List of street food
Encyclopedia
Street food
Street food is ready-to-eat food or drink sold in a street or other public place, such as a market or fair, by a hawker or vendor, often from a portable stall. While some street foods are regional, many are not, having spread beyond their region of origin. Most street food are both finger and fast...
is ready-to-eat food or drink sold in a street or other public place, such as a market or fair, by a hawker or vendor
Hawker (trade)
A hawker is a vendor of merchandise that can be easily transported; the term is roughly synonymous with peddler or costermonger. In most places where the term is used, a hawker sells items or food that are native to the area...
, often from a portable stall
Market stall
A market stall is a typically immobile, temporary structure erected by merchants to display and shelter their merchandise in a street market or other setting. Stalls are easily erected, taken down or simply moved on wheels...
.
South Africa
In South Africa, boereworsBoerewors
Boerewors is a sausage, popular in South African cuisine. The name comes from the Afrikaans words and , and is pronounced , with a trilled .-History:...
and other braai
Braai
The word braaivleis is Afrikaans for "grilled meat."The word braai is Afrikaans for "barbecue" or "grill" and is a social custom in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Zambia. The term originated with the Afrikaner people, but has since been adopted by South Africans of many...
food are available in the street. In township
Township (South Africa)
In South Africa, the term township and location usually refers to the urban living areas that, from the late 19th century until the end of Apartheid, were reserved for non-whites . Townships were usually built on the periphery of towns and cities...
s, ethnic foods are available.
In Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, a popular street food is the Gatsby
Gatsby (sandwich)
A Gatsby is a South African style of deli sandwich very similar in content and method of preparation as a hoagie in the USA. It is mostly popular in the Western Cape Province. It is very popular because of its low cost and great appeal....
, a baguette
Baguette
A baguette is "a long thin loaf of French bread" that is commonly made from basic lean dough...
filled with meat
Meat
Meat is animal flesh that is used as food. Most often, this means the skeletal muscle and associated fat and other tissues, but it may also describe other edible tissues such as organs and offal...
(often bologna sausage
Bologna sausage
Bologna sausage is an American sausage derived from and definitely not similar to the Italian mortadella . It is commonly called boloney, baloney or, more formally, bologna...
), salad
Salad
Salad is any of a wide variety of dishes, including vegetable salads; salads of pasta, legumes, eggs, or grains; mixed salads incorporating meat, poultry, or seafood; and fruit salads. They may include a mixture of cold and hot, often including raw vegetables or fruits.Green salads include leaf...
, cheese
Cheese
Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....
and chips
French fries
French fries , chips, fries, or French-fried potatoes are strips of deep-fried potato. North Americans tend to refer to any pieces of deep-fried potatoes as fries or French fries, while in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand, long, thinly cut slices of deep-fried potatoes are...
. It is said to have originated from a single restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
, and has become popular throughout Cape Town.
Another popular food is bunny chow
Bunny chow
Bunny chow, often referred to as a Bunny is a South African fast food dish consisting of a hollowed out loaf of bread filled with curry, that originated in the Durban Indian community. Bunny chow is also called a kota in many parts of South Africa.-History:The bunny chow was created in Durban,...
. It is a scooped out loaf with fufu
Fufu
Fufu, , is a staple snack of West and Central Africa. It is a thick paste usually made by boiling starchy root vegetables in water and pounding with a mortar and pestle until the desired consistency is reached...
or atchar inside and with the scooped out bread placed on top. A legend states that Indian golf caddies invented it during apartheid, as they were not allowed to use cutlery
Cutlery
Cutlery refers to any hand implement used in preparing, serving, and especially eating food in the Western world. It is more usually known as silverware or flatware in the United States, where cutlery can have the more specific meaning of knives and other cutting instruments. This is probably the...
. Note that while there may well have been individual cases where such or similarly ridiculous prohibitions were foisted willynilly upon victims of apartheid—thus giving rise to the legend—there is no ordinance or law on record stating anything like it.
Ethiopia
InjeraInjera
Injera is a yeast-risen flatbread with a unique, slightly spongy texture. Traditionally made out of teff flour, it is a national dish in Ethiopia and Eritrea...
bread is the method of eating several types of street foods. Tibs Wat, a spicy stew is placed on a plate with a folded piece of injera and fried Neeka stalks.
Ghana
Street food in GhanaGhana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
is mainly based upon local cuisine. Street food is available from travelling pedestrian vendors, street stalls, and ubiquitous "chop bars". Street breakfast
Breakfast
Breakfast is the first meal taken after rising from a night's sleep, most often eaten in the early morning before undertaking the day's work...
s across the country consist of different assortments of porridges, as well as omelettes and bread served with tea
Tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...
. Traditional African dishes, such as fufu
Fufu
Fufu, , is a staple snack of West and Central Africa. It is a thick paste usually made by boiling starchy root vegetables in water and pounding with a mortar and pestle until the desired consistency is reached...
, kenkey
Kenkey
Kenkey or Dokonu or Komi is a staple dish similar to a sourdough dumpling from the Akan, Ga and Ewe inhabited regions of West Africa, usually served with a soup, stew, or sauce. Areas where Kenkey are eaten are southern Ghana, eastern Côte d'Ivoire, Togo, western Benin and Jamaica. It is usually...
, banku, fried yam
Yam (vegetable)
Yam is the common name for some species in the genus Dioscorea . These are perennial herbaceous vines cultivated for the consumption of their starchy tubers in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Oceania...
s, and bushmeat
Bushmeat
Bushmeat initially referred to the hunting of wild animals in West and Central Africa and is a calque from the French viande de brousse. Today the term is commonly used for meat of terrestrial wild animals, killed for subsistence or commercial purposes throughout the humid tropics of the Americas,...
are popular across the country; regional varieties use local foods, such as tilapia
Tilapia
Tilapia , is the common name for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fish from the tilapiine cichlid tribe. Tilapia inhabit a variety of fresh water habitats, including shallow streams, ponds, rivers and lakes. Historically, they have been of major importance in artisan fishing in Africa and the...
in Ashanti Region
Ashanti Region
The Ashanti Region is the third largest of 10 administrative regions in Ghana, occupying a total land surface of 24389 square kilometers or 10.2 per cent of the total land area of Ghana. In terms of population, however, it is the most populated region with a population of 3,612,950 in 2000,...
, fresh seafood along the coastline and fried cheese
Cheese
Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....
in the Northern regions. Rice dishes are also common, consisting of rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
served with noodles, baked beans
Baked beans
Baked beans is a dish containing beans, sometimes baked but, despite the name, usually stewed, in a sauce. Most commercial canned baked beans are made from haricot beans, also known as navy beans – a variety of Phaseolus vulgaris – in a sauce. In Ireland and the United Kingdom, a tomato...
, and can be garnished as according to the customer by extra toppings of egg, chicken, fish, gari
Gari (ginger)
is a type of tsukemono . It is sweet, thinly sliced young ginger that has been marinated in a solution of sugar and vinegar. Gari is often served and eaten after sushi, and is sometimes called sushi ginger...
, and vegetables. Fruits are also popular street food, ranging from Coconut
Coconut
The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
s and banana
Banana
Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....
s to seasonal orange
Orange (fruit)
An orange—specifically, the sweet orange—is the citrus Citrus × sinensis and its fruit. It is the most commonly grown tree fruit in the world....
s and mango
Mango
The mango is a fleshy stone fruit belonging to the genus Mangifera, consisting of numerous tropical fruiting trees in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae. The mango is native to India from where it spread all over the world. It is also the most cultivated fruit of the tropical world. While...
es. Kebab
Kebab
Kebab is a wide variety of meat dishes originating in Middle East and later on adopted by the Middle East, and Asia Minor, and now found worldwide. In English, kebab with no qualification generally refers more specifically to shish kebab served on the skewer...
s made from beef
Beef
Beef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle. Beef can be harvested from cows, bulls, heifers or steers. It is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of the Middle East , Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Europe and the United States, and is also important in...
and pepper
Black pepper
Black pepper is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit, known as a peppercorn when dried, is approximately in diameter, dark red when fully mature, and, like all drupes, contains a single seed...
are also widely available from travelling vendors. A wide variety of local snacks are also available, and can differ dramatically from region to region.
Beverages are often sold by food vendors. The most common street beverages, purchased from separate drinks vendors, are small plastic bags filled with purified water. Carbonated drinks in West Africa are usually available from permanent shops instead of temporary vendors, where the drinks are sold in glass bottles which must be returned to the shop for recycling and refilling. Local drinks are also sold throughout the day, such as iced kenkey, lemonade
Lemonade
Lemonade is a lemon-flavored drink, typically made from lemons, water and sugar.The term can refer to three different types of beverage:...
, and a cold ginger drink. As is the case in many members of the Commonwealth of Nations
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
, Ghanaian law prohibits the sale of alcoholic beverage
Alcoholic beverage
An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...
s except within licensed establishments, and as such alcoholic drinks are not sold by street vendors except in smaller villages, where pito, the local wine is served in calabash
Calabash
Lagenaria siceraria , bottle gourd, opo squash or long melon is a vine grown for its fruit, which can either be harvested young and used as a vegetable, or harvested mature, dried, and used as a bottle, utensil, or pipe. For this reason, the calabash is widely known as the bottle gourd...
es.
Morocco
Typical street food includes: grilled corn on the cobCorn on the cob
Corn on the cob is a culinary term used for a cooked ear of freshly picked maize from a cultivar of sweet corn. The ear is picked while the endosperm is in the "milk stage" so that the kernels are still tender...
, merguez
Merguez
Merguez is a red, spicy mutton- or beef-based fresh sausage in North African cuisine. It is also popular in the Middle East, and Europe.Merguez is a fresh sausage made with lamb, beef, or a mixture stuffed into a lamb-intestine casing...
, and snails.
Nigeria
Chin chinChin Chin
Chin Chin is a fried snack popular in Nigeria and West Africa. It is a sweet, hard, donut-like baked or fried dough of wheat flour, eggs, and other customary baking items. Chin chin may also contain cowpeas. Many people also bake it with ground nutmeg for flavor. It is usually kneaded and cut into...
is a popular dish in Nigeria, and west Africa
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
.
Other popular Nigerian street foods include Suya (barbecued meat), Roasted plantain, Fried Yam and Fish, Roasted corn, Akara and Moi-Moi (Beans cake). 'Pure Water' (sachet water) is also very popular. It is not uncommon to see 'pure water' sellers (mostly children) run up to vehicles in traffic jams with their wares. Commuters are always grateful for cold water after spending hours in the hot sun. 'Pure water' is however not always pure as anyone can produce sachet water.
Tunisia
Sweet pastries are the most common street food, as well as the ubiquitous tuna baguette.China
Xiaochi
Xiaochi are an important category of Chinese food, substantial snacks along the lines of Spanish tapas or Levantine meze.Xiaochi are not typically cooked in homes nor are they featured prominently on the menus of more formal reaturants...
) are becoming less common as local governments crack down on the practice, citing safety and traffic congestion as problems. Many vendors have also moved towards opening small restaurants and shops, and "street food" is now commonly eaten indoors at established locations.
The variety of snack foods available varies from region to region. In Sichuan
Sichuan
' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...
, a variety of such as grilled rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
balls and pan-fried noodles are sold. Beijing's Wangfujing
Wangfujing
Wángfǔjǐng , located in Dongcheng District, Beijing, is one of the Chinese capital's most famous shopping streets. Much of the road is off-limits to cars and other motor vehicles, and it is not rare to see the entire street full of people. Since the middle of the Ming Dynasty there have been...
Night Market is dedicated to street food vendors that feature many of the more unusual items one might purchase, like a large assortment of insects, as well as more typical foods like chuanr
Chuanr
Chuanr, sometimes referred to as chuan, are small pieces of meat roasted on skewers. Chuanr originated in the Xinjiang province of China and in recent years has spread throughout the rest of the country, most notably in Beijing, Tianjin, and Jilin where it is a popular street food...
(kebabs).
Bing, a flatbread made of flour and fried in oil, were once a Northeastern
Northeast China
Northeast China, historically known in English as Manchuria, is a geographical region of China, consisting of the three provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. The region is sometimes called the Three Northeast Provinces...
street food that can also be found in many areas around the country. They can be served plain or stuffed with meat or eggs, or seasoned with scallions, sauces, or other flavours. One variety originating in Shandong
Shandong
' is a Province located on the eastern coast of the People's Republic of China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history from the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River and served as a pivotal cultural and religious site for Taoism, Chinese...
and now found throughout China, jianbing guozi (煎饼果子), is made more akin to a crepe than its fried cousins, with the batter poured directly onto an iron skillet and evened out into a thin pancake. An egg is cracked on top, then various seasnoings are added. In the end, like a crepe, it is rolled for portability.
Tang hu lu
Tang hu lu
Tanghulu, also called bingtanghulu, is a traditional Chinese snack, most commonly seen in Beijing, Tianjin, and other places. It consists of candied fruits on bamboo skewers that are approximately 20cm long...
are skewers of fruit, usually Chinese hawthorn, coated by a hardened sugar syrup. Root vegetables such as the potato, taro, and sweet potato are sometimes also used.
Hong Kong
In Hong Kong notable foods include skewered beef, curry fish balls, stuffed peppers and mushrooms, and dim sum. Street side food vendors are called gaai bin dong . Street food in Hong Kong can grow into a substantial business with the stalls only barely "mobile" in the traditional street food sense (see dai pai dongDai pai dong
Dai pai dong is a type of open-air food stall once very popular in Hong Kong. The government registration name in Hong Kong is "cooked-food stalls", but dai pai dong literally means "restaurant with a big license plate", referring to its size of license which is bigger than other licensed street...
).
India
The quintessential Indian street food is ChaatChaat
Chaat is a term describing savoury snacks, typically served at road-side tracks from stalls or carts in India. With its origins in east India, chaat has become immensely popular in the rest of India and the rest of South Asia...
—a generic name for a tangy and spicy mix, whose ingredients can be quite varied. The tangy flavor is usually imparted by the use of lemon
Lemon
The lemon is both a small evergreen tree native to Asia, and the tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit. The fruit is used for culinary and non-culinary purposes throughout the world – primarily for its juice, though the pulp and rind are also used, mainly in cooking and baking...
, pomegranate
Pomegranate
The pomegranate , Punica granatum, is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing between five and eight meters tall.Native to the area of modern day Iran, the pomegranate has been cultivated in the Caucasus since ancient times. From there it spread to Asian areas such as the Caucasus as...
seeds, Kala Namak (black salt), tamarind
Tamarind
Tamarind is a tree in the family Fabaceae. The genus Tamarindus is monotypic .-Origin:...
, and various chutney
Chutney
Chutney is a a condiment used in South Asian cuisine that usually contains a spice and vegetable mix.Chutneys are wet or dry, having a coarse to fine texture. The Anglo-Indian loan word refers to fresh and pickled preparations indiscriminately, with preserves often sweetened. At least several...
s. Chaat can be prepared with fruit, with popular ones including guava
Guava
Guavas are plants in the myrtle family genus Psidium , which contains about 100 species of tropical shrubs and small trees. They are native to Mexico, Central America, and northern South America...
, banana
Banana
Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....
, apple
Apple
The apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family . It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely known of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans. Apple grow on small, deciduous trees that blossom in the spring...
, melon
Melon
thumb|200px|Various types of melonsThis list of melons includes members of the plant family Cucurbitaceae with edible, fleshy fruit e.g. gourds or cucurbits. The word "melon" can refer to either the plant or specifically to the fruit...
, etc. It could instead be made using small crisp pancakes made from fried flour, called "paapri", along with yogurt. Potatoes sauteed with black cumin
Cumin
Cumin is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, native from the east Mediterranean to India. Its seeds are used in the cuisines of many different cultures, in both whole and ground form.-Etymology:...
powder constitute another variant. In Indian cities, street vendors also sell drinks including Lassi
Lassi
Lassi is a popular and traditional yogurt-based drink of the Indian Subcontinent. It is made by blending yogurt with water and Indian spices...
(yogurt drink sold plain/salty, sweet, or fruit flavored), Sherbet and Jaljeera. Additionally, hole-in-the-wall kebab
Kebab
Kebab is a wide variety of meat dishes originating in Middle East and later on adopted by the Middle East, and Asia Minor, and now found worldwide. In English, kebab with no qualification generally refers more specifically to shish kebab served on the skewer...
shops can be found in major cities.
- Pani Puri (also known as gol gappas or phuchkas) and BhelpuriBhelpuriBhelpuri is a puffed rice dish with various vegetables and a tangy tamarind sauce. It is a type of chaat, or small plates of savoury snacks, particularly identified with the beaches of Mumbai , such as Chowpatty. Bhelpuri is called Jhaal Muri in Kolkata...
. Panipuri are hollow crisp balls made from dough, and filled as-you-eat with a spicy concoction of water and potatoPotatoThe potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...
es, topped by a choice of sweet or spicy chutneyChutneyChutney is a a condiment used in South Asian cuisine that usually contains a spice and vegetable mix.Chutneys are wet or dry, having a coarse to fine texture. The Anglo-Indian loan word refers to fresh and pickled preparations indiscriminately, with preserves often sweetened. At least several...
. - Aloo TikkiAloo TikkiAloo tikki is a North Indian snack made of boiled potatoes and various spices. "Aloo" means potato, and the word "tikki" means a small cutlet or croquette. It is found in almost every chaat shop or stall all over Delhi majorly and even other parts of India...
These are patties made up of mashed potatoes and masala deep fried in oil. They are served typically with a curry called Chholey (chick peas). They are popular in winter in North India. - Chaap is a version of potato patties dipped in flour batter and deep fried. They are served along with onion and beet slices. They are referred to by this name in the Eastern part of the country. One can obtain chaap on local trains travelling to and from Kolkatta. The word "chaap" is probably a corruption of "chop".
- Poori-Subzie (or Bhaajee) This is available mostly in North India, especially in Uttar Pradesh. The curry (subzie) consists usually of potatoes in gravy. Sometimes, especially in the southern part of the country the potatoes do not have gravy and the poories are exclusively made up of refined flour (maida).
- Chai-faen This term refers to tea with a roasted biscuit called "faen", possibly a corruption of "fan" which the shape of the biscuit resembles. The biscuit is also called "khaaree biscuit" in other parts of the country. This is available in North India, especially in Uttar Pradesh in cities like Agra and Mathura.
- Vada pavVada pavVada pav , sometimes spelled wada pav, is a popular vegetarian fast food dish native to the Indian state of Maharashtra. It consists of a batata vada sandwiched between 2 slices of a pav. The compound word batata vada refers in Marathi to a vada made out of batata, the latter referring to a potato...
is an example of West IndiaWest IndiaWest India or the Western region of India consists of the states of Goa, Gujarat and Maharashtra, along with the Union Territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. It is highly industrialized, with a large urban population. Most of Western India was part of the Maratha Empire before...
n street food. Masala chaiMasala chaiMasala chai is a beverage from the Indian subcontinent made by brewing tea with a mixture of aromatic Indian spices and herbs.-Terminology:-Plain chai:...
