INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the amazing world of MasterChef street food!

The proliferation of street food is perhaps the foodie phenomenon of the past decade and one that’s been pretty much impossible to miss. Culinary entrepreneurs across the globe are bringing towns and cities alive with hip food trucks, buzzing night markets and thronging food festivals. It seems we just cannot get enough of this carefree, sociable way of eating and its popularity continues to rise and rise.

Yet street food is far from a recent fad. There is evidence of Aztec markets having had vendors selling snacks to hungry shoppers, including the still very much beloved guacamole! In ancient Rome food was normally bought and eaten on the street by the urban poor who didn’t have kitchens of their own to cook in, whilst in medieval London, fresh oysters, pies and baked apples were all commonly eaten on the roadsides.

In these pages myself and 13 MasterChef champions from around the globe bring you a collection of mouthwatering recipes spanning a kaleidoscope of colours, flavours, textures and sheer taste sensations.

So why bother to make street food at home when there’s so much good stuff out there on the real streets? For me and our MasterChef contributors it’s about bringing a bit of adventurous spirit into your kitchen and transporting you to another place, perhaps stretching yourself from a cooking point of view into unknown territory. If you love food then surely one of the most tantalising parts of travelling is to immerse yourself in the edible delights and eating on the street can connect you to a culture in a way dining in a fancy restaurant never will. And whilst you might not have the time, money or inclination to go roaming the world for tasty things to eat, you can really easily bring a sense of adventure and wanderlust into your home kitchen.

With a lifelong passion for travel, some of the most memorable meals of my life have been eaten on the go. My mind was blown by a fragrant Malaysian curry eaten at a bustling night market in Borneo and a steaming hot dog from a sidewalk cart in New York, slathered in vivid yellow mustard, was perhaps the best I’d ever eaten. I will never forget the ginger-heavy seafood stir fry at the crab market in Kampot in Cambodia, devoured greedily whilst watching the fishermen haul their catch onto land, or for the incredibly simple but impossible to beat – fresh pomegranate seeds tapped from the shell into my cupped palms by an elderly woman on a Cretan roadside – these are just a fraction of the things lodged deep in my mind.

This book is divided loosely by the continents of the world, and within these vibrant pages you will find the very best examples from the streets of the Americas, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, India and Asia. Some recipes will be instantly familiar – such as Marc Boissieux’s banoffee crepes, Dhruv Baker’s pakoras or Claudia Sandoval’s fish taco – and who could write on this subject and not include the globally ubiquitous beef burger, the classic British fish and chips or the world famous pad Thai? But there is plenty within that will surprise and delight: try Tim Anderson’s daigaku imo, a delicious take on sweet potatoes; or the midye dolma, spicy rice stuffed mussels from Turkey; or doro wat, an exquisitely fragrant chicken and egg stew from Ethiopia; or mirchi bhaji, the Indian snack of crisp battered chillies stuffed with paneer cheese. Some of the recipes in this book will offer unique and unexpected twists on well-known favourites (see Brent Owen’s take on a steak and onion pie), but all recipes are recipes packed full of authentic flavour, such as Ping Coombes’ chai tau kueh, Andy Allen’s fried school of prawns, Adam Liaw’s triple-fried karaage chicken rolls or Woo Wai Leong’s oyster omelette to name just a few.

Think of a street food experience and it’s perhaps the cuisine of hot climates that spring to mind first – the intense tropical flavours of Jamaican jerk chicken, the fragrant spices of Christine Ha’s traditional spicy lemongrass beef noodle soup or the cooling delights of Indian mango and cardamon kulfi lollies. However colder parts of the world have also embraced this way of eating, with the food designed to comfort rather than invigorate, so don’t just save this book for cooking during the summer months. MasterChef champions offer recipes such as Simon Wood’s black pudding Scotch eggs, or biksemad, Anders Halskov-Jensen’s traditional Danish dish made of leftovers but brilliantly served with a fried egg, or delicious gnocco fritto, a fried bread sandwich from Luca Manfè. There’s the famous zapiekanki of Poland, a moreish combination of oozing cheese and garlicky mushrooms on a simple French bread pizza; or korvapusti, the warm cinnamon and cardamom buns of Finland; or leberkase, the hearty meatloaf burger of Germany, served with crunchy pickles and fiery mustard; or the utterly simple but awesomely good slow grilled short ribs from Argentina, which are perfect for a summer barbecue, but taste just as fabulous on a cold day alongside a generous glass of hearty red (Argentinian, of course!). There is plenty of year-round inspiration to be found within these pages.

Many of the recipes are straightforward and can be knocked up with ease, but others are quite involved and might stretch the cook a little. This is a MasterChef book after all, so you expect that, right? However, whether the recipes are simple or challenging, what characterises them all is a laid back approach to their eating. Street food is not food that stands on ceremony, its chilled, casual and low key, eaten messily with hands or scooped from big bowls. This is food that celebrates the very best things in life, family and friends, eating, drinking, laughter and sharing.

Let your culinary global adventure begin – happy cooking!

Genevieve Taylor