Recipes: Food Truck Stop

Food trucks are hot for summer. We take things outside and show you how to throw a street tasting party.

You can’t hold me to the details of my childhood memories; recollections of my summers past are as hazy as those long hot days themselves. But in my mind’s eye, I am outdoors playing with friends in the late afternoon when a familiar sound floats through the air. Ding-a-ding. Ding-a-ding. We stop in our tracks and race home. There, we beg our mothers for change, promise that a treat won’t spoil dinner, and plead and pester until purses are found.

Back outside, the Dickie Dee ice-cream cart emerges like a mirage coming up the street. Kids of all ages swarm but so, too, do moms with aprons around their hips, dads with dried grass clippings on their shoes and bored teenagers who dream of one day of escaping this northern Ontario town (let’s blow this Popsicle stand!).

Although I can still taste the sweetness of a Creamsicle, it’s the memory of those impromptu gatherings that is most delicious. That’s where the neighbourhood connected, when grown-ups winked and made plans for cocktails and kids bent on sleepovers smiled triumphantly after their parents said, “We’ll see.”

Street food is and always has been a social affair. For centuries, Canadians have come together to line up and chow down, be it at chuckwagons or county fairs, roadside shacks or urban hotdog stands. Interestingly, this part of our collective past has become a huge part of our present.

A street food movement – fuelled by a food truck craze that started in the U.S. in the ’90s – has rolled into Canada, bringing with it just about every type of food imaginable from Vancouver’s Disco Cheetah, which serves up Korean cuisine, to Edmonton’s Native Delights; from Toronto’s Kal and Mooy’s Somali home-cooking to Halifax’s Poppa Smoke’s Hip Hot Hoagies. Vegan and vegetarian dishes are on the rise, but most menus are meat-forward. Think pulled pork, beef brisket and burgers; in essence, all things barbecue. Even hotels are getting in on the action. The Chelsea Hotel in downtown Toronto recently opened a taco-centric food truck on its patio to draw crowds to the outdoor space.

“It’s such a cool way to dine,” says Kaeli Robinsong, who along with husband, Jason Sussman, owns Tacofino, a company that began with one truck in Tofino, B.C., but now has a restaurant and two trucks in Vancouver. “We get men and women in suits coming down from office towers to meet and eat with merchants, shoppers and the people in the ’hood. It’s like a micro-community.”

A micro-community brought together with a little help from technology. Gone are the days when a bell signals a food truck’s presence; today, smartphone apps let folks know in real time which trucks are open in their city, where they are located and what the specials are. Social media allows customers to connect with each other, and vendors to connect with customers. In fact, it was through Twitter that I learned about One of a Thai, a truck stationed in Yellowknife.

Much like the young son in the 2014 feel-good movie Chef who uses Facebook, Twitter and other platforms to draw attention to his father’s food truck as it journeys across America, Sousanh Chanthalangsy, who owns the truck along with her mom, was tweeting her heart out as she drove a brand new upgraded vehicle from Vancouver to the Northwest Territories.

“My mom’s from Thailand and did a lot of catering when I was growing up. I told her that one day I’d showcase her recipes by opening a restaurant. That wasn’t feasible, so we opened a food truck in 2011 and we’ve upgraded now because we’re so busy.”

Casual and nostalgic, your shindig should feature cold beer in plastic cups, retro cocktails and finger food served at various “food truck stations” at which guests can mix and mingle.

On the grill, try Tacofino’s Steak Tacos; on a table with a deep-fryer, do Matt Basile’s Mozzarella Sangweeches; and on another table, set out Caplansky’s Famous Maple Bacon Donuts, which you can make ahead.

In the spirit of the street food movement, add one more station of your own creation – perhaps a food truck concept based on your signature dish or some crazy fusion invention (Basile does Pad Thai Fries, replacing the noodles with French fries). If you need help manning the stations ask a guest or two to pitch in.

And don’t get wrinkles if the service is slow – show me a great street food memory, and I’ll show you a long line-up.

What You’ll Need

– 1 barbecue with work surface (for taco station)

– 1 table with a deep-fryer (for sandwich station)

– 1 table + serving platter for donuts

– 1 table + equipment required for station of your own creation

– Plenty of paper napkins, disposable cups, glasses, etc.

– Trash can

Tacofino’s Steak Taco
By Jason Sussman

Ingredients
1 flank steak (about 2 lb/1 kg)
4 red peppers, roasted, peeled and sliced
10 green onions, lightly oiled and charred on grill, quartered
8 6-inch round flour tortillas, lightly grilled
Lime wedges for serving

Marinade
1 jalapeno, diced
½ onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
½ can Mexican beer
2 tbsp brown sugar
¼ cup oil
Juice of 2 limes

Directions
1) Marinate In large dish, combine jalapeno, onion, garlic, cilantro, beer, sugar, oil and lime juice. Add steak and marinate overnight in refrigerator.

2) Remove the steak from marinade and let stand at room temperature on a rack for an hour or so.

Mozzarella Sangweech
Vegetarian adaptation from Street Food Diaries

Ingredients
1 loaf focaccia bread
4 large buffalo mozzarella cheese balls
1 tbsp coarse ground salt
2 cups flour
6 eggs
1 cup dried breadcrumbs
1 tsp black pepper
Sliced lemons
Oil for deep frying

Directions
1) Slice focaccia into pieces no thicker than your index finger, then cut each piece in half. Slice each cheese ball into three or four slices, and lightly salt.

2) Place one or two slices of cheese on half the slices of bread. Top with remaining slices of bread to finish off the sangweeches.

3) Place flour in a bowl, place eggs in another bowl and whisk, and place breadcrumbs in another bowl.

4) Heat oil in deep-fryer to 360 F.

Maple Beef-Bacon Donuts
From Caplansky’s Deli Food Truck

Ingredients
¾ cups sugar
¼ cup melted butter
2 large eggs, whole
1 egg yolk
2 ¼ cups flour
½ tsp baking soda
1 tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp nutmeg
1 cup buttermilk
¾ cup beef bacon (or your favourite type), minced
Icing sugar
Maple syrup

Directions
1) In mixing bowl, beat together sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and set aside.

2) In large separate bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.

3) Add sugar mixture to flour mixture, then add buttermilk until you get a thick (but not too thick) batter.

4) Toss in minced bacon and mix until well combined.

5) Refrigerate for at least one hour.