, a spiced tea, is also for sale. A syrupSyrupIn cooking, a syrup is a thick, viscous liquid consisting primarily of a solution of sugar in water, containing a large amount of dissolved sugars but showing little tendency to deposit crystals...
-covered deep-fried sweet is sold in the North as jalebiJalebi-Further reading:*Epicure's Delectable Desserts of the World By Asha Khatau ISBN 81-7991-119-5...
and the South as jangiri. It is generally cheap and available throughout India. - Thattu Dosa is a variation of DosaDosaDosa or Dhosai is a fermented crepe or pancake made from rice batter and black lentils. It is indigenous to and is a staple dish in the southern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, as well as being popular in Sri Lanka...
served in Southern India. - Bajji (deep fried vegetables in a gram flor dough), BondaBondaBonda is a typical South Indian snack that has various sweet and spicy versions of it at different regions.-Preparation:The process of making a spicy bonda involves deep-frying potato filling dipped in gram flour batter.Bonda has a sweet and a spicy variant...
(deep fried potato balls in gram flour) and vadai (deep fried lentil dough) are snacks available in the street stalls. - Putu mayamPutu MayamIddiyappam;இடியாப்பம் or 'Putu mayam' in Malay is a Tamil dish. It is popular in southern India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore....
, a cold coconutCoconutThe coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
and rice-noodle concoction, is eaten for breakfast or a snack.
Regional variations
India being a big country is rich with regional variations in street food.- There are many street offerings in the state of MaharashtraMaharashtraMaharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
. PunePunePune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...
's street food culture includes "Vada paav, sabudana vada, pani puri, ragda raav, kutchi daabeli, sev puri, dahi poori, pav bhaji, egg bhurji, chanachur, buddhi ke baal and gola." MumbaiMumbaiMumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
, MaharashtraMaharashtraMaharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
, is the place where Vada pavVada pavVada pav , sometimes spelled wada pav, is a popular vegetarian fast food dish native to the Indian state of Maharashtra. It consists of a batata vada sandwiched between 2 slices of a pav. The compound word batata vada refers in Marathi to a vada made out of batata, the latter referring to a potato...
originated. Pav bhajiPav bhajiPav Bhaji is a fast food dish that originated in Marathi cuisine, and is native to Maharashtra and is popular in most metropolitan areas in India, particularly in Pune. Pav in Marathi means a small loaf of bread. The word has been derived from Portuguese pão . Bhaji in Marathi means vegetable dish...
, is another popular dish. It acquired the status of restaurant food but had humble beginnings as street food. It has retained its original roadside availability despite this. Another concoction is pav-sample which is found at several places in Maharashtra. The "sample" refers usually to Sambar and the dish is simply pav (white bread) to be had with the curry called Sambar which is well known in India. Sambar being widely used for several other dishes as well, it was perhaps used in experimentation with pav. An extra dish of sambar is referred to as "sample". Although widely used in Maharashtra in roadside eateries, sambar is not native to the local culture. "Sample" could also mean a plate of curry called "Usal", which is a water based preparation of cooked sprouted lentils. Occasionally the term "sample" could mean anything that goes conveniently with pav (usually implying a liquid nature). Some more popular variants include the Kanda Bhajji (Crispy Onion Fritters) which are eaten as is or with Pav. Samosas and Kachori are quite common at the railway stalls in Mumbai which are served with the sweet and sour tamarind chutney & Spicy Mint Chutney. Kacchi dabeli has found its way into the heart of Maharashtrians which has its origins in Gujarat. One should not leave Mumbai/Pune without biting into the Bun Maska and Khari at the Irani Joints. Some more to join the list would be Poha, Batata Bhajji, Palak Bhajji, Upma, Sheera, Sabudana Kichadi, Dhokla(Origins in Gujarat), Thalipith, Kharwas. Off late, you can also see Hot Dogs being sold on carts in some places in Mumbai.
- Calcutta street food includes phuchka, jhal mudi, rolls (mainly egg, also chicken and mutton), mixed vegetable and potato chops (distinct from the Mumbai vada, see above), groundnuts, popcorn, and fritterFritterA fritter is any kind of food coated in batter and deep fried. Although very similar to a doughnut it differs in the fact that it requires some base ingredient beyond the dough it is cooked with.-Anglo-American fritters:...
s. Fritters are commonly eaten with mudi (puffed rice). Common varieties of fritters include beguniBeguniBeguni is a Bengali snack made of eggplant slices deep fried in batter. The similar European version is known as aubergine fritters....
(eggplants fried in chickpea batter), phuluri (fried chickpea batter), and pakodas (various vegetables fried in chickpea batter). Calcutta is also known for street-side eateries called rice hotels, serving meals centred on rice.
- KeralaKeralaor Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
, in South IndiaSouth IndiaSouth India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
, has "thattukadas: a covered cart or van with stoves and utensils, popularly found in almost all cities and towns of the state. The thattukadas operate only from evenings and goes on serving till early morning. They offer "Thattu dosa"—a light rice-flour crepeCrêpeA crêpe or crepe , is a type of very thin pancake, usually made from wheat flour or buckwheat flour . The word is of French origin, deriving from the Latin crispa, meaning "curled". While crêpes originate from Brittany, a region in the northwest of France, their consumption is widespread in France...
(dosaDosaDosa or Dhosai is a fermented crepe or pancake made from rice batter and black lentils. It is indigenous to and is a staple dish in the southern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, as well as being popular in Sri Lanka...
) fried in coconut oilCoconut oilCoconut oil is an edible oil extracted from the kernel or meat of matured coconuts harvested from the coconut palm . Throughout the tropical world, it has provided the primary source of fat in the diets of millions of people for generations. It has various applications in food, medicine, and industry...
and served with coconutCoconutThe coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
chutney. The popular menu at a thattukada includes omeletteOmeletteIn cuisine, an omelette or omelet is a dish made from beaten eggs quickly cooked with butter or oil in a frying pan, sometimes folded around a filling such as cheese, vegetables, meat , or some combination of the above...
s served as a side to thattu-dosas, spicy pork fry, crispy fried chicken, quail egg fries and parottasKerala porottaKerala Porotta, simply known as Porotta in Kerala, is a flatbread made with fine maida, eggs and fat. As the name suggests, the recipe is a Kerala variant of the North Indian Paratha. It is prepared using a technique which involves waving and puffing the dough so that the flat bread is formed of...
(like naanNaanNaan is a leavened, oven-baked flatbread. It is typical of and popular in South and Central Asia, in Iran, and in South Asian restaurants abroad. Influenced by the large influx of South Asian labour, naan has also become popular in Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf states.Originally, naan is a...
, but beaten and mixed with oil). The thattukada also famous for its evening snacks, mainly fried chilly bajji (deep fried big chilly marinated in spicy mix), onion rings, Kerala's famous banana fry etc and Paripuvada (deep fried balls made of lentils).
- Tamil NaduTamil NaduTamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
has its "thalluvandis similar to Kerala's "thattukada"s and popularly referred to as "Kaiyendhi Bhavans", a subtle irony to the famous bhavan hotels like Saravana BhavanSaravana BhavanHotel Saravana Bhavan is a vegetarian restaurant chain founded in 1981 offering south Indian cuisine. ]. They have more than 20 outlets in Chennai and several outside India including USA, Canada, London, Paris, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Middle East.saravana bhavan is leading veg...
etc. Traditional street food varieties include 'bajji' (deep fried vegetables in a gram flor dough), 'bonda' (deep fried potato balls in gram flour), 'vadai' (deep fried lentil dough), and the numerous varieties of dosais and idlis all served with traditional sambar and coconut chutney.
Indonesia
Street foods are sold by hawkers peddling their goods on bicycles or carts, known as pedagang kaki lima or makanan. The food being sold varies from mixed rice
Mixed rice
Nasi campur, , referring to a dish of rice topped with various meats, vegetables, peanuts, eggs and fried-shrimp chips. Depending on which areas it originate, a nasi campur counter can have up to lots of different side dishes, covering every dishes from vegetables to the fish and types of meat...
, fried rice
Fried rice
Fried rice is a popular component of Asian cuisine, especially Chinese food. It is made from steamed rice stir-fried in a wok, often with other ingredients such as eggs, vegetables, and meat. It is sometimes served as the penultimate dish in Chinese banquets...
, soups, satay
Satay
Satay , or sate, is a dish of marinated, skewered and grilled meat, served with a sauce. Satay may consist of diced or sliced chicken, goat, mutton, beef, pork, fish, other meats, or tofu; the more authentic version uses skewers from the midrib of the coconut palm frond, although bamboo skewers are...
, cakes, tempeh
Tempeh
Tempeh , or tempe , is a traditional soy product originally from Indonesia. It is made by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation process that binds soybeans into a cake form, similar to a very firm vegetarian burger patty...
or beverages, such as Es kacang hijau
Es kacang hijau
Es kacang hijau or bubur kacang hijau is an Indonesian and Malaysian dessert made from mung beans with coconut milk and palm sugar or cane sugar. The beans are boiled till soft, and sugar and coconut milk are added....
, Es cendol, or Es cincau.
Japan
Udon
is a type of thick wheat-flour noodle of Japanese cuisine.Udon is usually served hot as noodle soup in its simplest form as kake udon, in a mildly flavoured broth called kakejiru which is made of dashi, soy sauce , and mirin. It is usually topped with thinly chopped scallions...
, soba
Soba
is the Japanese name for buckwheat. It is synonymous with a type of thin noodle made from buckwheat flour, and in Japan can refer to any thin noodle . Soba noodles are served either chilled with a dipping sauce, or in hot broth as a noodle soup...
, and ramen noodles
Ramen
is a Japanese noodle dish. It consists of Chinese-style wheat noodles served in a meat- or fish-based broth, often flavored with soy sauce or miso, and uses toppings such as , , kamaboko, green onions, and occasionally corn...
are ubiquitous, as highlighted in the film Tampopo
Tampopo
is a 1985 Japanese comedy film by director Juzo Itami, starring Tsutomu Yamazaki, Nobuko Miyamoto and Ken Watanabe. The publicity for the film calls it the first ramen western, a play on the term Spaghetti Western .-Plot summary:Tampopo begins when a pair of truck drivers, an experienced one named...
. Takoyaki
Takoyaki
is a popular ball-shaped Japanese dumpling or more like a savory pancake made of batter and cooked in a special takoyaki pan...
(octopus dumplings), nikuman
Nikuman
Nikuman is a Japanese food made from flour dough, and filled with cooked ground pork or other ingredients. It is a kind of chūka man similar to the Chinese baozi , also known in English as pork buns.Nikuman are steamed and often sold as street food...
and Castella
Castella
is a popular Japanese sponge cake made of sugar, flour, eggs, and starch syrup, very common at festivals and as a street food.Now a specialty of Nagasaki, the cake was brought by way of Portuguese merchants in the 16th century. The name is derived from Portuguese Pão de Castela, meaning "bread from...
(a kind of sponge cake
Sponge cake
Sponge cake is a cake based on flour , sugar, and eggs, sometimes leavened with baking powder which has a firm, yet well aerated structure, similar to a sea sponge. A sponge cake may be produced by either the batter method, or the foam method. Typicially the batter method in the U.S. is known as a...
) are also famous as street food in Japan. Sweet cakes such as taiyaki
Taiyaki
is a Japanese fish-shaped cake. The most common filling is red bean paste that is made from sweetened azuki beans. Other common fillings may be custard, chocolate, or cheese. Some shops even sell taiyaki with okonomiyaki, gyoza filling, or a sausage inside....
and imagawayaki
Imagawayaki
is a Japanese dessert often found at festivals, also eaten in Taiwan . It is made of batter in a special pan , and filled with sweet azuki bean paste, although it is becoming increasingly popular to use a wider variety of fillings such as vanilla custard, different fruit...
are also popular.
Korea (South)
Tteokbokki
Tteokbokki, also known as Ddeokbokki is a popular Korean snack food which is commonly purchased from street vendors or Pojangmacha. Originally it was called tteok jjim , and was a braised dish of sliced rice cake, meat, eggs, and seasoning. Tteok jjim an early variant of modern tteokbokki, was...
, sundae
Sundae (Korean food)
Sundae is a Korean dish made generally by boiling or steaming cow or pig's intestines that are stuffed with various ingredients. It is a kind of blood sausage and believed to have been eaten for a long time...
, odeng, mandu
Mandu (dumpling)
Mandu are dumplings in Korean cuisine. They are similar to pelmeni and pierogi in some Slavic cultures. The name is a cognate to the names of similar types of meat-filled dumplings in Central Asia, such as Turkish manti, Kazakh manty, and Uzbek manti.In Korean cuisine, mandu generally denotes a...
, gimbap
Gimbap
Gimbap or kimbap is a popular Korean dish made from steamed white rice and various other ingredients, rolled in gim and served in bite-size slices...
, boiled silkworm pupa
Beondegi
Beondegi are a popular snack food in Korean cuisine. Literally meaning "chrysalis" or "pupa" in Korean, Beondegi are steamed or boiled silkworm pupae which are seasoned and eaten as a snack. Beondegi are often served by street vendors, as well as in restaurants and drinking establishments...
and river snail
Chinese mystery snail
The Chinese mystery snail, Japanese mystery snail, black snail, or trapdoor snail, scientific name Bellamya chinensis, synonym Cipangopaludina chinensis, is a large freshwater snail with gills and an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Viviparidae...
, fried squid
Squid
Squid are cephalopods of the order Teuthida, which comprises around 300 species. Like all other cephalopods, squid have a distinct head, bilateral symmetry, a mantle, and arms. Squid, like cuttlefish, have eight arms arranged in pairs and two, usually longer, tentacles...
, fried shrimp
Shrimp
Shrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important...
, and chicken skewers are among common street foods found in foodstalls
Pojangmacha
Pojangmacha refers to small tented restaurants on wheels, or street stalls in South Korea which sell a variety of popular street foods such as hotteok, gimbap, tteokbokki, sundae, odeng, and anju . It literally means "covered wagon" in Korean...
throughout South Korea. Most street vendors will fire up their wok
Wok
A wok is a versatile round-bottomed cooking vessel originating in China. It is used especially in East and Southeast Asia.Woks are most often used for stir frying, but can also be used in other Chinese cooking techniques, such as in steaming, deep frying, braising, stewing, smoking, or making soup...
s or large pots of frying oil in the evenings in anticipation of pedestrian traffic. For breakfast, Korean-style toast sandwiches are still very popular in Seoul and other large cities. Other commonly eaten snacks are sweet-filled pastries such as hotteok
Hotteok
Hotteok is a variety of filled Korean pancake, and is a popular street food of South Korea. It is usually eaten during the winter season.-Preparation:...
and bungeoppang
Bungeoppang
Bungeoppang is the Korean name of a pastryBungeoppangs are made using an appliance similar to a waffle iron. The batter is poured into a fish-shaped mold, red bean paste is added, then more batter to encase the red bean paste...
.
Sometimes original street food concepts become full-fledged franchises, as seen in the case of Isaac Toast followed by Sukbong Toast and Toastoa, which are all large Korean toast and sandwich franchise chains.
Pakistan
Pakistan shares a lot of culinary parallels with India. Popular street food in Pakistan includes Dahi Bardhay or Vadas, which is essentially fried lentil dumplings soaked in salted water, drained and served with a spicy tangy yoghurt mixed with boiled potatoes and herbs. Then there is Pani Puri, which is fried semolina puffs with a tamarind based dip. Spiced fruit salad ChaatChaat
Chaat is a term describing savoury snacks, typically served at road-side tracks from stalls or carts in India. With its origins in east India, chaat has become immensely popular in the rest of India and the rest of South Asia...
is a common street food too.
Other common items which are available all over Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
are Bun Kebab (Karachi) or the Pappu Burger (Lahore) served with halal shami kebab
Shami kebab
Shami kebab or Shami Tikka is a popular Pakistani and Awadhi kebab, that is composed of small patty minced mutton or Beef, ground chickpeas and spices....
, mash potato Kebab and omellete and condiments, also Gunnay ka Rus with lemon and ginger(sugar cane juice). Other foods are Paratha roll which is either beef or chicken stuffed in a shallow fried flat bread made with plain flour; onions, tomato, and raita (mint & cilantro yogurt) are also added. Jalebi
Jalebi
-Further reading:*Epicure's Delectable Desserts of the World By Asha Khatau ISBN 81-7991-119-5...
is a popular sweet dish served throughout Pakistan.
Roasted or slow baked Corn or chick peas are sold all over the city by moving vendors. They are dry roasted in very a hot sand/salt mixture and then sifted through before serving. In winters especially in northern parts of Pakistan, Chicken corn soup with or without eggs, and Yakhni plain chicken stock (referred to as pathan soup in Karachi) (traditionally made with free range chicken with its skin and feet) are the regular delicacies. In Gujranwala Punjab
Punjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...
Chiras Accentor
Accentor
The accentors are in the only bird family, the Prunellidae, which is completely endemic to the Palearctic. This small group of closely related passerines are all in a single genus Prunella...
are the local delicacy, which are wild birds char grilled on charcoal fire and eaten whole.
Philippines
The most common Philippine street foods include fried squidballs, fishballs, kikiam—a type of processed chicken, which is served on a stick, with a variety of dipping sauces.Roadside stands also serve barbecue
Barbecue
Barbecue or barbeque , used chiefly in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia is a method and apparatus for cooking meat, poultry and occasionally fish with the heat and hot smoke of a fire, smoking wood, or hot coals of...
d pork
Pork
Pork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig , which is eaten in many countries. It is one of the most commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BC....
, chicken
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
and offal
Offal
Offal , also called, especially in the United States, variety meats or organ meats, refers to the internal organs and entrails of a butchered animal. The word does not refer to a particular list of edible organs, which varies by culture and region, but includes most internal organs other than...
, such as pig's blood or dried chicken blood (colloquially, Betamax after its rectangular shape resembling the Betamax tape), chicken heads (helmet), chicken feet (adidas), pig's ears (tenga) and chicken intestines (isaw). Among more esoteric foods are balut and penoy (duck eggs; with fetus and without, respectively), tokneneng
Tokneneng
Tokneneng, a famous Tempura-like Filipino street food, made by deep-frying orange batter covered hard-boiled eggs. A popular variation of Tokneneng is Kwek-kwek. The main difference between the two lies in the egg that is used. Tokneneng is traditionally made with chicken or duck eggs, while...
and kwek-kwek (battered, deep-fried chicken
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
and quail
Quail
Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds generally considered in the order Galliformes. Old World quail are found in the family Phasianidae, while New World quail are found in the family Odontophoridae...
eggs
Egg (food)
Eggs are laid by females of many different species, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, and have probably been eaten by mankind for millennia. Bird and reptile eggs consist of a protective eggshell, albumen , and vitellus , contained within various thin membranes...
similar to Tempura) and deep-fried day-old-chick.
