You can indulge in your favorite treats no matter your location or budget.
We all love food, or at least like it, right? Sure we do, I mean, we can’t live without it and even if we abstain from eating too much of it, the majority of people who consume something every day have developed their favorite foodstuffs after a few years of being able to eat more than mush and milk, or formula. Once we grow up and our taste palette starts to develop we find it even easier to start deciding what we like and what we don’t, and as a result, we end up finding out if we like simplicity, or the complexities that some people inject into every dish they put out. But once we reach a certain age one has to wonder if there is such a thing as preferring one type of food or another, or if we just grow partial to whatever our lifestyle allows us to afford. In other words, do we enjoy the street treats and simple fare because our wallet tells us to, or d ow we feel the need to pay ridiculous prices for something that wouldn’t satisfy a chihuahua?
In all fairness, the fine dining establishments out there do have their own take on food and what it means to serve up some of the best and most interesting foods around. But when comparing the level of food porn between the two, a lot of people might prefer a foot-long frank and a soda to a little dab of risotto and a ridiculously-priced pair of scallops that have been turned into a work of art. Or, it could go the other way for all we know, since people have the preferences and there’s no accounting for them sometimes. Some people like the expensive food and then again, some like the simple hot dog in a bun, or something a little more exotic that might require a bit more flair and panache that allows people to marvel at it as they watch their food being cooked. Hey, I get it, showmanship with food is something that gets a person’s attention.
We’re going to take a trip around the world this week while focusing on the fine cuisine and street foods that are so prevalent in so many different countries, and we’re going to take a look at some of the strangest and most interesting foods we can find. Starting with the USA, one can only imagine the hodgepodge one would find from one coast to another and from border to border. The reason for this is that the USA is made up of people from all over the world and thanks to that, it’s not just culture, religion, and race that make our nation interesting, it’s the food that people bring with them to add to the culinary smorgasbord that’s been building for so many years. To date, a lot of these recipes that have come from overseas and afar have been Americanized so to speak, but many elements of them have been kept and added into the overall experience that comes from visiting our shores.
Hungry yet? Let’s take a look.
Seriously, if you haven’t found yourself at a hot dog cart at least once in your life, you might need to run out and find one, like now.
Do you want to know one great thing about hot dog carts? They’re a big part of America, but the fact is that anyone can run a hot dog cart, no matter where you’re from. It’s not tough, you need a heat source, a well-insulated cart, and enough stock to last for a good part of the day, if not all day. I won’t profess to know everything about hot dog carts since I’ll admit that I’ve never worked one before, but like many Americans, I’ve stood at more than one to get a regular frank or one of the Polish dogs that one could find outside of Costco back in the day. Anyone remember that? You’d go to Costco, buy the bulk items you needed, then go outside for a soda and a hot dog for a buck fifty, and life was good. Hell, some folks went to the store just to get a ‘Costco dog’ without ever stepping inside. Oh yeah, that was one of the best parts of summer. And the best part of a hot dog cart is that depending on your city or town, you might find a few kicking around during the summer months.
Fine dining has its charms, that’s for certain.
To be fair, you don’t roll up into anyone’s place of business, whether it’s on the street or in a fancy restaurant that just reeks of money on the way in the door. But walking into a fancy dining area where it’s considered bad taste to enter in shorts and a t-shirt is something that a lot of us have probably done, but a lot of us can’t afford to do on a daily basis. Seriously, a lot of these places spend more on their decorations than a lot of people will see in a year’s worth of wages. Since we’re on the subject of food porn, one can think of it as trying to compare an obscure Playboy issue from decades ago to the current Brazzers online site that a lot of people frequent. In other words, street food is a classic and never really goes out of style, but it’s tough to compare it to the new fine dining experiences that have been on the rise for years. As far as taste and class go, well, that’s kind of up to the customer.
The street is always there since this is where some of the best cuisine started.
Some folks might want to argue this point by stating that of course, fine dining didn’t develop until people learned to stop eating and cooking on bricks made out of mud and who knew what else. But the truth is that street food is where it all started since humanity started cooking on open fires, creating simple dishes, finding spices and herbs that could make them more palatable, and coming up with ways to feed large groups of people in the simplest of ways. In other words, street food got the job done back in ancient times, and the fact that it’s still around is a testament to the roots of humanity. It’s not a racial thing and it’s not a cultural thing, it’s a human thing. Think about it, how do some of the simplest things unite us? We need them, we want them, and deep down, we know that this is the epitome of what cooking used to be. ‘Taking it back to the street’ kind of takes on a different meaning when you think about it.
Calling fine dining an art form is completely accurate.
Now to be certain, some dishes look less appetizing than others when it comes to the fact that humans eat with their eyes as well as their mouths. Some stuff that looks appetizing to some people isn’t going to look that great to others since everyone has a different idea of what looks good and what might taste good if they have the nerve to stick it in their mouth. There are times when one has to ask themselves just how certain foods were first thought to be appetizing, since looking at the teat of a cow or looking at an oyster and thinking ‘yum’ wasn’t the first thought that a lot of us had when we were younger, was it? Did you really ever look at a trout or an octopus and think ‘get in my belly!’. Yeah, I didn’t think so. But somehow, throughout the years, culinary geniuses all over the world have found ways to make food look even better. Fine dining doesn’t always hit the mark for everyone, but they come up with a few interesting designs now and then.
Keeping things simple is usually a great way to make sales.
Simple food is great since you don’t have the guesswork and the anxiety of trying to think what it’s going to taste like, which is nice. You also don’t have to think about whether or not you’ll be spitting it out in the next second since something just doesn’t taste right. Now, granted, a lot of food carts have been selling fine dining experiences for years, but for some reason, even their most high-toned meals come off as street food in the best way since the idea that you’re not paying an exorbitantly high price just to sit in a booth or at a table is great. The food is usually worth it and the truth is that it’s a nice blend of street and fine dining that comes together in one of the best ways.
People love to talk about portion size.
I get the idea that portion sizes are important since it goes toward overall cost and what it takes to run a restaurant and be successful and all that jazz, but to be honest, you can barely feed a gerbil a single serving with what some fine dining places charge twenty bucks or more for. Is the food worth it? Most of the time, sure, but if you’re asking if it’s worth it to your wallet, then not really. I’d rather have a cup of noodles or a hot dog from a street vendor and fill my stomach for the same price than get a literal bite to eat at a place that’s charging me what I usually spend for a pair of jeans or a full ensemble. Yes, I do like to stretch my dollars.
Hey, you’ve got your preferences, other people have theirs. Right?
At the end of the day, we can all enjoy a fine dining experience or a greasy, sugary snack off a vendor’s cart. Sometimes we can get all of that in one location since food trucks have become insanely sophisticated over the years. The only thing that matters is where you want to eat, what you want to eat, and if you can find something that will suit your taste buds when you’re jonesing for something edible.
WTR? (Why’s That Radass?)
It doesn’t matter if you like street food or fine dining, it’s all a matter of preference. One is sure easier on your wallet, that’s for certain, but if you have the chance in life, mix it up now and then and try to attend a fine dining restaurant when you can, you’ll be glad you did. But on the flip side, don’t ever look down your nose at a street vendor since a lot of these folks can cook nowadays, they just enjoy bringing their heat to the street for the benefit of everyone, not just those who can afford it.
