Britain’s street food traders to compete in Manchester
The British Street Food Awards is set to crown a winner next month in Manchester.
Following five regional heats, the 17 best traders in the UK will descend on the city on September 16 to be crowned champion. The winners will then be able to represent Britain in the first European Street Awards in Berlin.
The event, that is taking place at GRUB Food Fair at the Mayfield Depot, will offer visitors the chance to try tastings of all the competition’s dishes. The competition will be judged by Andi Oliver, from the Great British Menu and Michelin-starred chef Brad Carter.
The British Street Food Awards, which are now in their seventh year, was set up by food journalist Richard Johnson, who was inspired by the rise of street food abroad. He said: “I was writing a piece for the Sunday Times, profiling Marco Pierre White in New York, and fell in love with the street food. I wrote a book called Street Food Revolution, and wanted to copy what I had seen in the US. I think it’s fair to say we have now surpassed them.
“We held the first final in 2010. The prize was a stick blender and we struggled to fill a car park in Ludlow with decent street food traders who really ‘got it’. Now we have seven regional heats, and our big UK final, this year with GRUB in Manchester.
“GRUB have helped to create a really modern boulevarding street food culture in Manchester. It’s a great city that lives on the streets and that loves its food. With an amazing architectural backdrop at the Mayfield Depot, and hot DJs, plus free tastings and local craft beer, it’s promising to be the best one ever.”
Manchester’s very own Chaat Cart and Dim Sum Su will be competing for the crown, alongside last year’s winners, Baked in Brick and a whole host of other street food traders who have already competed in the regional heats to be at the event – so they must be good.
Richard has shared what he loves most about each trader, and what Manchester street food lovers have to look forward to at the event next month…
Mr D’s Magnificent Pie Machine
Mr D is looking forward to bringing his Pie Machine to Manchester. And what a machine it is — think Steampunk meets Willy Wonka and Wallace & Gromit. Mr D is always keen to offer samples to the curious.
Tikk’s Thai Kitchen
Born on the paradise white island of Koh Samui in Southern Thailand, the young Tikk loved nothing more than helping out in the family restaurant kitchen. He has long since left the turquoise waters of Thailand behind, but he’s still obsessive about locally-sourced ingredients.
Dim Sum Su
Sue Chiu-Fan Lee was born in Hong Kong and worked in the family food business as soon as she was old enough to reach the till. She’s now all grown up, and cooking authentic dim sum, gua bao, wontons and spring rolls for discerning customers in the North West of England. The queues for Sue’s bao were impenetrable at last year’s final. This year, she’s after silverware.
Brother Thai
Turning the heat down to appeal to our inferior British palates is verging on sacrilege, so Andrew will only do it if it really won’t compromise on the dish too much. With the rise of street food however, he admits people are opening up to new flavours. Flavours like his thai red curry, the pad pao: stir fried beef with green beans in a nam prik pao paste and thai papaya slaw.
Truly Crumptious
Is there anything more delicious than a crumpet? Yes. A homemade crumpet. Made with organic flour from the South West, and cooked up on a lightly-oiled griddle to give it a crisp, thick base.
Baked in Brick
Lee and co. are back to defend their 2017 Best of the Best title. Last year’s final was all about BIB’s thin-crust pizza, cooked on a wood-fired oven in a classic mini, and ever so succulent chicken skewers barbecued under the bonnet. Lee’s added to the food truck fleet, and he’s working on perfecting his menu.
Low ‘N’ Slow
Andy is a true Doctor of meat. He knows all there is to know about the science of deliciousness. He imports his ribs from Dexter farms in America, and understands about the need for fat. It’s what carries the flavour. The queue for meat like this was ridiculous, but, trust us, the perfection was worth waiting for.
Homeboys
Pete Hewitt from Nottingham was a Masterchef finalist in 2015. And yet his real passion is for more informal dining. So he imported himself a 1978 Grumman Olson Stepvan from the US and set up Homeboys, specialising in Japanese soul food. Expect a strong veggie menu.
The Bourneville Waffle Company
The precision cream delivery? Like professional pastry chefs. The flaked chocolate topping? Placed – just so. And the fruit jus? Drizzled with the accuracy of a surgeon. Jenny and Des are behind the operation, but they are also the two behind Birmingham’s Seasonal Markets events. A budding food entrepreneur yourself? Watch and learn, this is how you do catering.
The English Indian
Being accepted as a trader into Digbeth Dining Club is no easy feat. The organisers are inundated with traders wanting a pitch and Anna and James were concerned that their application would get lost. Even though their plan to reinvent English dishes with Indian spicing was an original one. James said: “All we wanted was for them to taste our food. We went armed with camping stove, pans and ingredients and we cooked up our Kati rolls.”
The Buffalo Truck
Once a marine biologist, Robin had had enough of spreadsheets and mud and sideways rain. Now its more about the buttermilk chicken burgers with truffle parmesan fries. Robin said: “It’s high-class filth, essentially, although fried chicken as a whole is far from revolutionary, I have managed to develop a cult following.”
ShrimpWreck
ShrimpWreck started life as a side project. More recently, Ewen entered the Fish Finger Sandwich Awards to impress a panel of judges, including Greg Wallace, in London. A decision he made, and perhaps a decision you can only make, when he was a few pints down at the bar.
Stickybundits
Stickybundits is what happens when you take the idea behind sushi and the idea behind the burger and put one and two together. Stickybundits live and die by the creed of ‘bread is dead’ – this stuff wears the stripes of gluten free and dairy free, with a vegan option to boot. You can expect slow cooked pork belly with a pork patty, Asian basil chutney and peanuts, all in a sesame rice bun.
Wingmans
What makes Wingmans chicken so special? It’s LOVE. Lots and lots of it, apparently, if you’re trying to recreate their recipe at home. But guess what? Chicken helps too. Especially when it’s the sticky crispy fried buttermilk kind of chicken, sideckicked by truffle mac n’ cheese balls. They call themselves the UK’s first ‘authentic wingery’. Bit ambitious. But then again, it’s that kind of ambitiousness what wins British Street Food Awards…
JAH JYOT Punjabi Street Food
The inspiration for Jah Jyot came from the villages of Punjab. The winners of the Sussex Food and Drink Awards in 2017 have got a taste for silverware. Is there space in the trophy cabinet for more?
The Flying Cows
Farmer and chef Dan set up The Flying Cows as an outlet for his family’s grass-fed Dexter beef, and he’s now a regular at the Digbeth Dining Club. Then he came to us with his pitch. It had real passion. And it showed just HOW MUCH people these days really want to get involved in the street food scene, the email started. “I am itching to do the British Street Food Awards. I cook Dexter steak burgers from our family farm. I am a Michelin-star trained chef by trade, and I have been in the kitchen for 16 years. I was a punter at the British Street Food Awards last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. Please give me the chance.” How could we say no?
Chaat Cart
We didn’t think we would see Chaat Cart again. After five years selling South Indian snacks and small plates across the streets of the North, they’ve just opened their first bricks and mortar place in Marple. So we were delighted to get an application for the 2017 British Street Food Awards. What to expect for their Awards menu? Indian classics such as bhel puri, gunpowder fries, homestyle lentil dahl and masala dosa that champion British produce.
