[Food] Fake street food coming to you real soon!

[Herr Tubthumper]

From Trollburger:

“The street food revolution and why it doesn’t matter”

When I first started out I wrote a widely shared blog post entitled “The Street Food revolution and why it matters” where I envisioned the emergence of a thriving new culinary scene similar to what exists in many other parts of the world.

Working class people selling simple, nutritious and innovative dishes to other working class people at affordable prices, meanwhile promoting a local and sustainable ethos.

What I naively failed to factor into achieving this utopian vision was that we live in the corporate cess pit of the world where all space is heavily commodified and consumers are trained to desire trends and hype over what’s healthy and affordable.

I was recently head hunted for a new food hall that’s set to open in Brighton this year. I went along to meet them and discuss their proposal but immediately clocked it for the kind of concept this author derides.

I decided to burn my bridges by recklessly trolling them which while it may have not made me any friends, it had been a while since I’d had a good laugh.

Whilst I’m lucky and grateful to have the pitch at Evening Star I’m still having to rely on hype and extravagance in order to be profitable. My forays into simple, affordable and healthy food simply haven’t drawn in the crowds.

Still I’ve made peace with the fact that I’m doing the best I can in the environment that’s available to me. I guess the UK just isn’t ready for a real street food revolution yet.

I mean **** me, we just elected Boris Johnson ffs. You can lead a horse to water...

https://www.theguardian.com/comment...ake-diversity-privatised-space-small-portions

 

[beorhthelm]

have to say, affordable working class food is a burger for £3.50, not £7+.

 

[Springal]

have to say, affordable working class food is a burger for £3.50, not £7+.

Affordable for the punter perhaps, but not the vendor.

Also 'healthy' ?

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

have to say, affordable working class food is a burger for £3.50, not £7+.

Obviously “Working class people selling simple, nutritious and innovative dishes to other working class people” really resonates with me. And it’s not about price, it’s about value. There’s a difference. His burgers have value.

 

[Stat Brother]

have to say, affordable working class food is a burger for £3.50, not £7+.

Don't worry Beach, have this one on me!



That depends on whether your a Guardian reading socialist elite living in an upper class bubble, or not.

 

[Postman Pat]

have to say, affordable working class food is a burger for £3.50, not £7+.

The Return of the Quack! - Duck confit with pear and whiskey sauce, Brighton blue and toasted walnuts.

“The Shaman” Beef patty with honey bacon jam, sister Sarah goats cheese, beetroot ketchup, winter slaw and smoked onion mayo. £10

The Goatherd replaces the Smokey Mountain today. Beetroot ketchup, beer mustard, goats cheese and fried onions.

Beef patty topped with a beetroot and chocolate sauce packed with Carolina reaper chillies, smoked cheese, pickled chillies and crispy fried cavolo nero.

These are not 'working class' food.

 

[beorhthelm]

Obviously “Working class people selling simple, nutritious and innovative dishes to other working class people” really resonates with me. And it’s not about price, it’s about value. There’s a difference. His burgers have value.

not questioning the quality or value. just that honest street food is simple and cheap food on the go, not choosing between chilli chocolate sauce or beetroot ketchup.

 

[Hugo Rune]

have to say, affordable working class food is a burger for £3.50, not £7+.

Not affordable for the environment though.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

The Return of the Quack! - Duck confit with pear and whiskey sauce, Brighton blue and toasted walnuts.

Perfect sustenance for the work force.

 

[wellquickwoody]

Obviously “Working class people selling simple, nutritious and innovative dishes to other working class people” really resonates with me. And it’s not about price, it’s about value. There’s a difference. His burgers have value.

That is like me saying a working class wedding should be serving Laurent Perrier Rose instead of Moët & Chandon. Yes it is a far, far better champagne but they still cannot afford it.

 

[dazzer6666]

The Return of the Quack! - Duck confit with pear and whiskey sauce, Brighton blue and toasted walnuts.

“The Shaman” Beef patty with honey bacon jam, sister Sarah goats cheese, beetroot ketchup, winter slaw and smoked onion mayo. £10

The Goatherd replaces the Smokey Mountain today. Beetroot ketchup, beer mustard, goats cheese and fried onions.

Beef patty topped with a beetroot and chocolate sauce packed with Carolina reaper chillies, smoked cheese, pickled chillies and crispy fried cavolo nero.

These are not 'working class' food.

Hi Chris

Anything purporting to be aimed at 'working class' is competing with Maccy Ds and suchlike, so would need to be similarly priced.

 

[Postman Pat]

Hi Chris

Anything purporting to be aimed at 'working class' is competing with Maccy Ds and suchlike, so would need to be similarly priced.

Who is Chris?

I agree, I wouldn't pay £10 for a duck burger, would rather go to Grubbs or Uncle Sams, a little more than McD's but vastly superior quality.

