinary working locals eat. Gobbling bánh mì and pho from roadside stands in Vietnam gave me a culinary tour of the country in miniature: all the essential flavors, ingredients, and historical culinary influences were there to be tasted in a sandwich and a bowl of noodle soup.
Despite the fact that Boston isn’t very friendly to street vendors, a handful of chefs on wheels manage to reflect out multicultural diversity with cheap, delicious food to go. In addition to American classics like frankfurters and barbecue, Bostonians can enjoy cart cuisine from Thailand, Vietnam, China, Mexico, El Salvador, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Lebanon, and Israel. Of course, our worst dining habits are on display too: next to that purveyor of healthy kebabs, there’s usually a caramel-glazed nut stand.
Fortunately, for the most part, Bostonians are not irrational germophobes. The lines at most carts demonstrate that we’ve assessed the risk of food-borne illness from street vendors as acceptably low. My take? If you’ve survived what goes on in some of our most popular fine-dining kitchens, a little dirty hot dog water isn’t going to kill you. So herewith, in all its easily relocated, occasionally hard-to-find glory, is the best of Boston’s street food smorgasbord.
More:
Despite the fact that Boston isn’t very friendly to street vendors, a handful of chefs on wheels manage to reflect out multicultural diversity with cheap, delicious food to go. In addition to American classics like frankfurters and barbecue, Bostonians can enjoy cart cuisine from Thailand, Vietnam, China, Mexico, El Salvador, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Lebanon, and Israel. Of course, our worst dining habits are on display too: next to that purveyor of healthy kebabs, there’s usually a caramel-glazed nut stand.
Fortunately, for the most part, Bostonians are not irrational germophobes. The lines at most carts demonstrate that we’ve assessed the risk of food-borne illness from street vendors as acceptably low. My take? If you’ve survived what goes on in some of our most popular fine-dining kitchens, a little dirty hot dog water isn’t going to kill you. So herewith, in all its easily relocated, occasionally hard-to-find glory, is the best of Boston’s street food smorgasbord.
More:
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by MC Slim JB on -
While I'm gratified to see a forum dedicated to Boston street food, I'd ask that you please attribute this particular entry to me, as It's my introduction to my recent cover feature for Stuff Magazine, now on newsstands and available online here: http://stuffboston.com/stuffboston/archive/2009/06/15/Boston-street...
I'm not sure how Phoenix Media will feel about unauthorized online reprints of its copyrighted content, but for now, a proper attribution would be much appreciated.
All the best,
MC Slim JB
http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/
About
© 2010 Created by Rachel on Ning. Create a Ning Network!