Taho
Taho
Tahô is a Philippine snack food made of fresh soft/silken tofu, arnibal , and pearl sago . This staple comfort food is a signature sweet and can be found all over the country...
, a type of soft beancurd served with syrup and tapioca balls is another snack, as are other offerings, such as burgers
Hamburger
A hamburger is a sandwich consisting of a cooked patty of ground meat usually placed inside a sliced bread roll...
, hotdogs
Hot dog
A hot dog is a sausage served in a sliced bun. It is very often garnished with mustard, ketchup, onions, mayonnaise, relish and/or sauerkraut.-History:...
and cotton candy
Cotton candy
Cotton candy , candy floss or candyfloss or candy buttox , or fairy floss is a form of spun sugar. Since cotton candy is mostly air, a small initial quantity of sugar generates a tremendously greater final volume, causing servings to be physically large and voluminous...
.
Palamig (literally, coolers) are sold, such as traditional offerings like halo-halo
Halo-halo
Halo-halo is a popular Filipino dessert that is a mixture of shaved ice and evaporated milk to which are added various boiled sweet beans and fruits, and served in a tall glass or bowl....
to fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
juices. Sorbetes
Sorbetes
Sorbetes is a Philippine version of ice cream usually peddled from street carts in the Philippines. It is distinct from the similarly named sorbet. It is usually served with small wafer or sugar cones and recently, bread buns...
(or, colloquially, "dirty ice cream" locally-produced usually with coconut milk as popularly called Pinoy sorbetes ice cream in flavors such as mango
Mango
The mango is a fleshy stone fruit belonging to the genus Mangifera, consisting of numerous tropical fruiting trees in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae. The mango is native to India from where it spread all over the world. It is also the most cultivated fruit of the tropical world. While...
, cheese
Cheese
Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....
and yam
Yam (vegetable)
Yam is the common name for some species in the genus Dioscorea . These are perennial herbaceous vines cultivated for the consumption of their starchy tubers in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Oceania...
) and Halo-Halo - a Filipino cold treat made up of crushed ice with fruits (nata de coco
Nata de coco
Nata de coco is a chewy, translucent, jelly-like food product produced by the fermentation of coconut water, which gels through the production of microbial cellulose by Acetobacter xylinus. Nata de coco is most commonly sweetened as a candy or dessert, and can accompany many things including...
, kaong or palm fruit, jackfruit meat, sweet beans, mung beans, yam, macapuno - gelatinuous coconut meat, tapioca, and jelly, with skim milk and toppings - usually rice crispies, leche flan, and ice cream that brings nostalgia to Pinoys.
Calamares (battered squid pieces deep-fried in cooking oil ([a lot cheaper than the traditionally available]) is also widely consumed throughout the country. It is gaining its popularity because of its cheap price.
Taiwan
TaiwanTaiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
's street food is well-known in Chinese culture, especially that from the area of Tainan.
Influences include the Hoklo
Hoklo people
The Hoklo people are Han Chinese people whose traditional Ancestral homes are in southern Fujian of South China...
(Min Nan
Min Nan
The Southern Min languages, or Min Nan , are a family of Chinese languages spoken in southern Fujian, eastern Guangdong, Hainan, Taiwan, and southern Zhejiang provinces of China, and by descendants of emigrants from these areas in diaspora....
) flavor brought by the emigrants during the Ming loyalist rule era
Kingdom of Tungning
The Kingdom of Tungning was a government that ruled Taiwan between 1661 and 1683. A pro-Ming Dynasty state, it was founded by Koxinga after the Ming government in mainland China was replaced by the Manchu-ruled Qing Dynasty...
and Japanese tastes in the Japanese colonial period
Taiwan under Japanese rule
Between 1895 and 1945, Taiwan was a dependency of the Empire of Japan. The expansion into Taiwan was a part of Imperial Japan's general policy of southward expansion during the late 19th century....
, to 1949, when the Nationalist retreated to the island with people from every other province of the mainland.
Bubble/Boba Milk Tea
Bubble tea
Bubble tea is the name for pearl milk tea and other similar tea and juice beverages that originated in tea shops in Taichung, Taiwan during the 1980s. Drink recipes may vary, but most bubble teas contain a tea base mixed with fruit and/or milk...
originated on the streets of Taiwan.
Taiwanese street food includes fried stinky tofu
Stinky tofu
Stinky tofu or chòu dòufu is a form of fermented tofu that has a strong odor. It is a popular snack in East and Southeast Asia, particularly mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong and in East Asian enclaves elsewhere where it is usually found homemade, at night markets or roadside stands, or as a...
, oyster pancakes, Zongzi
Zongzi
Zongzi is a traditional Chinese food, made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves. They are cooked by steaming or boiling. Laotians, Thais, and Cambodians also have similar traditional dishes. In the Western world, they are also known as rice...
(especially in Tainan
Tainan
Tainan City is a city in southern Taiwan. It is the fifth largest after New Taipei, Kaohsiung, Taichung, and Taipei. It was formerly a provincial city, and in 2010, the provincial city merged with the adjacent Tainan County to form a single special municipality. Tainan faces the Taiwan Strait in...
), fried meatball
Meatball
A meatball is made from an amount of ground meat rolled into a small ball, sometimes along with other ingredients, such as breadcrumbs, minced onion, spices, and possibly eggs...
, sugarcane
Sugarcane
Sugarcane refers to any of six to 37 species of tall perennial grasses of the genus Saccharum . Native to the warm temperate to tropical regions of South Asia, they have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sugar, and measure two to six metres tall...
juice (Taiwanese sugarcane was sweet famous with Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
), soup of boiled Trionychidae
Trionychidae
Trionychidae is a taxonomic family which comprises a number of turtle genera commonly known as softshells. They are also sometimes called pancake turtles. Softshells consist of some of the world's largest fresh water turtles, though many can adapt to living in highly brackish areas. Members of this...
, fish ball soup, Baozi
Baozi
A bāozi or simply known as bao, bau, humbow, nunu, bausak, pow or pau is a type of steamed, filled bun or bread-like item in various Chinese cuisines, as there is much variation as to the fillings and the preparations...
and water fried Baozi, rice cakes made with pork blood, and rice and noodle dishes.
Thailand
Street food in ThailandThailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
includes noodle dishes, among them are Pad Thai
Pad Thai
Pad Thai or Phat Thai is a dish of stir-fried rice noodles with eggs, fish sauce , tamarind juice, red chilli pepper, plus any combination of bean sprouts, shrimp, chicken, or tofu, garnished with crushed peanuts, coriander and lime, the juice of which can be added along with Thai condiments Pad...
, Rad Naa, flat noodles with beef, pork, or chicken and vegetables, topped with a light gravy, and Rad Naa's twin, Pad See Iw, the same flat noodles dry-fried(no gravy) with a dark soy sauce, vegetables, meat, and chili. Other dishes include Tom Yum Kung
Tom yum
Tom yum or tom yam is the name for a spicy clear soup typical in Laos and Thailand. Tom yum is widely served in neighboring countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia, and has been popularized around the world...
(a soup
Soup
Soup is a generally warm food that is made by combining ingredients such as meat and vegetables with stock, juice, water, or another liquid. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ingredients in liquids in a pot until the flavors are extracted, forming a broth.Traditionally,...
), Khao Pad (fried rice), various kinds of satay
Satay
Satay , or sate, is a dish of marinated, skewered and grilled meat, served with a sauce. Satay may consist of diced or sliced chicken, goat, mutton, beef, pork, fish, other meats, or tofu; the more authentic version uses skewers from the midrib of the coconut palm frond, although bamboo skewers are...
, various curries
Curry
Curry is a generic description used throughout Western culture to describe a variety of dishes from Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Thai or other Southeast Asian cuisines...
. Japanese chikuwa
Chikuwa
is a Japanese tube-like food product made from ingredients such as fish surimi, salt, sugar, starch, monosodium glutamate and egg white. After mixing them well, they are wrapped around a bamboo or metal stick and steamed or broiled. The word chikuwa, comes from the shape when it is sliced.Variants...
and German sausages have also appeared in Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
. Canal food has been sold from boats on Thailand's rivers and canals for over two centuries, but since the early 20th century King Rama V
Chulalongkorn
Phra Bat Somdet Phra Poramintharamaha Chulalongkorn Phra Chunla Chom Klao Chao Yu Hua , or Rama V was the fifth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri. He was known to the Siamese of his time as Phra Phuttha Chao Luang . He is considered one of the greatest kings of Siam...
's modernizations have caused a shift towards land-based stalls. In Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
parlance, a housewife who feeds her family from a street food vendor is known as a "plastic-bag housewife", which originated from streets vendors packaging the food in plastic bags.
Many Thai people will eat four or five meals a day, and often these will be taken with friends or family at streetside dining carts. In some areas of Thailand, an inconspicuous car-park or roadside area may be empty by day, but turn into a bustling food district as the sun goes down, when local street vendors arrive with their carts. This is the case in most provincial capitals.
Middle East
Shawarma is popular and is usually made of chickenChicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
or lamb
Domestic sheep
Sheep are quadrupedal, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Like all ruminants, sheep are members of the order Artiodactyla, the even-toed ungulates. Although the name "sheep" applies to many species in the genus Ovis, in everyday usage it almost always refers to Ovis aries...
. Ful
Ful Medames
Fūl medammis , or simply fūl, is an Egyptian dish of cooked and mashed fava beans served with olive oil, chopped parsley, onion, garlic, and lemon juice. A staple meal in Egypt, it is popular in the cuisines of the Levant, Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan and Saudi Arabia.-History:The roots of fūl...
, a dish made from fava beans, is common in many Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
countries. In Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
and Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, pastries made with a soft dough are sold, either open like a mini-pizza or filled, and are termed fatayir, man'oushe, or basbouse depending on the type. Toppings or fillings include zaatar, chili, spinach, meat, sausage meat, cheese, and olives. Fruit juice counters in Syria and Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
provide fresh juice from all seasonal fruit as well as sugar-cane.
Sweets such as knafeh, made from cheese and pastry, and madlu'e, made from sweet cheese curds on a rich biscuit dough, are also sold from counters, drenched in syrup, and eaten on the street in Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
and Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. "Cheese sweets" are a specialty of Hama
Hama
Hama is a city on the banks of the Orontes River in west-central Syria north of Damascus. It is the provincial capital of the Hama Governorate. Hama is the fourth-largest city in Syria—behind Aleppo, Damascus, and Homs—with a population of 696,863...
in central Syria.
Israel
In IsraelIsrael
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, street eaters enjoy sabikh, a pita
Pita
Pita or pitta is a round pocket bread widely consumed in many Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, and Balkan cuisines. It is prevalent in Greece, the Balkans the Levant, the Arabian Peninsula and Turkey. The "pocket" in pita bread is created by steam, which puffs up the dough...
stuffed with hard-boiled egg, eggplant, tahini
Tahini
Tahini or sesame paste , is a paste of ground sesame seeds used in cooking. North African, Greek and West Asian tahini is made of hulled, lightly roasted seeds. East Asian sesame paste is made of unhulled seeds. The Arabic word tahin simply means flour.Tahini is a major component of hummus and...
, and a mango pickle
Amba (condiment)
Amba is a tangy mango pickle condiment popular in middle eastern cuisine particularly Iraqi and Israeli cuisines. It is also popular in India, where it originates, and is widely manufactured and bottled for the world market...
similar in taste to chutney
Chutney
Chutney is a a condiment used in South Asian cuisine that usually contains a spice and vegetable mix.Chutneys are wet or dry, having a coarse to fine texture. The Anglo-Indian loan word refers to fresh and pickled preparations indiscriminately, with preserves often sweetened. At least several...
or atchar. It was introduced by Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
i Jews. Bourekas are common, being sold out of cart
Cart
A cart is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people...
s in front of bakeries
Bakery
A bakery is an establishment which produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cakes, pastries and pies. Some retail bakeries are also cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who wish to consume the baked goods on the premises.-See also:*Baker*Cake...
.
Syria
In springtime in SyriaSyria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, whole green almond
Almond
The almond , is a species of tree native to the Middle East and South Asia. Almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree...
s are sold from carts on the street. In summer, prickly pear
Opuntia
Opuntia, also known as nopales or paddle cactus , is a genus in the cactus family, Cactaceae.Currently, only prickly pears are included in this genus of about 200 species distributed throughout most of the Americas. Chollas are now separated into the genus Cylindropuntia, which some still consider...
s and whole fresh pistachio
Pistachio
The pistachio, Pistacia vera in the Anacardiaceae family, is a small tree originally from Persia , which now can also be found in regions of Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Greece, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, India, Pakistan, Egypt, Sicily and possibly Afghanistan , as well as in the United States,...
s are sold. Pavement vendors, as well as drink sellers in traditional costume with their goods in a pot strapped to their back, sell mulberry
Mulberry
Morus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae. The 10–16 species of deciduous trees it contains are commonly known as Mulberries....
and liquorice juice. Falafel
Falafel
Falafel is a deep-fried ball or patty made from ground chickpeas and/or fava beans. Falafel is usually served in a pita, which acts as a pocket, or wrapped in a flatbread known as lafa. The falafel balls are topped with salads, pickled vegetables, hot sauce, and drizzled with tahini-based sauces...
and Shawarma
Shawarma
Shawarma is a Levantine Arab sandwich-like wrap of shaved lamb, goat, chicken, turkey, beef, or mixed meats. The meat is placed on a spit, and may be grilled for as long as a day. It is eaten with pita bread, tabbouleh, fattoush, taboon bread, tomato and cucumber. Toppings include tahini, hummus,...
are the most common Syrian street food.
Oceania
Australia
The most common street food in Australia is the sausage sizzle, usually consisting of a thin sausage or sandwich steak cooked on a barbecueBarbecue
Barbecue or barbeque , used chiefly in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia is a method and apparatus for cooking meat, poultry and occasionally fish with the heat and hot smoke of a fire, smoking wood, or hot coals of...
and served on a slice of bread with optional fried onions, cheese, mustard and tomato or barbecue sauce. The stalls are usually run by local sporting or charity groups as fundraiser.
A pie floater
Pie floater
A pie floater is a meal available in Australia, particularly South Australia which consists of the traditional Australian style meat pie sitting, usually inverted, in a plate of thick green pea soup. It is typically covered with tomato sauce and, although subject to the taste of the individual...
is a meal served at pie carts in Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
and elsewhere in South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
. It was once more widely available in other parts of Australia, but its popularity waned. It consists of an Australian meat pie
Australian meat pie
An Australian or New Zealand meat pie is a hand-sized meat pie containing largely diced or minced meat and gravy, sometimes with onion, mushrooms, or cheese and often consumed as a takeaway food snack. The pie itself is similar to the United Kingdom's steak pie.It is considered iconic in Australia...
covered with tomato sauce
Ketchup
Ketchup is a sweet-and-tangy condiment typically made from tomatoes, vinegar, sugar or high-fructose corn syrup and an assortment of...
, sitting in a plate of green pea soup
Pea soup
Pea soup or split pea soup is soup made, typically, from dried peas. It is, with variations, a part of the cuisine of many cultures. It is greyish-green or yellow in color depending on the regional variety of peas used; all are cultivars of Pisum sativum.Pea soup has been eaten since antiquity; it...
.
People can buy soft serve
Soft serve
Soft serve is a term used to describe a type of ice cream that is softer than regular ice cream and that has been sold commecially since the late 1930s.- History :...
and other ice cream
Ice cream
Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...
s from vans which drive around the streets. The vans alert potential customers with a tinkling tune, for example Greensleeves
Greensleeves
"Greensleeves" is a traditional English folk song and tune, a ground of the form called a romanesca.A broadside ballad by this name was registered at the London Stationer's Company in September 1580 as "A New Northern Dittye of the Lady Greene Sleeves". It then appears in the surviving A Handful of...
or The Entertainer
The Entertainer (rag)
"The Entertainer" is sub-titled "A rag time two step", which was a form of dance popular until about 1911, and a style which was common among rags written at the time.Its structure is: Intro AA BB A CC Intro2 DD....
.
In Melbourne and Sydney, kebab
Kebab
Kebab is a wide variety of meat dishes originating in Middle East and later on adopted by the Middle East, and Asia Minor, and now found worldwide. In English, kebab with no qualification generally refers more specifically to shish kebab served on the skewer...
s and souvlaki
Souvlaki
Souvlaki or souvlakia is a popular Greek fast food consisting of small pieces of meat and sometimes vegetables grilled on a skewer. It may be served on the skewer for eating out of hand, in a pita sandwich with garnishes and sauces, or on a dinner plate, often with fried potatoes...
s have taken over as the main street food due to the high percentage of Greek and Lebanese people in both cities, and is popular as a late night snack, especially after a few beers. They are known to curb late night drunken violence as punters gather around and enjoy a meal together and share stories of their night.
New Zealand
Vans selling burgers, New Zealand hotdogs (a battered sausage on a stick), toasted sandwiches and chips are the most common type of street food in New Zealand. The White Lady food van in downtown Auckland is a well-known icon of the city.There are many coffee carts and coffee vans operating the streets, both independent ones as well as vans operating as part of a franchise system such as The Coffee Guy.
Like Australia, ice cream vans and sausage sizzles are also common in New Zealand. The most well known ice cream franchise is Mr Whippy, a franchise that originally came from England, and also operates in Australia. Mr Whippy softserve icecream is an iconic symbol of a New Zealand summer to many Kiwi.
Europe
There are many national street foods in Europe, but some foods have transcended borders. A good example of this is shawarmaShawarma
Shawarma is a Levantine Arab sandwich-like wrap of shaved lamb, goat, chicken, turkey, beef, or mixed meats. The meat is placed on a spit, and may be grilled for as long as a day. It is eaten with pita bread, tabbouleh, fattoush, taboon bread, tomato and cucumber. Toppings include tahini, hummus,...
, brought to Europe by Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
and Turkish
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
immigrants. The Quartier Latin in Paris is packed with shawarma vendors.
Balkans
Balkan cuisine
The Balkan cuisine is heterogeneous and is therefore known as the cuisine of states and regions, since every region has its own distinct culinary traditions...
, is heavily influenced by the cuisine of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. Variations of the burek
Burek
Börek is a family of baked or fried filled pastries made of a thin flaky dough known as yufka . It can be filled with cheese, often feta, sirene or kaşar; minced meat, or vegetables...
, a filled flaky pastry, are common throughout the Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
. Ćevapi, a sort of kebab
Kebab
Kebab is a wide variety of meat dishes originating in Middle East and later on adopted by the Middle East, and Asia Minor, and now found worldwide. In English, kebab with no qualification generally refers more specifically to shish kebab served on the skewer...
, is popular throughout the region comprised by the former Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, and Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
where it is called Mititei
Mititei
Mititei or mici is a traditional Romanian dish of grilled minced-meat rolls made from meat of beef, lamb and pork mixed, which contain garlic, black pepper, thyme, coriander, anise, savory and sometimes a touch of paprika. Sodium bicarbonate is also added to the mixture.It is best served...
.
