British Street Food Awards: Meet the Traders
Ahead of the Northern heat of the British Street Food Awards, we meet some of the nominees
The Northern heat of the British Street Food Awards will take place in Manchester on 14 June. The nominees will, to all intents and purposes, be cooking for your votes, trying to sway you with a breadcrumbed chicken thigh here and a liberally-stuffed maize patty there. The foodie electorate have never had it so good (mainly because it's a term that I just invented).
But, we're here to remind you, it's not all about the food, guys! These traders have names, faces, hopes, dreams, tastes and opinions. So, in order for you to get to know them better, we asked several of the nominees why and how how they got involved in the word of street food:
Arepa!Arepa!Arepa! – Jason Bailey and Jules Morris, who "deal mainly in Colombian maize patties", or arepas
“We got in to street food trading for two reasons. Firstly, we love food and we definitely love arepas (we're 25% Colombian you see) so it seemed like a good idea that we share that love with the public – and that's the biggest reason we carry on slinging arepas, people keep coming back and telling us that they love them. The second reason was we were inspired to become traders by our local Levenshulme Market. If you haven't heard about it, please check them out as they are a unique social enterprise run by residents for the benefit of the local community and all of this wonderful good will is well represented by the amazing atmosphere that each and every market day generates.”
Dirty Dogs – Scott Power and Sean Robinson, who "serve up the finest franks around, teamed up with some tasty topping combinations"
“The idea for Dirty Dogs came after a few too many drinks one night, a couple of days later the name came to us and it just took off from there. All our franks have a minimum of 94% meat content and none of those nasty bits you find in your average hot dog – that’s why we call them #properdogs. Toppings wise we’re always coming up with new combinations but a few favourites are our classic USA style sweet and smokey chili dog, our Mexican inspired hot Chihuahua with guac and Pico de Gallo and the Dirty P B B J with bacon, bourbon, chilli jam and peanut butter. For the BSFA Northern Heat we’ll be showcasing a new dog, the Tokyo Terrier Aki: a double smoked pork and beef mix frank topped with teriyaki onions, wasabi mayo and shredded nori.”
Fair Game Food – are "three friends" who "serve up British favourites with a gamey twist; bringing it from the coppice to the cul-de-sac, so to speak"
“We love the format of street based trading: being able to see an instant reaction to someone enjoying your food is an amazing feeling. It was also the most viable way, with the fewest overheads, that we could start up and get trading almost instantaneously.”
Fire & Salt BBQ Co. – Malachy O’Connor, who specialises in “deep south American barbecue”
“I started out just making barbecue in my back yard on a pit-smoker I built out of concrete blocks and some expanded metal. After that we ran a few supper clubs and finally we got offered the chance to run a stall at a beer festival. From there we were in the street food game.”
Mama Ks – Krista Anderton, who is "an American living in the UK selling authentic Tex-Mex burritos, nachos and taco salads"
“I started because I was craving the taste of authentic American Tex-Mex. Growing up in the Southwest of America, good Tex-Mex was a part of our everyday life. When I moved to the UK, I couldn't find it anywhere, so I chose to recreate it. Burritos are the perfect street food, you choose exactly what you want from our 15 fillings, we make it, you take it, walk on down the road and eat that bad boy!”
Manjit's Kitchen – Manjit Kaur, who serves up "Indian vegetarian street food and snacks"
“I got into street food to change the culture over here, to make food fun and accessible and that's good for people.”
The Moocher – James Ratcliffe and Nina Matsunaga, who “wild, foraged and rare breed produce to the Northwest and beyond”
“We both share a passion for food and wanted to start a business together. We started trading in street food as it is the most exciting area to us. We can introduce people to the food we love, which is often a little off the mainstream track such as grilled ox heart with pickled wild garlic capers. It also gives us an excuse to venture off into the countryside to discover our next dishes.”
Mumma Schnitzel – Matthew Walsh and Hollie Scrancher, who "provide all things schnitzel, cuddled by our brioche bun"
“We originally got into street food down in London where we were constantly being inspired by the creative and inspiring traders down there. Having worked in restaurants for my whole working life I knew that street food was the route I wanted to go down. It's fun, exciting, limitless and here to stay. For us there is no better way to eat food then casually out on the street talking directly to the trader who knows every single aspect of the food they are producing. Couple this with some of the best street food events providing music, beers and a bloody good day, who wouldn't want to be a street food trader?”
Noisette Bakehouse – Sarah Mather, who “serves up fresh sweet baked goods from around the world”, including signature dish French Madeleine, from their street food van Madeleine Express
“I wanted to set up a place where I could just bake and make anything and everything I wanted, recreate and re-imagine as many different types of sweet dishes that I could from cakes to pies, tarts, desserts, sweets and confectionary using traditional methods and ideas but jazzing it up a bit with contemporary flavours and new ways of delivering classic combinations. There was no chance anyone would come by a little bakehouse in my tiny home village for that so I thought I can't wait around here all day lets go to the people! That's how the Madeleine Express was born.”
Pizzette – Matt Leetham and Mick Johnson, who “serve pizzettes, which are around 6-7 inches in diameter" and use "interesting ingredients”
“After some 16 years in the hospitality trade, we were looking for new ways to challenge ourselves. Attending outdoor events where the usual ‘white plastic vendors’ churning out the same old rubbish was frustrating. We thought we saw a chance to do something a bit different. Of course once we looked into it we saw that the emergence/popularity of street food had begun down south – as far as Newcastle and surrounding areas, it had certainly not. On top of that we both genuinely love pizzas and the limitless combinations of flavours.”
Shake, Maroc & Roll – Richard Brown, who serves "Moroccan-inspired street food featuring classic and modern interpretations of North African delights"
"I got into street food after ten years of working in the corporate hospitality world. I was fed up of listening to the corporate way of doing things. I wanted to create food that reflected my personality and passion. The long term goal is to open a global street food restaurant. However, creating street food is a great access to markets. I chose Moroccan after travelling last year around Morocco and being inspired by the diverse flavours of the cuisine as well as seeing a gap in the market in Manchester for Moroccan food."
Well, we hope you’ve got to know everyone a bit more (and even been inspired to venture into street food trading yourself). You'll be able to vote for your favourite trader on the night, but you'll have to download the British Street Food App first.
The North heat of the British Street Food Awards, hosted by Guerrilla Eats, takes place 14 Jun at Old Granada Studios, Manchester, 6pm, free