The World Atlas of Street Food

Book excerpt: Street food is one of the most amazing culinary success stories of the twenty-first century, defying globalization and the spread of multinational fast-food franchises. Fresh, cheap, plentiful, and varied, street food offers urban residents a cornucopia of choices. Food that was once obtainable only on Saharan roadsides is now available in New York City, and Patagonian village recipes can be picked up in downtown Hong Kong. Millions of people all over the world eat street food every day, and their numbers are rising rapidly. The World Atlas of Street Foodidentifies the best places around the globe to find street food and surveys the mouth-watering range of food and drink being purveyed. Organized geographically and sumptuously illustrated, the book covers North America, the Caribbean, South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Australasia. For several major cities in each region, Carol Wilson and Sue Quinn describe what the locals eat in the best and most established food markets. The authors suggest which trademark delicacies to try and selected recipes are featured to enable readers to re-create the stand-out dishes at home. The most complete guide of its kind, The World Atlas of Street Food belongs on the shelf of everyone who craves an imaginative, original alternative to homogeneous fare.