Benelux
In the Netherlands and BelgiumBelgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, french fries
French fries
French fries , chips, fries, or French-fried potatoes are strips of deep-fried potato. North Americans tend to refer to any pieces of deep-fried potatoes as fries or French fries, while in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand, long, thinly cut slices of deep-fried potatoes are...
are served with sauces such as mayonnaise
Mayonnaise
Mayonnaise, , often abbreviated as mayo, is a sauce. It is a stable emulsion of oil, egg yolk and either vinegar or lemon juice, with many options for embellishment with other herbs and spices. Lecithin in the egg yolk is the emulsifier. Mayonnaise varies in color but is often white, cream, or pale...
, ketchup
Ketchup
Ketchup is a sweet-and-tangy condiment typically made from tomatoes, vinegar, sugar or high-fructose corn syrup and an assortment of...
, curry or tartar sauce
Tartar sauce
Tartare sauce is a creamy white sauce frequently used to season fried seafood dishes.-Composition:...
(the latter mainly in Belgium).
The combination mayonnaise
Mayonnaise
Mayonnaise, , often abbreviated as mayo, is a sauce. It is a stable emulsion of oil, egg yolk and either vinegar or lemon juice, with many options for embellishment with other herbs and spices. Lecithin in the egg yolk is the emulsifier. Mayonnaise varies in color but is often white, cream, or pale...
, ketchup
Ketchup
Ketchup is a sweet-and-tangy condiment typically made from tomatoes, vinegar, sugar or high-fructose corn syrup and an assortment of...
or curry and chopped onions is called "speciaal" (special) and mayonnaise
Mayonnaise
Mayonnaise, , often abbreviated as mayo, is a sauce. It is a stable emulsion of oil, egg yolk and either vinegar or lemon juice, with many options for embellishment with other herbs and spices. Lecithin in the egg yolk is the emulsifier. Mayonnaise varies in color but is often white, cream, or pale...
mixed with peanut sauce
Peanut sauce
Peanut sauce, satay sauce, bumbu kacang, or sambal kacang is a sauce widely used in the cuisines of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, China and Africa. It is also used, to a lesser extent, in European and Middle Eastern cuisine.-Ingredients:The main ingredient is ground roasted peanuts, for...
is called "oorlog" (war).
French fries
In Belgium, a thicker variety of fries is used, called "friet" or "frieten". In the Netherlands, they are thinner and generally referred to as "patat" (the word for 'potato' in the south of the Netherlands and in Flanders) or sometimes "friet" (from the French verb 'frire' meaning 'deep-frying') or "patat friet". Some shops in the Netherlands also sell "Vlaamse friet" (Flemish
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
fries, similar to the type sold in Belgium) but this is less common than the thinner variant. In Belgium, french fries are traditionally fried in suet
Suet
Suet is raw beef or mutton fat, especially the hard fat found around the loins and kidneys.Suet has a melting point of between 45° and 50°C and congelation between 37° and 40°C....
(beef fat) whereas in the Netherlands, vegetable oil is preferred.
The Netherlands
Frikandel
A frikandel is a Dutch snack, a sort of minced-meat hot dog,developed either in 1954 or in 1958/1959 in the Netherlands, depending on the source.-Overview:...
len", and cheese snacks such as the "kaassouffle" (cheese deep fried inside a crispy bread crumb crust). Often, the product range includes other foods such as hamburgers, ice cream, bread rolls with different fillings, and occasionally pizza
Pizza
Pizza is an oven-baked, flat, disc-shaped bread typically topped with a tomato sauce, cheese and various toppings.Originating in Italy, from the Neapolitan cuisine, the dish has become popular in many parts of the world. An establishment that makes and sells pizzas is called a "pizzeria"...
, falafel
Falafel
Falafel is a deep-fried ball or patty made from ground chickpeas and/or fava beans. Falafel is usually served in a pita, which acts as a pocket, or wrapped in a flatbread known as lafa. The falafel balls are topped with salads, pickled vegetables, hot sauce, and drizzled with tahini-based sauces...
, doner kebab
Doner kebab
Doner kebab is a dish made of roasted meat cooked on a vertical spit. It is also known regionally as gyro , shawarma, and al pastor . It consists of shaved lamb, goat, chicken, turkey, beef, or mixed meats roasted on a spit. Less common alternatives include fish and sausage...
and shoarma. Deep fried Vietnamese spring roll
Spring roll
Spring rolls is an umbrella term used in some Western cultures to describe disparate varieties of filled, rolled appetizers similar to the Chinese chūn juǎn , from which the term was derived...
s and other, originally Asian and/or Suriname
Suriname
Suriname , officially the Republic of Suriname , is a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean. Suriname was a former colony of the British and of the Dutch, and was previously known as...
se snacks such as "bapao" (a baozi
Baozi
A bāozi or simply known as bao, bau, humbow, nunu, bausak, pow or pau is a type of steamed, filled bun or bread-like item in various Chinese cuisines, as there is much variation as to the fillings and the preparations...
filled with minced meat) and "barra" (a kind of deep fried savoury doughnut), have become increasingly popular since the 1980s.
In addition to the snackbars, one can also find street stalls selling different fried, smoked and raw fish products called a "viskraam" or "haringkar" (Dutch for fish stall or herring cart). Besides the popular raw herring served with chopped onions (bread rolls and pickled cucumber
Pickled cucumber
A pickled cucumber is a cucumber that has been pickled in a brine, vinegar, or other solution and left to ferment for a period of time, by either immersing the cucumbers in an acidic solution or through souring by lacto-fermentation.-Gherkin:A gherkin is not only...
are optional), these stalls also sell fish products such as smoked mackerel
Atlantic mackerel
The Atlantic mackerel , is a pelagic schooling species of mackerel found on both sides of the North Atlantic Ocean. The species is also called Boston mackerel, or just mackerel....
, smoked eel
Eel
Eels are an order of fish, which consists of four suborders, 20 families, 111 genera and approximately 800 species. Most eels are predators...
and "kibbeling" (deep fried cod
Cod
Cod is the common name for genus Gadus, belonging to the family Gadidae, and is also used in the common name for various other fishes. Cod is a popular food with a mild flavor, low fat content and a dense, flaky white flesh. Cod livers are processed to make cod liver oil, an important source of...
nuggets).
At festivals, markets and especially on New Year's Eve, street stalls around the country sell a type of beignet
Beignet
A beignet in the U.S. is a pastry made from deep-fried dough, much like a doughnut, and sprinkled with confectioner's sugar, or frostings. Savory versions of beignets are also popular as an appetizer, with fillings such as maple or fruit preserves....
s called oliebollen
Dutch cuisine
Dutch cuisine is shaped by the practice of fishing and farming, including the cultivation of the soil for raising crops and the raising of domesticated animals, and the history of the Netherlands.-History:...
(literally 'oil balls'). In addition they might have other sweet pastries such as waffle
Waffle
A waffle is a batter- or dough-based cake cooked in a waffle iron patterned to give a distinctive and characteristic shape. There are many variations based on the type and shape of the iron and the recipe used....
s and apple beignets.
Belgium
In Belgium, Liège-style waffle
Waffle
A waffle is a batter- or dough-based cake cooked in a waffle iron patterned to give a distinctive and characteristic shape. There are many variations based on the type and shape of the iron and the recipe used....
s (Dutch: "Wafel" or French: "Gaufre") are served warm as a street snack, similar to what is known in other countries as "Belgian Waffles". The pancake
Pancake
A pancake is a thin, flat, round cake prepared from a batter, and cooked on a hot griddle or frying pan. Most pancakes are quick breads; some use a yeast-raised or fermented batter. Most pancakes are cooked one side on a griddle and flipped partway through to cook the other side...
is also popular here, being sold fluffier than the French crêpe
Crêpe
A crêpe or crepe , is a type of very thin pancake, usually made from wheat flour or buckwheat flour . The word is of French origin, deriving from the Latin crispa, meaning "curled". While crêpes originate from Brittany, a region in the northwest of France, their consumption is widespread in France...
or the Russian blin
Blintz
A blin, blintze, or blintz is a thin pancake. It is somewhat similar to a crêpe with the main difference being that yeast may be used in blini, but not in crêpes.-Etymology, origins, culture :...
.
The Czech Republic
The most common and traditional Czech street food is Smažený sýrSmažený sýr
Smažený sýr is a Czech and Slovak cheese-based dish.A slice of cheese, usually Edam and about 1.5 cm in thickness, is breaded with flour, egg and breadcrumbs and fried either in a pan or in a deep fryer. It is often served with a side salad or red cabbage, potatoes , and typically with tartar...
, which is a soft piece of cheese deep-fried and served on a hamburger bun. It is typically served with tartar sauce
Tartar sauce
Tartare sauce is a creamy white sauce frequently used to season fried seafood dishes.-Composition:...
, but some prefer ketchup
Ketchup
Ketchup is a sweet-and-tangy condiment typically made from tomatoes, vinegar, sugar or high-fructose corn syrup and an assortment of...
.
Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, street food can mostly be found at market square
Market square
The market square is a feature of many European and colonial towns. It is an open area where market stalls are traditionally set out for trading, commonly on one particular day of the week known as market day....
s and kiosk
Kiosk
Kiosk is a small, separated garden pavilion open on some or all sides. Kiosks were common in Persia, India, Pakistan, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward...
s, although hamburger chains Hesburger
Hesburger
Hesburger is a fast-food chain based in Turku, Finland. Today, it is the largest Finnish hamburger restaurant chain, with a larger presence in the Finnish market than U.S.-based McDonald's...
and McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
are also available. A variety of savoury pastries such as lihapiirakka and karjalanpiirakka and sweet pastries such as pulla
Pulla
Pulla is a mildly-sweet Finnish dessert bread flavored with crushed cardamom seeds and occasionally raisins or sliced almonds. Braid loaves are formed from three or more braided strands of dough. The braids may also be formed into a ring. These braided strands or rings are typically coated with...
, usually served with coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
, are very common. Fish stands at the market squares also serve cured salmon
Gravlax
Gravlax or gravad lax , gravet laks , gravlaks , graavilohi , graavilõhe , graflax is a Nordic dish consisting of raw salmon, cured in salt, sugar, and dill...
(graavilohi) on rye bread as an open sandwich
Open sandwich
An open sandwich, also known as an open face/faced sandwich, Ulrich Sandwich, bread baser, or tartine, consists of a single slice of bread with one or more food items on top.- In various countries :...
or loimulohi
Loimulohi
Loimulohi or loimutettu lohi is a Finnish fish preparation, in which salmon is nailed to a plank with wooden pegs and cooked over an open fire. The planks are positioned vertically around the edge of the fire at an angle. Loimulohi has also been served as street food.-External links:...
. Regional specialties sold at the market squares include sultsina
Sultsina
Sultsina is a traditional Karelian dish, a cross between a crêpe and a flatbread, made of unleavened rye dough and a farina filling. Rice pudding can also be used as a filling....
and kalakukko
Kalakukko
Kalakukko is a traditional food from the Finnish region of Savonia made from fish baked inside a loaf of bread. The Cornish pasty from Cornwall has the same basic idea of complete packed lunch. Kalakukko is very polular food in Savonia head city Kuopio. There is even Finland "Kalakukko" competition...
.
In addition to hamburgers and hot dogs, Finnish meat pastries with sausages are available at kiosks, especially a sausage sandwich
Sandwich
A sandwich is a food item, typically consisting of two or more slices of :bread with one or more fillings between them, or one slice of bread with a topping or toppings, commonly called an open sandwich. Sandwiches are a widely popular type of lunch food, typically taken to work or school, or...
called a porilainen
Porilainen
Porilainen is a sandwich and street food dish in Finnish cuisine made from white bread and a half-inch slice of thick sausage. In addition, porilainen usually contains diced sweet onion, chopped pickled cucumber, ketchup, mustard, and in some cases mayonnaise. Porilainen resembles a hamburger or a...
. Condiments include ketchup
Ketchup
Ketchup is a sweet-and-tangy condiment typically made from tomatoes, vinegar, sugar or high-fructose corn syrup and an assortment of...
, Finnish mustard
Turun sinappi
Turun sinappi is a mustard, originally made in Finland but nowadays in Poland. It is often used with makkara ....
, pickle relish, mayonnaise
Mayonnaise
Mayonnaise, , often abbreviated as mayo, is a sauce. It is a stable emulsion of oil, egg yolk and either vinegar or lemon juice, with many options for embellishment with other herbs and spices. Lecithin in the egg yolk is the emulsifier. Mayonnaise varies in color but is often white, cream, or pale...
and mustard relish as well as lettuce, tomato and onion. Another common late night street food fare found at kiosks is Finnish meatballs (lihapulla) and french fries
French fries
French fries , chips, fries, or French-fried potatoes are strips of deep-fried potato. North Americans tend to refer to any pieces of deep-fried potatoes as fries or French fries, while in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand, long, thinly cut slices of deep-fried potatoes are...
with condiments. Doner kebab
Doner kebab
Doner kebab is a dish made of roasted meat cooked on a vertical spit. It is also known regionally as gyro , shawarma, and al pastor . It consists of shaved lamb, goat, chicken, turkey, beef, or mixed meats roasted on a spit. Less common alternatives include fish and sausage...
s are readily available at both kiosks and kebab restaurants and extremely popular.
France
In France, sandwiches are a common street food. Most of them are baguetteBaguette
A baguette is "a long thin loaf of French bread" that is commonly made from basic lean dough...
bread
Bread
Bread is a staple food prepared by cooking a dough of flour and water and often additional ingredients. Doughs are usually baked, but in some cuisines breads are steamed , fried , or baked on an unoiled frying pan . It may be leavened or unleavened...
sandwiches with different kinds of fillings such as "Jambon/Beurre" (ham / butter), "Jambon/Fromage" (Ham with cheese) or "Poulet/Crudités" (Chicken with vegetables).
In France, crêpes are another street food. A crêpe complète containing ham
Ham
Ham is a cut of meat from the thigh of the hind leg of certain animals, especiallypigs. Nearly all hams sold today are fully cooked or cured.-Etymology:...
, shredded cheese
Cheese
Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....
, and an egg
Egg (food)
Eggs are laid by females of many different species, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, and have probably been eaten by mankind for millennia. Bird and reptile eggs consist of a protective eggshell, albumen , and vitellus , contained within various thin membranes...
provides a filling lunch. Sweet crêpe or Waffle
Waffle
A waffle is a batter- or dough-based cake cooked in a waffle iron patterned to give a distinctive and characteristic shape. There are many variations based on the type and shape of the iron and the recipe used....
, containing Nutella
Nutella
Nutella is the brand name of a chocolate spread. Nutella, manufactured by the Italian company Ferrero, was introduced on the market in 1963. The recipe was developed from an earlier Ferrero spread released in 1944. Nutella is now sold in over 75 countries....
and banana
Banana
Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....
or Grand Marnier
Grand Marnier
Grand Marnier is a liqueur created in 1880 by Alexandre Marnier-Lapostolle. It is made from a blend of true cognacs and distilled essence of bitter orange. Grand Marnier is 40% alcohol . It is produced in several varieties, most of which can be consumed "neat" as a digestif and can be used in...
and sugar
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
are also popular snacks.
Other street foods include slices of pizza
Pizza
Pizza is an oven-baked, flat, disc-shaped bread typically topped with a tomato sauce, cheese and various toppings.Originating in Italy, from the Neapolitan cuisine, the dish has become popular in many parts of the world. An establishment that makes and sells pizzas is called a "pizzeria"...
, "kebab
Kebab
Kebab is a wide variety of meat dishes originating in Middle East and later on adopted by the Middle East, and Asia Minor, and now found worldwide. In English, kebab with no qualification generally refers more specifically to shish kebab served on the skewer...
" (actually Gyros) type sandwiches and panini, a grilled
Grilling
Grilling is a form of cooking that involves dry heat applied to the surface of food, commonly from above or below.Grilling usually involves a significant amount of direct, radiant heat, and tends to be used for cooking meat quickly and meat that has already been cut into slices...
and pressed sandwich
Sandwich
A sandwich is a food item, typically consisting of two or more slices of :bread with one or more fillings between them, or one slice of bread with a topping or toppings, commonly called an open sandwich. Sandwiches are a widely popular type of lunch food, typically taken to work or school, or...
.
During the winter, roasted
Roasting
Roasting is a cooking method that uses dry heat, whether an open flame, oven, or other heat source. Roasting usually causes caramelization or Maillard browning of the surface of the food, which is considered by some as a flavor enhancement. Roasting uses more indirect, diffused heat , and is...
chestnut
Chestnut
Chestnut , some species called chinkapin or chinquapin, is a genus of eight or nine species of deciduous trees and shrubs in the beech family Fagaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce.-Species:The chestnut belongs to the...
s can be bought.
Germany
Doner kebab
Doner kebab is a dish made of roasted meat cooked on a vertical spit. It is also known regionally as gyro , shawarma, and al pastor . It consists of shaved lamb, goat, chicken, turkey, beef, or mixed meats roasted on a spit. Less common alternatives include fish and sausage...
is similar to shawarma and available everywhere, especially in Berlin Kreuzberg
Kreuzberg
Kreuzberg, a part of the combined Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Mitte since 2001, is one of the best-known areas of Berlin...
. More traditionally, there is the Bavarian Fleischkäse (also called Leberkäse
Leberkäse
is a specialty food found in the south of Germany, in Austria and parts of Switzerland, similar to bologna sausage...
), which is similar to meatloaf, sliced to the thickness of a finger and generally served with either hot mustard or sweet mustard in a roll. Germany is also known for its various types of sausage
Sausage
A sausage is a food usually made from ground meat , mixed with salt, herbs, and other spices, although vegetarian sausages are available. The word sausage is derived from Old French saussiche, from the Latin word salsus, meaning salted.Typically, a sausage is formed in a casing traditionally made...
, as well as the recent hybrid curry-sausage, Currywurst
Currywurst
Currywurst is a fast-food dish of German origin consisting of hot pork sausage cut into slices and seasoned with curry ketchup, regularly consisting of ketchup or tomato paste blended with generous amounts of curry powder, or a ready-made ketchup-based sauce seasoned with curry and other spices...
. French fries
French fries
French fries , chips, fries, or French-fried potatoes are strips of deep-fried potato. North Americans tend to refer to any pieces of deep-fried potatoes as fries or French fries, while in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand, long, thinly cut slices of deep-fried potatoes are...
("Pommes" in German, derived from French but pronounced according to German orthographic rules) are popular, served with ketchup
Ketchup
Ketchup is a sweet-and-tangy condiment typically made from tomatoes, vinegar, sugar or high-fructose corn syrup and an assortment of...
and/or mayonnaise
Mayonnaise
Mayonnaise, , often abbreviated as mayo, is a sauce. It is a stable emulsion of oil, egg yolk and either vinegar or lemon juice, with many options for embellishment with other herbs and spices. Lecithin in the egg yolk is the emulsifier. Mayonnaise varies in color but is often white, cream, or pale...
