British Street Food Awards 2012

I don’t know if it was the coffee beans (Tanzanian Peaberry and Sumatran Mandeling), the hand grinder, the personal cafetiere or the trioxane pocket stove in her handbag that give it away. But I knew early-on that my wife was particular about coffee. Now, to make matters worse, she has gone and struck up a relationship with our local coffee cart. “Try one of these” she says, handing me a coffee with a spoon dipped in white chocolate. “You want cinnamon with that?” She’s lost her coffee-loving mind. But she says she’s tasted the future. And, apparently, it will be served with gingerbread biscotti.

I remember a time when it was different. When a ‘free refill’ was a threat rather than a promise. When coffee tasted like tea. I remember industry insiders talking about toasted bran and chicory as “the new coffee” because coffee was dead. But then came Frasier and Friends, and all of a sudden we were ordering double skinnies like we knew what it actually meant. Now coffee shops are everywhere. Baristas are busily swathing espressos in hot milk, whipped cream and flavoured syrup, and handing us back something that looks like an ice-cream sundae. Which isn’t always a good thing.

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Okay this is getting really exciting. Aside from all the ‘trade’ attention the Awards have been getting (and I’ll blog about it soon), the rest of the world is starting to take notice too. Even the respectable Reader’s Digest. Yes. The Reader’s Digest. It’s the biggest selling magazine in the world. And the fact that the well-mannered, reasonable people who run it (with their jokes, general knowledge quizzes and terrific Word Power) want to reclaim the streets for good-quality food, cheers me no end. Thanks to them, the revolution will begin in the dentist’s waiting-room. Fantastic — and it makes my run-in with the Islington Gazette (see below) that bit easier to deal with…..

Click here to see the Reader’s Digest article.

Pardon my French. But journalists do like to stir. And the journalists on the Islington Gazette are no different. According to one of their recent stories, everyone was up in arms about the launch of the British Street Food Awards at Whitecross Street Market in Islington because the event was “private”. Of course it was PRIVATE — it was a private launch.

For journalists, who were (hopefully) going to write about it. So I didn’t invite along the market traders. Or my friend Alan. Or my Mum. That’s torn it. If my Mum finds out, I’m in trouble.

Blimey. Look at this.

If anyone told you that peddling food on the streets is a mug’s game, send them to me. This is just your average lunchtime at Daddy Donkey’s ‘burro-mobile’ in London’s Leather Lane Market. And judging by the high-end knitwear in the photograph, these guys have money to spend. According to the woman who nominated them (a Tex-Mex loving American, no less) the burritos and tacos are without a doubt the best Mexican food in the UK. I take that with a pinch of salt. And a squeeze of lemon. But keep the nominations coming.

Antony dealing with the excitement at the launch — and Whitecross Street Market in London is busy at the best of times…….I love Antony. He set off early to get to the Street Food launch, but got caught in heavy traffic down Shaftesbury Avenue. Anyone else would have turned round and gone home. Not Antony. A thoroughly nice man, with high principles. And a decent Sat Nav.

After the launch, Marco and I went to his new-ish place at Stamford Bridge to talk about the judging process. It wasn’t a posh lunch. All we ate was custard tart. He wasn’t sure about the nutmeg — or the egginess of his custard. Graciously, I gave him my opinion.