 

[Bozza]

The Return of the Quack! - Duck confit with pear and whiskey sauce, Brighton blue and toasted walnuts.

“The Shaman” Beef patty with honey bacon jam, sister Sarah goats cheese, beetroot ketchup, winter slaw and smoked onion mayo. £10

The Goatherd replaces the Smokey Mountain today. Beetroot ketchup, beer mustard, goats cheese and fried onions.

Beef patty topped with a beetroot and chocolate sauce packed with Carolina reaper chillies, smoked cheese, pickled chillies and crispy fried cavolo nero.

These are not 'working class' food.

Just opened up their IG account and the most recent post is:

"Nightfire - Beef patty, chilli chocolate & beetroot sauce, pickled chillies, smoked Ashdown cheese, crispy fried cavolo nero £9"​

There can be no doubting the love, care and attention to detail that goes into this, not least because scrolling back a few posts reveals some details on the sauce:

"I’m about to knock up a batch of sauce for the Nightfire burger which launches back on to the menu on Thursday.

It’s a truly unique chilli sauce made with roasted #biodynamic #sussex beetroot, cocoa powder and a blend of carefully selected chillies from [MENTION=3357]brighton[/MENTION]_chilli_shop_brighton
I’ve thrown in Carolina Reaper for a fruity intense heat, Mulato for smokey liquorice and Urfa chillies for a hint of tobacco.

Adding some freshly brewed @monmouthcoffee lots of cracked black pepper and loads of rich molasses sugar and you’ve got one next level sauce!"​

But, as he says himself "My forays into simple, affordable and healthy food simply haven’t drawn in the crowds." - so he doesn't seem to be pretending that his food is simple (the sauce above illustrates it's anything but) and a burger for £9 is not going to be affordable for many.

However, there's clearly a market for this sort of thing - Guardian readers who describe themselves as "foodies" will clearly lap it right up.

 

[Wellesley]

The Return of the Quack! - Duck confit with pear and whiskey sauce, Brighton blue and toasted walnuts.

“The Shaman” Beef patty with honey bacon jam, sister Sarah goats cheese, beetroot ketchup, winter slaw and smoked onion mayo. £10

The Goatherd replaces the Smokey Mountain today. Beetroot ketchup, beer mustard, goats cheese and fried onions.

Beef patty topped with a beetroot and chocolate sauce packed with Carolina reaper chillies, smoked cheese, pickled chillies and crispy fried cavolo nero.

These are not 'working class' food.

True. They sound far too nice for the working class..

 

[Guinness Boy]

The thing that Dan Hancox is railing against in the main Guardian article as linked has been around for donkey's years abroad.

I lived in Sydney 18 years ago and there were "food courts" absolutely all over the place. We regularly went to one in the Greenwood Centre in North Sydney for lunch from the office. Lots of little specialist outlets - normally a burger place, noodle place and always a curry place doing Butter Chicken and Beef Madras (yeah, I know). Get your food from whereever and all sit together eating. The only difference between that and a Boxpark or whatever - it didn't call itself Street Food and it wasn't expensive.

We seem to like our trends forced on us in the UK. Again, while living in Taiwan we ate in night markets most weekends which are just set up in normal areas of cities and on street corners. The UK has never really had this. So when big business realised the profits to be had in very small bites for very large prices they jumped on the "craft and artisan" bandwagon and hey presto.

I'd rather eat in a proper restaurant anyway if I'm going out.

 

[Bakero]

Anyone selling Street food from a bricks and mortar building should be taken outside and shot.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

The Return of the Quack! - Duck confit with pear and whiskey sauce, Brighton blue and toasted walnuts.

“The Shaman” Beef patty with honey bacon jam, sister Sarah goats cheese, beetroot ketchup, winter slaw and smoked onion mayo. £10

The Goatherd replaces the Smokey Mountain today. Beetroot ketchup, beer mustard, goats cheese and fried onions.

Beef patty topped with a beetroot and chocolate sauce packed with Carolina reaper chillies, smoked cheese, pickled chillies and crispy fried cavolo nero.

These are not 'working class' food.

Seeing as how three out of the four burgers mentioned above feature beetroot (the devil's own vegetable) sauce/ketchup it's a clear no from me Jeff

 

[Bakero]

have to say, affordable working class food is a burger for £3.50, not £7+.

A few beers in Brighton costs £15+. Is beer no longer a working class drink?

 

[Guinness Boy]

A few beers in Brighton costs £15+. Is beer no longer a working class drink?

Pie and a pint in the North Stand at the Amex = circa 9 quid. Is football no longer the working class game?

*opens worm can, lights blue touch paper and retreats*

 

[jamie (not that one)]

I wonder if somewhere in Mexico/Thailand/India/Italy there's a British Street Food stall selling potato waffles, sausage egg and beans or the Breakfast Special of a bag of crisps and can of coke consumed in a bus stop?