, and sometimes with sausage
Sausage
A sausage is a food usually made from ground meat , mixed with salt, herbs, and other spices, although vegetarian sausages are available. The word sausage is derived from Old French saussiche, from the Latin word salsus, meaning salted.Typically, a sausage is formed in a casing traditionally made...
. Beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
is sold at all sidewalk snack stands, which usually feature beers and small bottles of whiskey, schnapps
Schnapps
Schnapps is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage. The English word schnapps is derived from the German Schnaps , which can refer to any strong alcoholic drink but particularly those containing at least 32% ABV...
, or vodka
Vodka
Vodka , is a distilled beverage. It is composed primarily of water and ethanol with traces of impurities and flavorings. Vodka is made by the distillation of fermented substances such as grains, potatoes, or sometimes fruits....
.
There are an increasing number of North African stalls that sell shawarma, falafel and halumi.
Hungary
Street food is not particularly common in Hungary, although gyros shops are becoming more common. Rétes (strudel) is fairly common, and lángosLángos
Lángos is a Hungarian food speciality, a deep fried flat bread made of a dough with flour, yeast, salt and water.-Variations:Lángos can be made with yoghurt, sour cream or milk instead of water, a dash of sugar along with salt and sometimes with flour and boiled mashed potatoes, which is called...
(a deep fried bread) is usually available at markets and during celebrations. In general, Hungarians looking for quick food will stop to sit down and eat, even if only at a Chinese buffet
Buffet
A buffet is a system of serving meals in which food is placed in a public area where the diners generally serve themselves. Buffets are offered at various places including hotels and many social events...
or a főzelék
Fozelék
Főzelék is a type of thick Hungarian vegetable dish. Főzelék is a special category in Hungarian cuisine, not quite a soup, but neither is it a stew. It is simply cooked, typically by simmering, not mashed. It is usually not cooked with meat, but bacon and spicy sausage may be added for flavor...
faló (vegetable purée
Purée
Purée and mash are general terms for cooked food, usually vegetables or legumes, that have been ground, pressed, blended, and/or sieved to the consistency of a soft creamy paste or thick liquid. Purées of specific foods are often known by specific names, e.g., mashed potatoes or apple sauce...
bar).
Italy
The most notable Italian street food is pizzaPizza
Pizza is an oven-baked, flat, disc-shaped bread typically topped with a tomato sauce, cheese and various toppings.Originating in Italy, from the Neapolitan cuisine, the dish has become popular in many parts of the world. An establishment that makes and sells pizzas is called a "pizzeria"...
, sold in take-aways. Take-away pizza (or "Pizza al taglio
Pizza al taglio
Pizza al taglio or pizza al trancio is a variety of pizza baked in large rectangular trays, and generally sold in rectangular slices by weight, with prices marked per kilogram or 100 grams...
") is quite different from pizzeria pizza. Unlike the round pizza normally found in restaurants, which originated in Naples as a street food itself, it is generally made on large square trays, and square or rectangular portions are sold. It usually has quite a thick base, again unlike the traditional Italian restaurant pizza.
Toppings include margherite, mushrooms, Italian sausage, ham, and vegetables.
Other street foods are the Genoese
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
Focaccia di Recco, a double layer of thin dough filled with quark cheese and baked, Farinata, a thin, baked chickpea-flour batter, topped with salt, pepper and olive oil, often served with focaccia (a thin bread, also with salt and olive oil), Florentine
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
trippa and lampredotto
Lampredotto
Lampredotto is a typical Florentine peasant dish, made from the fourth and final stomach of a cow, the abomasum. "Lampredotto" is derived from the Italian word for lamprey eels, lampreda---once very abundant in the waters of the Arno River---as the tripe resembles a cooked lamprey in shape and...
, ox stomach cooked in a seasoned broth and served in a bread roll, Roman
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
"supplì", rice balls filled with cheese and/or various fillings, covered in egg and breadcrumbs and deep fried, similar to Sicilian
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
arancini, where the usual filling is a meat sauce with green peas.
In Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, fried food stalls, known as friggitorie, sell filled, deep-fried pastries and other foods. In Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
, a street food would be "Pani ca meusa" (bread rolls with sliced, cooked pork spleen), and "Panelle", deep-fried chickpea flour batter. In central Italy "porchetta" is common, a spicy roasted pork meat (from the whole, boned animal), usually served in a bread roll.
Vendors sell watermelons during the summer months, as well as roasted chestnuts ("caldarroste") stalls during the winter, and especially before Christmas.
Rotisserie
Rotisserie is a style of roasting where meat is skewered on a spit - a long solid rod used to hold food while it is being cooked over a fire in a fireplace or over a campfire, or roasted in an oven. This method is generally used for cooking large joints of meat or entire animals, such as pigs,...
, while most often selling food to be eaten at home, also sometimes have a counter for immediate consumption of their goods, the most common of which are roast chicken, roast potatoes, fried polenta
Polenta
Polenta is a dish made from boiled cornmeal. The word "polenta" is borrowed from Italian.-Description:Polenta is made with ground yellow or white cornmeal , which can be ground coarsely or finely depending on the region and the texture desired.As it is known today, polenta derives from earlier...
and other accompaniments.
Substantial immigration from Turkey and the Middle East has also gained Shawarma
Shawarma
Shawarma is a Levantine Arab sandwich-like wrap of shaved lamb, goat, chicken, turkey, beef, or mixed meats. The meat is placed on a spit, and may be grilled for as long as a day. It is eaten with pita bread, tabbouleh, fattoush, taboon bread, tomato and cucumber. Toppings include tahini, hummus,...
, as well as other middle-eastern traditional dishes, an increasing popularity.
Gelato
Gelato
Gelato is the italian word for ice cream and sorbet. Italians use the word gelato to mean a sweet treat that is served frozen. Indeed, gelato, just like ice cream, is made with Milk, cream, various sugars, flavoring including fresh fruit and nut purees....
(ice cream) is commonly available.
In Romagna
Romagna
Romagna is an Italian historical region that approximately corresponds to the south-eastern portion of present-day Emilia-Romagna. Traditionally, it is limited by the Apennines to the south-west, the Adriatic to the east, and the rivers Reno and Sillaro to the north and west...
region, and especially in Forlì-Cesena province, a flatbread
Flatbread
A flatbread is a simple bread made with flour, water, and salt and then thoroughly rolled into flattened dough. Many flatbreads are unleavened: made without yeast or sourdough culture: although some flatbread is made with yeast, such as pita bread....
called Piadina
Piadina
Piadina or Piada is a thin Italian flatbread, typically prepared in the Romagna region . It is usually made with white flour, lard , salt and water...
is available. It is sold in kiosk
Kiosk
Kiosk is a small, separated garden pavilion open on some or all sides. Kiosks were common in Persia, India, Pakistan, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward...
s, usually as sandwich filled with mixed cold cut
Cold cut
Cold cuts are cheeses or precooked or cured meat, often sausages or meat loaves, that are sliced and usually served cold on sandwiches or on party trays. They can be bought pre-sliced in vacuum packs at a supermarket or grocery store, or they can be purchased at a delicatessen or deli counter,...
meats, cheese and/or vegetables. A widely used variant is the Crescione
Piadina
Piadina or Piada is a thin Italian flatbread, typically prepared in the Romagna region . It is usually made with white flour, lard , salt and water...
, a Piadina cooked like a turnover
Turnover (food)
A turnover is a kind of pastry made by placing a filling on a piece of dough, folding the dough over, and sealing it. Turnovers can be sweet or savory and are often made as a sort of portable meal or dessert, similar to a sandwich....
; in this version the most common filling are "tomato souce - mozzarella
Mozzarella
Mozzarella is an Italian Traditional Speciality Guaranteed food product. The term is used for several kinds of Italian cheeses that are made using spinning and then cutting :...
" and "pumpkin - boiled potato - sausage
Sausage
A sausage is a food usually made from ground meat , mixed with salt, herbs, and other spices, although vegetarian sausages are available. The word sausage is derived from Old French saussiche, from the Latin word salsus, meaning salted.Typically, a sausage is formed in a casing traditionally made...
".
Malta
Pastizzi are small, ricotta cheese or pea-paste filled puff-pastry squares that can be bought from vendors in practically every village in MaltaMalta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
. "Pastizzi", or its singular form "pastizz" is also a derogatory term in colloquial Maltese which refers to female genitalia, probably due to the similarity in shape of these local delicacies. Ricotta pastizzi (Pastizzi tal-irkotta) are diamond shaped with a hole in the middle where the ricotta stuffing can be seen whilst pea pastizzi (Pastizzi tal-pizelli) are of the same shape but are more like an envelope of puff pastry with no holes.
The shops selling these pastries are called "Pastizzeriji" and they occasionally sell items such as pies, pizza slices, sausage rolls, baked rice, baked maccaroni (timpana) and sometimes arancini.
Another local street food found in such pastizzerias is the "Qassatat". This is a ball-shaped pie crust with an open top, filled with the same two basic fillings of ricotta or peas, and sometimes a tuna and spinach mixture.
Imqaret are deep fried pastries filled with a mashed date mixture.
Hamburgers, hot dogs and other such products being sold from vans, replace perennial Maltese favorites such as Ħobż biż-żejt, bigilla
Bigilla
Bigilla is a traditional Maltese snack, made out of beans. The main ingredient of bigilla are tic beans, which are similar to broad beans, but much smaller, with a darker and harder skin. Locally this is called ful ta' Ġirba . In some villages in Malta, bigilla is sold by a street vendor who...
and timpana.
However Ħobż biż-żejt is another street food, usually bought from the inside of shops rather than stalls. This is the local sandwich, a local flat-bun called a "ftira" or a rounder one called "hbejza" are filled with various ingredients available at the counter displays. The basic Ħobż biż-żejt recipe consists of filling the bread with oil and kunserva (tomato paste), tuna-fish, pickles and other delicacies which vary from shop to shop. These shops usually serve tea with milk in small glasses to their regulars.
Occasionally a street vendor will sell Sinizza but this is a rarity nowadays. Sinizza is deep fried ball of fish, batter and other ingredients.
Poland
Popular street snacks in Poland include: zapiekankiZapiekanka
Zapiekanka is a Polish halved baguette or bread topped mainly with mushrooms and cheese, also ham or other types of meat, and vegetables. Beside some basic version there are several recipes like Zapiekanka "Hawaiian" with pineapple, "Greek" with olives and feta cheese etc. They are usually placed...
-- essentially Polish-style French-bread pizzas with a variety of toppings—the obwarzanki of Krakow, which are like bagels (only with bigger holes); and precle (or pretzels). The most common street food in Poland, however, seems to be lody, or ice cream. Long lines outside ice cream shops, and scores of pedestrians toting cones, are a regular fixture of Polish streetscapes.
Romania
In Romania there is a fair amount of street food. The most commonly available during the day are covrigiPretzel
A pretzel is a type of baked food made from dough in soft and hard varieties and savory or sweet flavors in a unique knot-like shape, originating in Europe...
, hot pretzels covered in sesame or poppy seeds, and "plăcinte". "Plăcinte" can refer to sweet or savory pies with various fillings or to large pieces of fried dough eaten with garlic sauce, sour cream, cheese, or jam similar to Hungarian lángos
Lángos
Lángos is a Hungarian food speciality, a deep fried flat bread made of a dough with flour, yeast, salt and water.-Variations:Lángos can be made with yoghurt, sour cream or milk instead of water, a dash of sugar along with salt and sometimes with flour and boiled mashed potatoes, which is called...
. In the south and along the Black Sea, "plăcintă dobrogeană" is available. This type of plăcintă is more like the burek
Burek
Börek is a family of baked or fried filled pastries made of a thin flaky dough known as yufka . It can be filled with cheese, often feta, sirene or kaşar; minced meat, or vegetables...
encountered in other parts of the Balkans. Doughnuts called gogoși
Doughnut
A doughnut or donut is a fried dough food and is popular in many countries and prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and franchised specialty outlets...
are also commonly available. At fairs and in winter time kürtős kalács
Kürtoskalács
Kürtőskalács or kürtős kalács is a Hungarian pastry also known as chimney cake, stove cake, or Hungarian wedding cake. It is baked on a tapered cylindrical spit over an open fire. Originally from Transylvania, it is famous as Hungary's oldest pastry...
(tulnic in Romanian) with nuts or cinnoman is very popular. Mititei
Mititei
Mititei or mici is a traditional Romanian dish of grilled minced-meat rolls made from meat of beef, lamb and pork mixed, which contain garlic, black pepper, thyme, coriander, anise, savory and sometimes a touch of paprika. Sodium bicarbonate is also added to the mixture.It is best served...
or "mici", small grilled skinless sausages, are often available in the summer in marketplaces and at fairs. Other street foods include popcorn, steamed ears of corn, roasted chestnuts in winter, and ice cream in summer.
Russia
Blintz
A blin, blintze, or blintz is a thin pancake. It is somewhat similar to a crêpe with the main difference being that yeast may be used in blini, but not in crêpes.-Etymology, origins, culture :...
, pirozhki
Pirozhki
Pirozhki , sometimes transliterated as piroshki , is a generic word for individual-sized baked or fried buns stuffed with a variety of fillings. The stress in pirozhki is properly placed on the last syllable: . Pirozhok is the diminutive form of the Russian cognate pirog , which refers to a...
and sausage
Sausage
A sausage is a food usually made from ground meat , mixed with salt, herbs, and other spices, although vegetarian sausages are available. The word sausage is derived from Old French saussiche, from the Latin word salsus, meaning salted.Typically, a sausage is formed in a casing traditionally made...
s are widely available.
The cuisine of Russia's Turkic
Turkic peoples
The Turkic peoples are peoples residing in northern, central and western Asia, southern Siberia and northwestern China and parts of eastern Europe. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
minority is popular, with dishes like shawerma, rotisserie
Rotisserie
Rotisserie is a style of roasting where meat is skewered on a spit - a long solid rod used to hold food while it is being cooked over a fire in a fireplace or over a campfire, or roasted in an oven. This method is generally used for cooking large joints of meat or entire animals, such as pigs,...
chicken, shashlik
Shashlik
Shashlyk or Shashlik , is a form of Shish kebab popular throughout Israel, Lithuania, former Soviet Union, Iran, Mongolia, and parts of central Europe. Shashlyk is originally lamb depending on local preferences and religious observances...
, chebureki and plov.
Kvas
Kvås
Kvås is a village and a former municipality in Vest-Agder county in Norway. It is located in the Lyngdalen valley in the northern part of the present-day municipality of Lyngdal. The village of Kvås is located along the river Lygna...
, a small beer made (usually) from bread
Bread
Bread is a staple food prepared by cooking a dough of flour and water and often additional ingredients. Doughs are usually baked, but in some cuisines breads are steamed , fried , or baked on an unoiled frying pan . It may be leavened or unleavened...
, with honey
Honey
Honey is a sweet food made by bees using nectar from flowers. The variety produced by honey bees is the one most commonly referred to and is the type of honey collected by beekeepers and consumed by humans...
being a frequent additive (myodniy kvass), is sold out of tanks or barrels on the street.
In areas with Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
immigrant populations, Chinese dishes
Chinese cuisine
Chinese cuisine is any of several styles originating in the regions of China, some of which have become highly popular in other parts of the world – from Asia to the Americas, Australia, Western Europe and Southern Africa...
are sold.
Ice cream
Ice cream
Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...
is enjoyed even on the coldest of Moscow days. Pizza
Pizza
Pizza is an oven-baked, flat, disc-shaped bread typically topped with a tomato sauce, cheese and various toppings.Originating in Italy, from the Neapolitan cuisine, the dish has become popular in many parts of the world. An establishment that makes and sells pizzas is called a "pizzeria"...
is also available.
Kiosks sell candy
Candy
Candy, specifically sugar candy, is a confection made from a concentrated solution of sugar in water, to which flavorings and colorants are added...
, snacks, produce
Produce
Produce is a generalized term for a group of farm-produced goods and, not limited to fruits and vegetables . More specifically, the term "produce" often implies that the products are fresh and generally in the same state as where they were harvested. In supermarkets the term is also used to refer...
, beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
and other beverages, in addition to cigarette
Cigarette
A cigarette is a small roll of finely cut tobacco leaves wrapped in a cylinder of thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end and allowed to smoulder; its smoke is inhaled from the other end, which is held in or to the mouth and in some cases a cigarette holder may be used as well...
s and household products.
Slovakia
In SlovakiaSlovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
street offerings include steamed
Steaming
Steaming is a method of cooking using steam. Steaming is considered a healthy cooking technique and capable of cooking almost all kinds of food.-Method:...
sweetcorn
Sweetcorn
Sweet corn is a variety of maize with a high sugar content. Sweet corn is the result of a naturally occurring recessive mutation in the genes which control conversion of sugar to starch inside the endosperm of the corn kernel...
cobs, fried flat bread loaves with garlic and salt or other condiments (langos), fried buns with poppy seed
Poppy seed
Poppy seed is an oilseed obtained from the opium poppy . The tiny kidney-shaped seeds have been harvested from dried seed pods by various civilizations for thousands of years...
, jam or cream cheese filling (pirozky); seasonally, ice-cream is eaten in summer and roasted chestnuts in autumn. Ciganska pecienka (gypsy-style roasted
Roasting
Roasting is a cooking method that uses dry heat, whether an open flame, oven, or other heat source. Roasting usually causes caramelization or Maillard browning of the surface of the food, which is considered by some as a flavor enhancement. Roasting uses more indirect, diffused heat , and is...
pork), roasted sausage and more are sold at Saturday markets. Crepes and fresh sandwiches are available.
Spain
The concept of eating in the street is very rooted in the Spanish culture, even though in the last few decades the law has forbidden the sale of food in the streets due to hygiene concerns. The most common way to eat is still inside a bar with friends (tapeoTapas
Tapas are a wide variety of appetizers, or snacks, in Spanish cuisine. They may be cold or warm ....
), however, in winter, roast chestnuts can be bought in the street, especially in the north, and during fiesta
Party
A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, or recreation. A party will typically feature food and beverages, and often music and dancing as well....
s, churro
Churro
A churro, sometimes referred to as a Spanish doughnut, is a fried-dough pastry-based snack that has disputed origins. Churros are also popular in Latin America, France, Portugal, Morocco, the United States, Australia, and Spanish-speaking Caribbean islands. There are two types of churros in Spain....
s are also sold. Additionally, the typical bocadillo
Bocadillo
The bocadillo or bocata, in Spain and other hispanic countries, is a sandwich made with Spanish bread cut lengthwise, not with sliced bread. Traditionally seen as a humble food, its low cost has allowed it to evolve over time into an iconic piece of the Hispanic cuisine....
is the most common snack all around Spain for school children and workers. Bocadillos can be filled with various foodstuffs typical of the province (anchovies, sweet peppers, tortilla de patatas
Tortilla de patatas
The Spanish omelette or Spanish tortilla, also called simply tortilla in English when there is no confusion with the Mexican maize tortilla, is a typically Spanish dish consisting of a thick egg omelette made with potatoes and fried in olive oil....
