He may be the only cookbook author who cant cook, but James Cunningham, host of the popular Eat St. on Food Network Canada, knows food trucks. From food truck ground zero in 2008 to present day food truck mania, hes got the firsthand intel on North Americas street food scene.
Eat St. season four launched on April 8. The premiere coincided with the release of the Eat Street cookbook authored by Cunningham, featuring recipes from the tastiest food trucks featured on the show.
We found out that people were trying to replicate the dishes while watching. They kept pausing and rewinding. But you cant tell measurements or spices. Its not designed to be a cooking show, says Cunningham.
Several of the recipes in Eat Street come from Vancouver food trucks.
Hundreds of food trucks sent in recipes. The best of the best went into our test kitchen; 125 or so made the final cut, explains Cunningham.
The cookbook includes the Juice Trucks strawberry coconut smoothie, spicy halibut cheeks by Vijs Railway Express, Japadogs classic terimayo, and bonzai prawns with pineapple brochettes by Feastro the Rolling Beastro.
While the Vancouver food vendor permit process has been criticized by citizens who look to Portlands 700 food carts as the ideal, Cunningham credits Vancouver with having one of the most progressive food truck scenes in North America.
Vancouver is putting a lot of thought into developing their street food scene, says Cunningham, bringing up street food vendor requirements such as health and diversity. Most cities are not even having the conversation.
When asked to describe Vancouver street food, Cunningham pulls out fresh and locavore. US cities excel at greasy but delightful heartbusters such as macaroni and cheese waffle cones and bacon peanut butter burgers. Vancouver, on the other hand, specializes in lighter, distinctly regional fare. Cunningham cites the Juice Trucks vegan offerings and Fresh Local Wild, the Vancouver truck focusing on fresh seafood caught by owner/chef Josh Wolfe. Even Freshs poutine has a local spin: it comes with wild mushrooms or seafood chowder.
As for the BC Restaurant Association, which has been opposed to more food trucks, Cunningham is swift to point out that many successful restaurants spin off into food trucks, and many successful food trucks become bricks-and-mortar restaurants.
Theres a time for restaurants and theres a time for food trucks. Look at Vikram Vij. Hes a superb chef and businessman. He has both.
Eat Street is already high on the Amazon bestseller list; one could say the cookbook was overdue, although its hard to keep up with exploding food truck scene.
Food trucks are not a trend. Theyre a growing movement and theyre here to stay. We featured 120 food trucks in season four. Many of them did not even exist in season one and two.
Eat Street: Recipes From the Tastiest, Messiest and Most Irresistable Food Trucks, $24, Penguin.ca