, tuna, ham, meat, cheese, Empanada Gallega
Empanada
An empanada is a stuffed bread or pastry baked or fried in many countries in Latin America, Southern Europe and parts of Southeast Asia. The name comes from the verb empanar, meaning to wrap or coat in bread. Empanada is made by folding a dough or bread patty around the stuffing...
, etc.) and are very convenient as "food on the go". Some major cities will have vendors selling ice cream, nuts and snacks from kiosk
Kiosk
Kiosk is a small, separated garden pavilion open on some or all sides. Kiosks were common in Persia, India, Pakistan, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward...
s.
During summer in Málaga
Málaga
Málaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe...
(and many small towns nearby), the fruit of the higo chumbo
Harrisia portoricensis
Harrisia portoricensis is a species of cactus in the genus Harrisia. Its common name is higo chumbo. It is endemic to Puerto Rico, where it is known from three smaller islands off the coast of the main island. The population is estimated at 59,000 on Mona Island, 148 individuals on Monito Island,...
(a local cactus) is often sold.
Switzerland
Street foods available in Switzerland are sandwich-like, either the typical grilled panini, but also pretzelPretzel
A pretzel is a type of baked food made from dough in soft and hard varieties and savory or sweet flavors in a unique knot-like shape, originating in Europe...
s, grilled chicken, hot dog
Hot dog
A hot dog is a sausage served in a sliced bun. It is very often garnished with mustard, ketchup, onions, mayonnaise, relish and/or sauerkraut.-History:...
s or the traditional Bratwurst
Bratwurst
A bratwurst is a sausage usually composed of veal, pork or beef. The plural in German is Bratwürste....
served with a slice of bread and sometimes mustard
Mustard (condiment)
Mustard is a condiment made from the seeds of a mustard plant...
. Sweet foods include ice cream
Ice cream
Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...
and crêpe
Crêpe
A crêpe or crepe , is a type of very thin pancake, usually made from wheat flour or buckwheat flour . The word is of French origin, deriving from the Latin crispa, meaning "curled". While crêpes originate from Brittany, a region in the northwest of France, their consumption is widespread in France...
s. Stalls will typically be motorized trucks, rather than smaller wheeled carts. Other foods eaten on the go include the doner kebab
Doner kebab
Doner kebab is a dish made of roasted meat cooked on a vertical spit. It is also known regionally as gyro , shawarma, and al pastor . It consists of shaved lamb, goat, chicken, turkey, beef, or mixed meats roasted on a spit. Less common alternatives include fish and sausage...
, although these are uniformly sold in indoor stores with their own seating rather than from a mobile stall.
Turkey
Turkey can be considered a paradise for the one who loves street food, the varieties are not only numerous, but show considerable change from region to region. It is possible to speak about a full-fledged "Street Cuisine", apart from the mainstream one. There is a very important culture turning around street food in Turkey, and all this food is also separated in two as some are eaten by day, some by night.Here is a comprehensive list of most of the typical street foods that can be found around large Turkish metropolises:
IstanbulIstanbulIstanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
- DönerDoner kebabDoner kebab is a dish made of roasted meat cooked on a vertical spit. It is also known regionally as gyro , shawarma, and al pastor . It consists of shaved lamb, goat, chicken, turkey, beef, or mixed meats roasted on a spit. Less common alternatives include fish and sausage...
served either in:- DürümDurumDurum wheat or macaroni wheat is the only tetraploid species of wheat of commercial importance that is widely cultivated today...
- the "Kaşarlı Dürüm" variation of TaksimTaksim SquareTaksim Square situated in the European part of Istanbul, Turkey, is a major shopping, tourist and leisure district famed for its restaurants, shops and hotels. It is considered the heart of modern Istanbul, with the central station of the Istanbul Metro network...
is extremely popular, that consists of a toasted dürüm with kaşar cheese added to the döner meat - Tombik i.e. "fat bread"
- Dürüm
- Balik-Ekmek - freshly cooked fish served inside a bun of bread. This is typically served on the EminonuEminönüEminönü is a former district of Istanbul in Turkey, now a neighbourhood of Fatih district. This is the heart of the walled city of Constantine, the focus of a history of incredible richness. Eminönü covers the point on which the Byzantine capital was built. The Galata Bridge crosses the Golden Horn...
square straight from the boat on which it is prepared. - Pilav - steamed rice with chicken and chickpeas, mostly sold in steam carts at night
- Midye - mussels, that come in two forms:
- Midye Dolma - stuffed mussels with rice, pine nuts and raisins, eaten cold with lemon and olive oil
- Midye Tava - mussels on a skewer, that are fried in oil, and eaten with a garlic sauce
- Kokoreç - the Istanbul version is typically cooked on a pan rather than on charcoal, and is extremely spicy
- Uykuluk - sweetbreadSweetbreadSweetbreads or ris are culinary names for the thymus or the pancreas especially of the calf and lamb...
and other soft glands of lamb, grilled on charcoal, and especially popular in the European Side - Patsos - a sandwich composed of fried french fries and sausage topped with kaşar, more than popular in the Asian Side
- Dilli Kaşarlı - a tiny toast comprising thin sliced smoked tongueTongueThe tongue is a muscular hydrostat on the floors of the mouths of most vertebrates which manipulates food for mastication. It is the primary organ of taste , as much of the upper surface of the tongue is covered in papillae and taste buds. It is sensitive and kept moist by saliva, and is richly...
with kaşar, a fine delicacy of EtilerEtilerEtiler is a neighbourhood on the European side of Istanbul, Turkey, located in the district of Beşiktaş, close to the business quarters of Levent and Maslak.... - Adana KebabAdana KebabAdana kebabı is a long, hand-minced meat kebab mounted on a wide iron skewer and grilled on an open mangal over braizing charcoals. It is named for Adana, the fifth largest city of Turkey, in the Eastern part of the Mediterranean region...
ı - served in a dürümDurumDurum wheat or macaroni wheat is the only tetraploid species of wheat of commercial importance that is widely cultivated today... - Sucuk Ekmek - sucuk served in fresh crusty bread as a sandwich
- Islak HamburgerHamburgerA hamburger is a sandwich consisting of a cooked patty of ground meat usually placed inside a sliced bread roll...
- another specialty of the TaksimTaksim SquareTaksim Square situated in the European part of Istanbul, Turkey, is a major shopping, tourist and leisure district famed for its restaurants, shops and hotels. It is considered the heart of modern Istanbul, with the central station of the Istanbul Metro network...
neighbourhood, consisting of a garlic meatball in a tiny bun, that is dipped in a pepper sauce and reheated - Kumpir - a baked potato filled to the maximum with a variety of toppings, popular around OrtaköyOrtaköyOrtaköy is a neighbourhood, formerly a small village, within the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul, Turkey, located in the middle of the European bank of the Bosphorus....
- BozaBozaBoza, also bosa , is a popular fermented beverage in Kazakhstan, Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, Albania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, parts of Romania, Serbia, Ukraine and also Poland and Lithuania...
- a fermented drink, drunk in winter nights
İzmirIzmirIzmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...
- Kokoreç made exclusively from milk fed lamb, grilled on hot charcoal, served barely cleaved inside of a grilled bread quarter, with very little spice, often accompanied with cold beerBeerBeer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
- Çöp Şiş - a kebabKebabKebab is a wide variety of meat dishes originating in Middle East and later on adopted by the Middle East, and Asia Minor, and now found worldwide. In English, kebab with no qualification generally refers more specifically to shish kebab served on the skewer...
consisting of very small milk fed lamb cuts mounted on tiny skewers (made of dried squash) grilled on charcoal and served in very large numbers, around 15 at a time - Kelle Söğüş - different parts, including cheek, tongue brain and eyes from a boiled sheep head, that are cooled and marinated in olive oil, then all chopped together and served wrapped in a lavaş with a slice of tomato and a hint of spice. It is considered to be a local delicacyDelicacyA delicacy is a food item that is considered highly desirable in certain cultures. Often this is because of unusual flavors or characteristics or because it is rare....
of İzmir by excellence - Közde SandviçSandwichA sandwich is a food item, typically consisting of two or more slices of :bread with one or more fillings between them, or one slice of bread with a topping or toppings, commonly called an open sandwich. Sandwiches are a widely popular type of lunch food, typically taken to work or school, or...
- Literally "Sandwich on Charcoal", that is bread toasted on a charcoal grill, alongside the meat and cheese that are grilled on charcoal to be then added to the toast. Comes in two main variations:- Kumru - lit "the Dove", that consists of a lemon-shaped bread and has mostly a cheese filling
- Yengen - lit. "Your Aunt" that has a round and crusty bread with a meatier filling, with mayonnaise
- Midye - mussels, that come in two forms:
- Midye Dolma - stuffed mussels, different from the Istanbul version in that they are tiny, and are sold by the dozen
- Midye Tava - fried mussels, different from the Istanbul version as they are fried in olive oilOlive oilOlive oil is an oil obtained from the olive , a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin. It is commonly used in cooking, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and soaps and as a fuel for traditional oil lamps...
and do not come with skewers
- Sardalya Tava - small sardines fried in olive oilOlive oilOlive oil is an oil obtained from the olive , a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin. It is commonly used in cooking, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and soaps and as a fuel for traditional oil lamps...
- BoyozBoyozBoyoz is a Turkish pastry, associated within Turkey with İzmir, which is practically the only city where it is prepared for commercial purposes and follows the original recipe. As such, in the eyes of Smyrniots boyoz acquired the dimension of a symbol of their hometown or of their longing for it...
- hot, greasy and flaky pastry typical of İzmir, baked in a masonry ovenMasonry ovenA masonry oven, colloquially known as a brick oven or stone oven, is an oven consisting of a baking chamber made of fireproof brick, concrete, stone, or clay. Though traditionally wood-fired, coal-fired ovens were common in the 19th century, modern masonry ovens are often fired with natural gas or...
and served with a hard-boiled egg - Gevrek - the İzmir version of the SimitSimitA simit , Aramaic qeluro/qelora, koulouri , đevrek , gjevrek , gevrek , covrig is a circular bread with sesame seeds, very common in Turkey, as well as in Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria and other parts of the Balkans and Middle...
- Turşu Suyu - sour brineBrineBrine is water, saturated or nearly saturated with salt .Brine is used to preserve vegetables, fruit, fish, and meat, in a process known as brining . Brine is also commonly used to age Halloumi and Feta cheeses, or for pickling foodstuffs, as a means of preserving them...
that is left from picklingPicklingPickling, also known as brining or corning is the process of preserving food by anaerobic fermentation in brine to produce lactic acid, or marinating and storing it in an acid solution, usually vinegar . The resulting food is called a pickle. This procedure gives the food a salty or sour taste...
, consumed cold, somewhat of an acquired taste - LokmaLokma*Tuzlu lokma Lángos, Boortsog - They may be thought of as cookies or biscuits, and since they are fried, they are sometimes compared to doughnuts.*Tatlı lokma Loukoumades - are a kind of fried-dough pastry made of deep fried dough soaked in sugar syrup or honey and cinnamon, and sometimes sprinkled...
- a sweet summer specialty, sold on carts
AnkaraAnkaraAnkara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....
Ankara is a rather poor city when it comes to local cuisine in general, but a few street specialties are still to be counted:- SimitSimitA simit , Aramaic qeluro/qelora, koulouri , đevrek , gjevrek , gevrek , covrig is a circular bread with sesame seeds, very common in Turkey, as well as in Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria and other parts of the Balkans and Middle...
in its Ankara variant, that is thinner, and baked exclusively in masonry ovens after being brushed with pekmezPekmezPekmez or dibs is amolasses-like syrup obtained after condensing juices of fruit must, especially grape, fig or mulberry, by boiling it with a coagulant agent. It is used as a syrup or mixed with tahini for breakfast....
, making it crustier - Köfte EkmekKoftaKofta is a Middle Eastern and South Asian meatball or meatloaf.In the simplest form, koftas consist of balls of minced or ground meat—usually beef or lamb—mixed with spices and/or onions...
- spicy meatballs grilled on charcoal and served inside crusty bread or grilled bazlamaBazlamaBazlama can be defined as a single layered, flat, circular and leavened bread with a creamish yellow colour. It bears a close resemblance in taste to english muffins. It has an average thickness of 2 cm and diameters ranging from 10 to 25 cm....
generally consumed with AyranAyranAyran or laban is a cold beverage of yogurt mixed with cold water and sometimes salt; it is popular in many Central Asian, Middle Eastern and South-eastern European countries.... - Tavuk DönerDoner kebabDoner kebab is a dish made of roasted meat cooked on a vertical spit. It is also known regionally as gyro , shawarma, and al pastor . It consists of shaved lamb, goat, chicken, turkey, beef, or mixed meats roasted on a spit. Less common alternatives include fish and sausage...
- Döner made with marinated chicken that is generally preferred in Ankara to the meat Döner - KumpirBaked potatoA baked potato, or jacket potato, is the edible result of baking a potato. When well cooked, a baked potato has a fluffy interior and a crisp skin. It may be served with fillings and condiments such as butter, cheese or ham....
- a baked potato filled to the maximum with a variety of toppings, popular in Çankaya - GözlemeGözlemeGözleme is a savoury traditional Turkish hand made and hand rolled pastry. Fresh pastry is rolled out, filled and sealed, then cooked over a griddle.The name derives from the Turkish word göz meaning eye. Traditionally, this is done on a sac...
- savoury hand made and hand rolled pastry, with a selection of fillings, grilled on a sac top
Adana-MersinAdana-Mersin Metropolitan AreaAdana-Mersin metropolitan area lies in the core area of Çukurova and with a population of 3 million, it is one of Turkey's major business and cultural centres. The metropolitan area stretches over 100 km from east to west and 25 km from north to south and includes the cities of Mersin, Tarsus,...
- Kıyma KebabıAdana KebabAdana kebabı is a long, hand-minced meat kebab mounted on a wide iron skewer and grilled on an open mangal over braizing charcoals. It is named for Adana, the fifth largest city of Turkey, in the Eastern part of the Mediterranean region...
- a particularly delicious kebab, consisting of roasting a huge skewer of hand-minced ram meat mixed with tail-fat and red pepper on an open mangal, called "Adana Kebabı" in the rest of Turkey, eaten in its street version as a dürümDurumDurum wheat or macaroni wheat is the only tetraploid species of wheat of commercial importance that is widely cultivated today...
wrapped in lavaş - Ciğer Dürüm - liver that has been roasted on a mangal, alternatively with pieces of tail-fat, wrapped with onions, parsley and pomegranate syrup in a dürümDurumDurum wheat or macaroni wheat is the only tetraploid species of wheat of commercial importance that is widely cultivated today...
that takes a "V" shape - Tantuni a spicy lavaş wrap consisting of julienned lamb stir-fried on a sac on a hint of cotton oil, a specialty of Mersin
- ŞırdanSirdanSirdan is a city in Tarom Sofla District, Qazvin County, Qazvin Province, Iran. At the 2006 census its population was 462, in 182 families....
- boiled sheep rumenRumenThe rumen, also known as a paunch, forms the larger part of the reticulorumen, which is the first chamber in the alimentary canal of ruminant animals. It serves as the primary site for microbial fermentation of ingested feed...
filled with rice, and eaten with cumin, considered to be an Adana delicacy - Bici Bici - a very popular ice dessert, consisting of sweetened peeled ice put on top of diced haytalya pieces (sweet semolina jelly) swimming in rose syrup. The peeled ice is then lightly soaked with different natural syrups, coloring it. This particular dessert is nowhere to be found outside of Adana-Mersin, and until very recently, could be only bought from street vendors
- Şalgam - a beverage made of fermented red and black carrots, very sour, that comes in mild and hot versions. Both AdanaAdanaAdana is a city in southern Turkey and a major agricultural and commercial center. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, 30 kilometres inland from the Mediterranean, in south-central Anatolia...
and MersinMersin-Mersin today:Today, Mersin is a large city spreading out along the coast, with Turkey's second tallest skyscraper , huge hotels, an opera house, expensive real estate near the sea or up in the hills, and many other modern urban...
compete for the best Şalgam
Antep
- Beyran - a dish made of a small amount of rice topped with the soft meat and neck fat of lamb in a small copper plate that is left to burn on a potent fire for some time. considered to be an Antep delicacy
- Nohut Dürüm - a very interesting dürümDurumDurum wheat or macaroni wheat is the only tetraploid species of wheat of commercial importance that is widely cultivated today...
made out of chickpeas steamed in a spicy sauce, that are served crushed and wrapped in a thick lavaş. This may be Turkey's only entirely vegetarian dürüm. The recipe is actually said to be Armenian - Cağırtlak - liver, fat, and other offalOffalOffal , also called, especially in the United States, variety meats or organ meats, refers to the internal organs and entrails of a butchered animal. The word does not refer to a particular list of edible organs, which varies by culture and region, but includes most internal organs other than...
(mostly heart and kidney) are impaled on skewers and grilled on a mangal to be served in a lavaş, a favorite late-night dish of Eastern Turkey - Fıstıklı Kebap - lit. "Kebab with Pistachio" is basically a Kıyma Kebabı less the spice and plus the ground pistachios that are added in the mixture. The street version is served as a dürümDurumDurum wheat or macaroni wheat is the only tetraploid species of wheat of commercial importance that is widely cultivated today...
. - Urmu Dutu - the juice of freshly squeezed sour blackberries (a variety endemic to the region) that is typically only sold in the street carts, where the blackberries are cooled on a block of ice
Urfa
- LahmacunLahmacunLahmacun or lahmajoun , from , , "meat with dough", is an item of prepared food originating in the early Syrian cuisine of the Levant, consisting of a round, thin piece of dough topped with minced meat...
- ubiquitous to the city, with the street version being substantially smaller than the regular one, and sold by higher quantity - Çiğ Köfte Dürüm - as the name says it consists of Çiğ Köfte that has been wrapped with a lettuce leaf inside a dürümDurumDurum wheat or macaroni wheat is the only tetraploid species of wheat of commercial importance that is widely cultivated today...
- Haşhaş Kebabı - a local variation of the Kıyma Kebabı, very popular in AleppoAleppoAleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...
as well, that is made by hand-mincing the meat in a thinner manner than the classic recipe, and by adding crushed garlic into the mixture. - Ciğer dürüm - sold everywhere in the streets of the city and even eaten for breakfast, it consists of 8 skewers of charcoal grilled lamb liverLiver (food)The liver of mammals, fowl, and fish are commonly eaten as food by humans. Domestic pig, ox, lamb, calf, chicken, and goose livers are widely available from butchers and supermarkets....
and tail fat, marinated with Urfa pepper wrapped in a dürümDurumDurum wheat or macaroni wheat is the only tetraploid species of wheat of commercial importance that is widely cultivated today...
with cumin, sumac and onions. - Yürek dürüm - the same wrap as the Ciğer dürüm, but with lamb heartHeartThe heart is a myogenic muscular organ found in all animals with a circulatory system , that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions...
instead of the liver, eaten the same way, slightly seasoned with paprika. - Böbrek dürüm - 8 skewers of unseasoned lamb kidneys, wrapped with onions and sumac.
United Kingdom
Converted vansKebab van
A kebab van is a van selling kebabs, usually döner kebabs, on the street, normally in cities and towns for the passing trade. They are often open in the evening and late at night after other places to eat have closed....
sell kebab
Kebab
Kebab is a wide variety of meat dishes originating in Middle East and later on adopted by the Middle East, and Asia Minor, and now found worldwide. In English, kebab with no qualification generally refers more specifically to shish kebab served on the skewer...
s, jacket potato, hamburger
Hamburger
A hamburger is a sandwich consisting of a cooked patty of ground meat usually placed inside a sliced bread roll...
s and chips
French fries
French fries , chips, fries, or French-fried potatoes are strips of deep-fried potato. North Americans tend to refer to any pieces of deep-fried potatoes as fries or French fries, while in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand, long, thinly cut slices of deep-fried potatoes are...
, especially at night. At fairs, stalls sell candy floss and doughnuts. In Lancashire, hot parched peas (black peas
Black Peas
Black peas, also called parched peas or maple peas, form a traditional Lancashire dish served often on or around Bonfire Night . The dish, popular in Rochdale, Oldham, Wigan, Bury and Bolton, is made from the purple podded pea which is long soaked overnight and simmered to produce a type of mushy...
) are bought from stalls, especially in the colder months. During winter there are stalls selling hot chestnuts.
Ice cream van
Ice cream van
An ice cream van or ice cream truck is a commercial vehicle which serves as a travelling retail outlet for ice cream, usually during the summer. Ice cream vans are often seen parked at public events, or near parks, beaches, or other areas where people congregate...
s are considered one of the signs of summer, and they usually play well-known tunes such as Greensleeves
Greensleeves
"Greensleeves" is a traditional English folk song and tune, a ground of the form called a romanesca.A broadside ballad by this name was registered at the London Stationer's Company in September 1580 as "A New Northern Dittye of the Lady Greene Sleeves". It then appears in the surviving A Handful of...
or Teddy Bears' Picnic
Teddy bears' picnic
"Teddy Bears' Picnic" is a song consisting of a melody by American composer John Walter Bratton, written in 1907, and lyrics added by Irish songwriter Jimmy Kennedy in 1932. It remains popular as a children's song, having been recorded by numerous artists over the decades. Kennedy lived at...
through a PA system
Public address
A public address system is an electronic amplification system with a mixer, amplifier and loudspeakers, used to reinforce a sound source, e.g., a person giving a speech, a DJ playing prerecorded music, and distributing the sound throughout a venue or building.Simple PA systems are often used in...
. Street carts can be seen in some cities selling products such as roast nuts and hot dogs, especially in places frequented by tourists.
Canada
While most major cities in Canada offer a variety of street food, regional "specialties" are notable. While poutinePoutine
Poutine is a Canadian dish of French fries and fresh cheese curds, covered with brown gravy or sauce. Sometimes additional ingredients are added.Poutine is a fast food dish that originated in Quebec and can now be found across Canada...
(french fries
French fries
French fries , chips, fries, or French-fried potatoes are strips of deep-fried potato. North Americans tend to refer to any pieces of deep-fried potatoes as fries or French fries, while in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand, long, thinly cut slices of deep-fried potatoes are...
with gravy
Gravy
Gravy is a sauce made often from the juices that run naturally from meat or vegetables during cooking. In North America the term can refer to a wider variety of sauces and gravy is often thicker than in Britain...
and cheese curds
Cheese curds
Cheese curds in cuisine, or cooking, are the solid parts of soured milk either eaten alone or used in various regional dishes, mostly in Canada and the northeastern and midwestern United States...
) is available in most of the country, it is far more common in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
. Similarly, hot dog stand
Hot dog stand
A hot dog stand is a food business stand that sells hot dogs, usually from an external counter on a public thoroughfare such as a road, street, ballpark, mall, or food court....
s can be found across Canada, but are far more common in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
(often sold from mobile canteen trucks, usually referred to as "chip wagons") than in Vancouver or Victoria
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
(where the "Mr. Tube Steak" franchise is notable). Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
offers a number of specialties including Shish taouk, the Montreal hot dog
Montreal hot dog
The Montreal hot dog is one of several variations of hot dogs served as a fast food staple at restaurants and diners in Montreal and other parts of Quebec...
, two-dollar chow mein on St. Laurent and dollar falafel
Falafel
Falafel is a deep-fried ball or patty made from ground chickpeas and/or fava beans. Falafel is usually served in a pita, which acts as a pocket, or wrapped in a flatbread known as lafa. The falafel balls are topped with salads, pickled vegetables, hot sauce, and drizzled with tahini-based sauces...
s. Although falafel is widespread in Vancouver, 99 cent pizza
Pizza
Pizza is an oven-baked, flat, disc-shaped bread typically topped with a tomato sauce, cheese and various toppings.Originating in Italy, from the Neapolitan cuisine, the dish has become popular in many parts of the world. An establishment that makes and sells pizzas is called a "pizzeria"...
slices are much more popular. Shawarma
Shawarma
Shawarma is a Levantine Arab sandwich-like wrap of shaved lamb, goat, chicken, turkey, beef, or mixed meats. The meat is placed on a spit, and may be grilled for as long as a day. It is eaten with pita bread, tabbouleh, fattoush, taboon bread, tomato and cucumber. Toppings include tahini, hummus,...
is quite prevalent in Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, while Halifax offers its own unique version of the Doner kebab
Doner kebab
Doner kebab is a dish made of roasted meat cooked on a vertical spit. It is also known regionally as gyro , shawarma, and al pastor . It consists of shaved lamb, goat, chicken, turkey, beef, or mixed meats roasted on a spit. Less common alternatives include fish and sausage...
called the Donair
Donair
A donair is a variation on the döner kebab. It was originally introduced in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada in the early 1970s. A restaurant called King of Donair claims to have been the first to serve this version in 1973...
, which features a sauce, made from condensed milk, sugar, and vinegar. Ice cream trucks can be seen (and often heard) nationwide during the summer months.
United States
Corn dog
A corn dog is a hot dog sausage coated in a thick layer of cornmeal batter and deep fried in oil, although some are baked. Almost all corn dogs are served on wooden sticks, though some early versions had no stick.-History:...
s, chili dogs) are perhaps the most common street food, particularly in major metropolitan areas such as New York City (the Easy-Bake-Oven was said to have been inspired by New York City carts roasting chestnut
Chestnut
Chestnut , some species called chinkapin or chinquapin, is a genus of eight or nine species of deciduous trees and shrubs in the beech family Fagaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce.-Species:The chestnut belongs to the...
s). Roasted
Roasting
Roasting is a cooking method that uses dry heat, whether an open flame, oven, or other heat source. Roasting usually causes caramelization or Maillard browning of the surface of the food, which is considered by some as a flavor enhancement. Roasting uses more indirect, diffused heat , and is...
nuts and gyros are often sold in the cities. Cheesesteaks, breakfast sandwiches, and pretzels are common in Philadelphia. Throughout the US, ice cream
Ice cream
Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...
is sold out of trucks
Ice cream van
An ice cream van or ice cream truck is a commercial vehicle which serves as a travelling retail outlet for ice cream, usually during the summer. Ice cream vans are often seen parked at public events, or near parks, beaches, or other areas where people congregate...
. Tacos and Tortas are sold from open food stalls. Pizza
Pizza
Pizza is an oven-baked, flat, disc-shaped bread typically topped with a tomato sauce, cheese and various toppings.Originating in Italy, from the Neapolitan cuisine, the dish has become popular in many parts of the world. An establishment that makes and sells pizzas is called a "pizzeria"...
and eggrolls are available from window counters.
Some vendors operate out of food truck
Food truck
A food truck, mobile kitchen, mobile canteen, or catering truck is a mobile venue that sells food. Some, including ice cream trucks, sell mostly frozen or prepackaged food; others are more like restaurants-on-wheels...
s and food cart
Food cart
A food cart is a mobile kitchen that is set up on the street to facilitate the sale and marketing of street food to people from the local pedestrian traffic. Food carts are often found in large cities throughout the world and can be found selling food of just about any variety.Food carts come in...
s, which offer a low overhead for entrepreneurs and often serve a huge variety of cuisines. Like restaurants, they are regulated and subject to inspections by the local municipal or county health departments.
Diversity
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
and the lack of a strictly defined national cuisine
Cuisine
Cuisine is a characteristic style of cooking practices and traditions, often associated with a specific culture. Cuisines are often named after the geographic areas or regions that they originate from...
means that, in most urban areas in the US and Canada, vendors sell frankfurters, pizza
Pizza
Pizza is an oven-baked, flat, disc-shaped bread typically topped with a tomato sauce, cheese and various toppings.Originating in Italy, from the Neapolitan cuisine, the dish has become popular in many parts of the world. An establishment that makes and sells pizzas is called a "pizzeria"...
, falafel
Falafel
Falafel is a deep-fried ball or patty made from ground chickpeas and/or fava beans. Falafel is usually served in a pita, which acts as a pocket, or wrapped in a flatbread known as lafa. The falafel balls are topped with salads, pickled vegetables, hot sauce, and drizzled with tahini-based sauces...
, gyros, kebobs, tortilla
Tortilla
In Mexico and Central America, a tortilla is a type of thin, unleavened flat bread, made from finely ground maize...
based snacks such as tacos and burritos, panini
Panino
Panini are small, filled, bread rolls, which are sometimes toasted. They are Italian in origin, but now found in other countries.In Italy, panino is the word for a sandwich made with a bread roll. Sandwiches there are customarily made from a roll or loaf of bread, typically a ciabatta or a rosetta...
, crêpe
Crêpe
A crêpe or crepe , is a type of very thin pancake, usually made from wheat flour or buckwheat flour . The word is of French origin, deriving from the Latin crispa, meaning "curled". While crêpes originate from Brittany, a region in the northwest of France, their consumption is widespread in France...
s, french fries
French fries
French fries , chips, fries, or French-fried potatoes are strips of deep-fried potato. North Americans tend to refer to any pieces of deep-fried potatoes as fries or French fries, while in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand, long, thinly cut slices of deep-fried potatoes are...
, eggrolls, and other various dishes.
Mexico
In Mexico, there is a great variety of antojitos mexicanos that are found at street food vendors, at any time of night or day: tacoTaco
A taco is a traditional Mexican dish composed of a corn or wheat tortilla folded or rolled around a filling. A taco can be made with a variety of fillings, including beef, chicken, seafood, vegetables and cheese, allowing for great versatility and variety...
s, torta
Torta
Torta is a Spanish word with a huge array of culinary meanings depending from the area and period of history in question. It originated in different regional variants of flatbread, of which the torta de gazpacho and torta cenceña are still surviving in certain areas of central Spain. Tortas are...
s (traditional Mexican sandwiches), garnachas, tostada
Tostada
Tostada is a Spanish word which literally means "toasted". It is used in Latin America to name several different traditional local dishes which have in common the fact they are toasted or use a toasted ingredient as the main base of their preparation. There is a gender difference between "tostada"...
s, picada
Picada
The picada is one of the characteristic sauces and culinary techniques essential to Catalan cuisine. It is not an autonomous sauce like mayonnaise or romesco, but it is added as a seasoning during the cooking of a recipe....
s, quesadilla
Quesadilla
A quesadilla is a flour or corn tortilla filled with a savoury mixture containing cheese and other ingredients, then folded in half to form a half-moon shape. This dish originated in Mexico, and the name is derived from the Spanish word queso ....
s, guaraches, panuchos, sope
Sope
A sope is a traditional Mexican dish originating in the city of Culiacán. Originally called gordita or pelliscadas in Culiacán. It is an antojito which at first sight looks like an unusually thick tortilla with vegetables and meat toppings...
s, gordita
Gordita
A gordita in Mexican cuisine is a corn cake made with masa harina and stuffed with cheese, meat or other fillings. It is similar to a pasty and to the Colombian/Venezuelan arepa. Gordita means "little fat one" in Spanish. A gordita is typically fried in a deep wok-shaped comal or baked on a...
s, tamale
Tamale
A tamale — or more correctly tamal — is a traditional Latin American dish made of masa , which is steamed or boiled in a leaf wrapper. The wrapping is discarded before eating...
s, atole
Atole
Atole is a traditional masa-based Mexican and Central American hot drink. Chocolate atole is known as champurrado or atole...
, aguas frescas
Aguas frescas
Ades, punches, fruit drinks and other non-alcoholic flavored coolers, known as aguas frescas in some parts of Latin America, are a combination of either fruits, cereals, or seeds with sugar and water, blended to make a beverage. Aguas frescas are popular in Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean,...
, etc.
Barbados
In BarbadosBarbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
, fishcakes are a common street food. Fishcakes are made with bits of saltfish, seasoned and mixed with flour and then deep fried. Fishcakes are sold at community events such as school fairs and concerts and can also be found at fish fries such as those in Baxter's Road in the capital city of Bridgetown or the Friday evening event in the southern fishing town of Oistins. Fishcakes are commonly eaten with saltbread, a thick, round bread; the sandwich is called a "bread-and-two" and can be found at most village shops throughout the island.
Dominican Republic
Fried foods are common in the Dominican RepublicDominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
. Empanada
Empanada
An empanada is a stuffed bread or pastry baked or fried in many countries in Latin America, Southern Europe and parts of Southeast Asia. The name comes from the verb empanar, meaning to wrap or coat in bread. Empanada is made by folding a dough or bread patty around the stuffing...
s are a very typical snack, made of fried flour, though empanadas made out of cassava
Cassava
Cassava , also called yuca or manioc, a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae native to South America, is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates...
flour, called catibias, are also common. Fillings include cheese, chicken, beef, and vegetables, or a combination of these. Yaniqueques are sold at many empanada stands. Yaniqueques (from Jonnycake
Jonnycake
Jonnycake is a cornmeal flatbread that was an early American staple food and is prepared on the Atlantic coast from Newfoundland to Jamaica. The food probably originates from the native inhabitants of North America...
) are essentially round flour shaped cakes which are fried and usually eaten with salt and/or ketchup. Other vendors sell plantain
Plantain
Plantain is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa. The fruit they produce is generally used for cooking, in contrast to the soft, sweet banana...
fritters and fried or boiled salami
Salami
Salami is cured sausage, fermented and air-dried meat, originating from one of a variety of animals. Historically, salami has been popular among Southern European peasants because it can be stored at room temperature for periods of up to 10 years, supplementing a possibly meager or inconsistent...
.
Hamburger
Hamburger
A hamburger is a sandwich consisting of a cooked patty of ground meat usually placed inside a sliced bread roll...
s are sold at stands called chimis, which also offer sandwiches called chimichurris
Chimichurris
Chimichurris are a traditional snack dish served in the Dominican Republic. It is made from a pork sausage, , which is sliced, grilled and served on a pan de agua and garnished with chopped cabbage. Salsa rosa is also added...
, though these bear little to no resemblance to the South American sauce of the same name. Chimis occasionally also offer hot dogs and other sandwich varieties.
Corn on the cob
Corn on the cob
Corn on the cob is a culinary term used for a cooked ear of freshly picked maize from a cultivar of sweet corn. The ear is picked while the endosperm is in the "milk stage" so that the kernels are still tender...
can be bought on the street, usually sold by traveling vendors who move around on a tricycle. Sweets vendors who sell treats such as candied coconut and dulce de leche
Dulce de leche
Dulce de leche is a thick,creamy, caramel-like milk-based sauce or spread.Literally translated, dulce de leche means "sweet from milk". It is prepared by slowly heating sweetened milk to create a product that derives its taste from caramelised sugar. It is a popular sweet in Latin America, where...
sell their goods at major intersections in cities and sometimes have their own stands.
Haiti
In HaitiHaiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
street vendors sell dishes such as fried plantains, griot (deep-fried pork or beef), frescos (fruit soda drink), cassava bread, and Haitian patties (pastry filled with choice of chicken, fish, beef, or pork).
Jamaica
The most common Jamaican street food is jerk chicken or pork and can be found everywhere on the island. Jerk is marinade that is a blended primarily from a combination of scotch bonnet peppers, onions, scallions, thyme and allspice. Once marinated, it is often barbecued on converted steel drum or whatever else locals can construct as a grill/smoker. It is often accompanied with breadfruitBreadfruit
Breadfruit is a species of flowering tree in the mulberry family, Moraceae, growing throughout Southeast Asia and most Pacific Ocean islands...
and/or festival, a sweetened fried dough.
Beef patties in a sweet bread called "coco bread" are the most popular street food. Bun and cheese is also eaten.
Puerto Rico
Puerto RicoPuerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
is well known for its street foods (referred to collectively as cuchifritos
Cuchifritos
Cuchifritos refers to various fried foods prepared principally of pork, in Puerto Rican cuisine. They include a variety of dishes including but not limited to morcilla , papas rellenas , chicharron , and various other parts of the pig prepared in different ways...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
) and is popular both in the Caribbean and in mainland North America. Typical Bastreet foods include pinchos (a kebob of skewered pork, seafood or chicken, usually spicy and topped with barbecue sauce
Barbecue sauce
Barbecue sauce is a flavoring sauce or condiment ranging from watery to very thick consistency. As the name implies, it was created as an accompaniment to barbecued foods. While it can be applied to any food, it usually tops meat after cooking or during barbecuing, grilling, or baking...
on bread; often fried whole).
Empanada
Empanada
An empanada is a stuffed bread or pastry baked or fried in many countries in Latin America, Southern Europe and parts of Southeast Asia. The name comes from the verb empanar, meaning to wrap or coat in bread. Empanada is made by folding a dough or bread patty around the stuffing...
s are very popular. Fried flour or yuca
Cassava
Cassava , also called yuca or manioc, a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae native to South America, is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates...
flour pastries stuffed with chicken, ground meat, potatoes, corn, fruit, cheese, or seafood. There are also combinations such as cheese with meat, cheese with fruit, potatoes with meat, even pigeon pea
Pigeon pea
The pigeon pea , also known as tropical green pea, toor dāl or arhar dāl , ತೊಗರಿ ಬೇಳೆ kadios , or Congo pea or gungo pea , pois Congo , gandul , gunga pea, or no-eye pea, [Cajanus...
s with coconut
Coconut
The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
and pizza
Pizza
Pizza is an oven-baked, flat, disc-shaped bread typically topped with a tomato sauce, cheese and various toppings.Originating in Italy, from the Neapolitan cuisine, the dish has become popular in many parts of the world. An establishment that makes and sells pizzas is called a "pizzeria"...
empanadas.
There's the papa rellena
Papa rellena
Papas rellenas is a traditional dish in Peruvian cuisines. The earliest appearances in cookbooks are from the late 19th century. It has now spread to other parts of Latin America...
, fried potato
Potato
The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...
balls stuffed with meat or cheese.
The alcapurria
Alcapurria
Alcapurria is a fritter dish from Puerto Rico, a culinary dish that found its way to the Dominican Republic and Cuba.- Preparation :An alcapurria is made from a doughy mixture of mashed up tubers and root vegetables that grow on the island surrounding a center of heavily seasoned meat...
, a ground malanga
Malanga
- Plants :* Xanthosoma, also known as Malanga, a tropical and sub-tropical edible or ornamental plant* Eddoe, also known as Malanga, a tropical vegetable- People :* Gerard Malanga , poet and photographer* Steven Malanga, author...
croquette filled with meat or ground yuca filled with seafood. The malanga can have a combination of potatoes, plantains, green banana
Banana
Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....
s, and/or calabaza
Calabaza
Calabaza is a term that can be applied to a variety of gourds and melons grown throughout the world.-Etymology :The word calabaza is derived from the Persian term for melon . The French term "calabasse", and hence "calabash" is based on the older Spanish...
s (tropical pumpkins). Picadillo
Picadillo
Picadillo is a traditional dish in many Latin American countries and the Philippines that is similar to hash...
is the typical stuffing.
There are also arepas stuffed with fried meat, seafood salad or usually seafood cooked in coconut milk if one likes.
Dishes based on plantains or green bananas are popular as street food throughout Puerto Rico. Pasteles
Pasteles
Pasteles are a traditional dish in several Latin American countries. In Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean coast of Colombia, and Panama, it is similar to a tamale. In Central American cuisine, it more closely resembles a British pasty or an Italian calzone.In...
are a combination of mashed tuber
Tuber
Tubers are various types of modified plant structures that are enlarged to store nutrients. They are used by plants to survive the winter or dry months and provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing season and they are a means of asexual reproduction...
s, plantains, or bananas filled with pork
Pork
Pork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig , which is eaten in many countries. It is one of the most commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BC....
and wrapped in banana leaves and then boiled. Pionono
Pionono
Piononos may refer to several varieties of pastry popular in Spain, Latin America, and The Philippines.-Spanish version:Piononos are small pastries traditional in Santa Fe, a small town adjacent to the city of Granada, Spain...
a sliver or ripe plantain sliced down the middle, fried and then stuffed with ground meat, cheese, raisins, caper
Caper
Capparis spinosa, the caper bush, is a perennial winter-deciduous species that bears rounded, fleshy leaves and large white to pinkish-white flowers. A caper is also the pickled bud of this plant...
s, and olive
Olive
The olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...
s. Plátano relleno similar to papa rellena but with ripe plantains rather than potatoes.
Bacalaíto
Bacalaíto
Bacalaítos are salt cod fritters filled with minced cod fish and garnished with cilantro, tomatoes and onions, they are a traditional Puerto Rican snack that typically is eaten with an entire meal. Bacalaítos are served at the beach, cuchifritos, and at festivals...
s are a fried pancake-like dough that are served with salted codfish. These foods can be found on the side of just about any busy street, but also typically in kiosk
Kiosk
Kiosk is a small, separated garden pavilion open on some or all sides. Kiosks were common in Persia, India, Pakistan, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward...
s, often near the beach.
Sorullos
Sorullos
Sorullos or Sorullitos are a fried cornmeal-based dish, that is a staple of the Puerto Rican cuisine. Sorullos are served as a side dish or as appetizers, and are sometimes stuffed with cheese...
a fried cornmeal batter shaped like fat fingers; they can be sweet or savory. Sorullos are stuffed with Puerto Rican white cheese, Cheddar
Cheddar cheese
Cheddar cheese is a relatively hard, yellow to off-white, and sometimes sharp-tasting cheese, produced in several countries around the world. It has its origins in the English village of Cheddar in Somerset....
or mozzarella
Mozzarella
Mozzarella is an Italian Traditional Speciality Guaranteed food product. The term is used for several kinds of Italian cheeses that are made using spinning and then cutting :...
and is served with Russian dressing. Sweet sorullos contain sugar and are filled with Puerto Rican white cheese and fruit paste such as goiabada
Goiabada
Goiabada is a popular dessert throughout the Portuguese-speaking countries of the world, dating back to the colonial days in Brazil, where guavas were used as a substitute for the quinces used to make marmelada . Abundance of sugar and slave labour were crucial for its confection, in large...
.
Trinidad and Tobago
In Trinidad and TobagoTrinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
there are roti
Roti
Roti is generally a South Asian bread made from stoneground wholemeal flour, traditionally known as atta flour, that originated and is consumed in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. It is also consumed in parts of the Southern Caribbean, particularly in Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and...
and shark & bake stands that provide quick foods like roti, dahl puri, fried bake
Fried bake
Fried bake is a Trinidadian dish popular throughout the island and in and around the Caribbean. The main ingredient in fried bake is flour. It can be served in a multitude of ways. This dish is usually served with salt fish and steamed vegetables....
, and the most popular, Doubles
Doubles (food)
"Doubles" is a common street food in Trinidad and Tobago. It is a sandwich made with two flat fried "breads", called "bara" filled with curried chick peas or garbanzo beans, commonly called channa...
.
Roti is a thin flat bread originating from India that is fluffy on the inside and crispy and flaky on the outside. It is cooked on a flat iron plate called a tawah (< Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
tawa
Tava
A tava, tawa, saj, or sac is a large, flat or convex disc-shaped griddle made from metal, usually sheet iron, cast iron, sheet steel or aluminium. It is used in south, central, and west Asia for cooking a variety of flatbreads and as a griddle for meat...
) or platain and served with curried chicken
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
, pork
Pork
Pork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig , which is eaten in many countries. It is one of the most commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BC....
or beef
Beef
Beef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle. Beef can be harvested from cows, bulls, heifers or steers. It is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of the Middle East , Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Europe and the United States, and is also important in...
.
Dahl puri is similar to the roti but is softer and pliable and has crushed dahl lentil
Lentil
The lentil is an edible pulse. It is a bushy annual plant of the legume family, grown for its lens-shaped seeds...
s cooked with saffron
Saffron
Saffron is a spice derived from the flower of Crocus sativus, commonly known as the saffron crocus. Crocus is a genus in the family Iridaceae. Each saffron crocus grows to and bears up to four flowers, each with three vivid crimson stigmas, which are each the distal end of a carpel...
and placed in the centre of the dough
Dough
Dough is a paste made out of any cereals or leguminous crops by mixing flour with a small amount of water and/or other liquid. This process is a precursor to making a wide variety of foodstuffs, particularly breads and bread-based items , flatbreads, noodles, pastry, and similar items)...
before it is rolled out and cooked. This is also served with either curried chicken, pork or beef.
Fried bake is made by frying flattened balls of dough that becomes fluffy and increases in height as it is fried. It can be served with fried ripe plantain
Plantain
Plantain is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa. The fruit they produce is generally used for cooking, in contrast to the soft, sweet banana...
s, any meat or gravy
Gravy
Gravy is a sauce made often from the juices that run naturally from meat or vegetables during cooking. In North America the term can refer to a wider variety of sauces and gravy is often thicker than in Britain...
. At the shark & bake stands fried bakes filled with well-seasoned shark
Shark
Sharks are a type of fish with a full cartilaginous skeleton and a highly streamlined body. The earliest known sharks date from more than 420 million years ago....
fillets and dressed with many different condiment
Condiment
A condiment is an edible substance, such as sauce or seasoning, added to food to impart a particular flavor, enhance its flavor, or in some cultures, to complement the dish. Many condiments are available packaged in single-serving sachets , like mustard or ketchup, particularly when supplied with...
s including pepper
Black pepper
Black pepper is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit, known as a peppercorn when dried, is approximately in diameter, dark red when fully mature, and, like all drupes, contains a single seed...
, garlic
Garlic
Allium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion genus, Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and rakkyo. Dating back over 6,000 years, garlic is native to central Asia, and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region, as well as a frequent...
and chadon beni can also be found.
Doubles
Doubles (food)
"Doubles" is a common street food in Trinidad and Tobago. It is a sandwich made with two flat fried "breads", called "bara" filled with curried chick peas or garbanzo beans, commonly called channa...
is made with two flat breads called baras (from Hindi bara, "big") that are filled with channa
Channa
Channa is a genus of the Channidae family of snakehead fishes. This genus contains about 29 species, but the most well known are probably northern snakehead and the giant snakehead . Channa has a wide natural distribution extending from Iran in the West, to China in the East, and parts of Siberia...
(from Hindi "chick peas") and topped with pepper, cucumber
Cucumber
The cucumber is a widely cultivated plant in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae, which includes squash, and in the same genus as the muskmelon. The plant is a creeping vine which bears cylindrical edible fruit when ripe. There are three main varieties of cucumber: "slicing", "pickling", and...
chutney
Chutney
Chutney is a a condiment used in South Asian cuisine that usually contains a spice and vegetable mix.Chutneys are wet or dry, having a coarse to fine texture. The Anglo-Indian loan word refers to fresh and pickled preparations indiscriminately, with preserves often sweetened. At least several...
, mango
Mango
The mango is a fleshy stone fruit belonging to the genus Mangifera, consisting of numerous tropical fruiting trees in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae. The mango is native to India from where it spread all over the world. It is also the most cultivated fruit of the tropical world. While...
chutney, coconut
Coconut
The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
chutney or bandania/chadon beni. It can be eaten either wrapped up as an easy to eat sandwich, or open it up and eat each bara separately.
Virgin Islands
Popular street foods in the Virgin IslandsVirgin Islands
The Virgin Islands are the western island group of the Leeward Islands, which are the northern part of the Lesser Antilles, which form the border between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean...
include patés, fried fish, fried chicken leg and johnnycake (fried dough). Pates, similar to the empanadas of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, consist of fried flour filled with various meats, including conch, saltfish, beef, chicken and lobster.
Brazil
Pão de queijo, which can be translated as "cheese bread", is a street snack in the southeast of BrazilBrazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
and, increasingly, the rest of the country. Hot dog
Hot dog
A hot dog is a sausage served in a sliced bun. It is very often garnished with mustard, ketchup, onions, mayonnaise, relish and/or sauerkraut.-History:...
s, cooked in a tomato-based sauce with bell peppers and onions, are often sold with grated cheese, ketchup, mayonnaise, green peas, corn kernels, fried potato sticks (batata palha), potato salad or mashed potatoes (São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
only) as choice of toppings. Hamburger
Hamburger
A hamburger is a sandwich consisting of a cooked patty of ground meat usually placed inside a sliced bread roll...
s are also offered with an assortment of toppings, such as mozzarella cheese, bacon, fried eggs, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, ketchup and mustard, the popular "X-Tudo" (or cheese-all, a souped up cheeseburger). Calabresa (Pepperoni
Pepperoni
Pepperoni is a spicy Italian-American variety of salami usually made from cured pork and beef, but poultry may be added, if labeled correctly, for less expensive versions. Pepperoni is characteristically soft, slightly smoky, and bright red in color...
) sausage sandwiches are also popular.
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
beach vendors sell Mate Gelado (erva mate iced-tea), biscoitos de polvilho (sour manioc flour puffs), roasted peanuts and queijo coalho (grilled cheese on sticks, barbecued on the spot) as well as popsicles, cold beer and home-made sandwiches (sanduiche natural). In the northeastern state of Bahia
Bahia
Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size...
, the region's African heritage is reflected in the iconic acarajé
Acarajé
Acarajé is a dish made from peeled black-eyed peas formed into a ball and then deep-fried in dendê . It is found in Nigerian and Brazilian cuisine...
(deep fried black eyed pea bun filled with caruru
Caruru
Caruru is a Brazilian food made from okra, onion, shrimp, palm oil and toasted nuts . It is a typical condiment in the northeastern state of Bahia where it is commonly eaten with acarajé, an Afro-Brazilian street food made from mashed black-eyed peas formed into a ball and then deep-fried in palm...
, made from salted dried shrimp, and vatapá
Vatapá
Vatapá is a Brazilian dish made from bread, shrimp, coconut milk, finely ground peanuts and palm oil mashed into a creamy paste. This food is very popular in the North and Northeast, but it is more typical in the northeastern state of Bahia where it is commonly eaten with acarajé, although Vatapá...
, a creamy combination of coconut milk
Coconut milk
Coconut milk is the water that comes from the grated meat of a coconut. The colour and rich taste of the milk can be attributed to the high oil content. In many parts of the world, the term coconut milk is also used to refer to coconut water, the naturally occurring liquid found inside the hollow...
, palm oil
Palm oil
Palm oil, coconut oil and palm kernel oil are edible plant oils derived from the fruits of palm trees. Palm oil is extracted from the pulp of the fruit of the oil palm Elaeis guineensis; palm kernel oil is derived from the kernel of the oil palm and coconut oil is derived from the kernel of the...
and cashew
Cashew
The cashew is a tree in the family Anacardiaceae. Its English name derives from the Portuguese name for the fruit of the cashew tree, caju, which in turn derives from the indigenous Tupi name, acajú. It is now widely grown in tropical climates for its cashew nuts and cashew apples.-Etymology:The...
nuts) or sweets like cocada (candied coconut) and pé-de-moleque (peanut brittle). All over the country, popcorn
Popcorn
Popcorn, or popping corn, is corn which expands from the kernel and puffs up when heated. Corn is able to pop because, like sorghum, quinoa and millet, its kernels have a hard moisture-sealed hull and a dense starchy interior. This allows pressure to build inside the kernel until an explosive...
is always offered in push carts both savory or sweet (with sugar and cocoa powder). Churros push carts (sausage shaped deep fried dough filled with a choice of doce-de-leite
Dulce de leche
Dulce de leche is a thick,creamy, caramel-like milk-based sauce or spread.Literally translated, dulce de leche means "sweet from milk". It is prepared by slowly heating sweetened milk to create a product that derives its taste from caramelised sugar. It is a popular sweet in Latin America, where...
caramel or chocolate sauce) are also found on any major city street.
Colombia
In ColombiaColombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, the empanada
Empanada
An empanada is a stuffed bread or pastry baked or fried in many countries in Latin America, Southern Europe and parts of Southeast Asia. The name comes from the verb empanar, meaning to wrap or coat in bread. Empanada is made by folding a dough or bread patty around the stuffing...
, a deep-fried meat-filled patty, is sold. It is also a very popular side dish. Arepas are also a common street food with others mixed in.
Peru
In PeruPeru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, anticuchos
Anticuchos
Anticuchos are popular and inexpensive dishes that originated in Peru, and popular also in other Andean states consisting of small pieces of grilled skewered meat....
, a type of kebab
Kebab
Kebab is a wide variety of meat dishes originating in Middle East and later on adopted by the Middle East, and Asia Minor, and now found worldwide. In English, kebab with no qualification generally refers more specifically to shish kebab served on the skewer...
, are often sold by street vendors called anticucheras. Also, cuy
Guinea pig
The guinea pig , also called the cavy, is a species of rodent belonging to the family Caviidae and the genus Cavia. Despite their common name, these animals are not in the pig family, nor are they from Guinea...
, a species of Guinea Pig
Guinea pig
The guinea pig , also called the cavy, is a species of rodent belonging to the family Caviidae and the genus Cavia. Despite their common name, these animals are not in the pig family, nor are they from Guinea...
is served as a delicacy on religious holidays.
Argentina
In ArgentinaArgentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, vendors sell Choripan, a barbequeued sausage served wrapped in french bread, or morcipan, using a blood sausage (morcilla) instead.
Pizza is very popular, in part due to the country's heavy Italian immigration in the early 20th century. Local versions include the fugazzeta, a pizza made with mozzarella cheese and onions, and the fainá: a pizza made with garbanzo bean flour with no toppings, generally served as a side dish to regular pizza.
The empanada
Empanada
An empanada is a stuffed bread or pastry baked or fried in many countries in Latin America, Southern Europe and parts of Southeast Asia. The name comes from the verb empanar, meaning to wrap or coat in bread. Empanada is made by folding a dough or bread patty around the stuffing...
, which in gourmet versions is baked is usually deep-fried in this case. Empanadas can be made with beef, fish, ham & cheese, neapolitan (using the same toppings as that pizza) and vegetarian.
Sandwichs are usually served hot, like the Tostado or the Lomito, this last one having a great number of versions, with food courts offering all kinds of ingredients and combinations.
Other local street food includes local versions of the hotdog called pancho, and the hamgurguer or hamburguesa. Despite being very popular in the past, these have been displaced by a number of reasons, mainly a local perception that American-style foods are unhealthy and of low quality.
Sweets and desserts usually found in Argentine streets include caramel apple
Caramel apple
Caramel apples or taffy apples are created by dipping or rolling apples-on-a-stick in hot caramel, sometimes then rolling them in nuts or other small savories or confections, and allowing them to cool...
(manzana acaramelada), cotton candy
Cotton candy
Cotton candy , candy floss or candyfloss or candy buttox , or fairy floss is a form of spun sugar. Since cotton candy is mostly air, a small initial quantity of sugar generates a tremendously greater final volume, causing servings to be physically large and voluminous...
(algodon de azucar), sweet popcorn
Popcorn
Popcorn, or popping corn, is corn which expands from the kernel and puffs up when heated. Corn is able to pop because, like sorghum, quinoa and millet, its kernels have a hard moisture-sealed hull and a dense starchy interior. This allows pressure to build inside the kernel until an explosive...
(pochoclo) and a local snack called Garrapiñada, which is made of peanuts, cocoa, vanilla and sugar caramel, and sold in small bags in the shape of tubes.
Venezuela
In Venezuela, the "arepa" is a common fast-food meal. It consists of a flattened cornmeal bun, about the size and shape of an English muffin, split open and usually stuffed with soft cheese. Other fillings include shredded chicken salad with mayonnaise and avocado (reina pepiada), shredded brisket cooked with onions, red bell peppers and tomatoes (carne mechada) and pickled octopus.Chile
In ChileChile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, sopaipillas, a deep fried dough made out of flour and pumpkin, Anticucho, completo
Completo
The completo is a hot dog variation eaten in Chile, which, besides bread and sausages, It is usually served with ingredients such as chopped tomatoes, mayonnaise, sauerkraut, a variation of the sauce américaine, chilean chili, green sauce and cheese...
, calzones rotos, Jugos Naturales(natural juice), soft drink
Soft drink
A soft drink is a non-alcoholic beverage that typically contains water , a sweetener, and a flavoring agent...
, French fries
French fries
French fries , chips, fries, or French-fried potatoes are strips of deep-fried potato. North Americans tend to refer to any pieces of deep-fried potatoes as fries or French fries, while in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand, long, thinly cut slices of deep-fried potatoes are...
, pizza
Pizza
Pizza is an oven-baked, flat, disc-shaped bread typically topped with a tomato sauce, cheese and various toppings.Originating in Italy, from the Neapolitan cuisine, the dish has become popular in many parts of the world. An establishment that makes and sells pizzas is called a "pizzeria"...
, churros, empanadas, Sweets
SweetS
was a Japanese idol group. Put together through auditions, the group debuted in 2003 on the avex trax label. Although the group met minor success, they disbanded after three years with the release of a final single in June 2006....
, Etc...is sold by street vendors.