‘Ave It
With finalists parking up in Manchester from Leeds, Nottingham, Birmingham, Hull, Newcastle, Coventry, Sheffield and – of course – Manchester itself, the Northern heats of the 2022 British Street Food Awards are set to be VERY competitive. Wait until we announce full details of our judging panel, who will taste everything on the Sunday. And we can’t remember the last time we had SO MANY previous Award winners returning to compete for more silverware. The only guaranteed winner is YOU, as the traders cook their socks off to win your vote – and the People’s Choice award – and guarantee themselves a place at the BSFA grand finals in London next month. Come down to Circle Square in Manchester, in the midst of an amazing Pride weekend, to taste history in the making.
Who’s competing?
Skullduggery Desserts
Cake or fake? Skullduggery Desserts from Birmingham always mess with EVERYBODY’S head. At the grand final of the 2021 British Street Food Awards, they served the judges a traditional Sunday roast: it was a lemon drizzle roast turkey, pancake ‘roast beef’, white chocolate cheesecake ‘mash’, chocolate truffle ‘roasties’, a rich chocolate ganache ‘gravy’ and an old school Yorkshire pudding filled with jam and cream – just like your Gran used to eat for tea. What’s she got planned for the 2022 Northern heats? Will the cheesecake chariot return? Come to Circle Square and see….
Posh Street Food
Matei Baran – as seen on BBC1s Masterchef the Professionals – is the man behind Posh Street Food from
Newcastle. He’s s worked alongside some of the best chefs in the UK, but now he’s come to live amongst us. “I always had a dream about street food” says Matei, “but never had the money or courage to start. During the pandemic I changed everything in my business and gambled on opening the street food. The idea is to give high quality restaurant food the street food way.” Will he succeed?
Shoot the Bull
Shoot the Bull – an experienced high-end catering and events company from Hull – have already won one British Street Food Award. Now they’re hungry for more. “We can travel anywhere within the UK to provide anything from unique wedding breakfasts to an exciting evening of street food with the additional advantage of having your own wedding coordinator, stylist and manager.” The only thing thing they can’t guarantee? A place in the 2022 grand final in London. For that they need your vote…
Pellizco
Will we see the return of Pellizco’s Lamb Barbacoa at the Northern heats this year? “It was the dish that won us the Northern heats in 2021. We make our marinade using six different types of chilli, plus an array of spices which we coat onto a Yorkshire lamb shoulder joint, confit in its own fat and shred. We top this with a pea mole, salsa verde, coriander, lime and North Yorkshire ‘Shepherd’s Purse’, an artisan variation of feta cheese.
Pellizco from Sheffield are entering the British Street Food Awards for a third year in the hope of building on their past achievements. “From winning the Best Newcomer in 2020, to the Northern champions in 2021 and Best Vegetarian at the 2021 grand final” says Danny. “We would, of course, like to successfully defend our Northern champions title but, in all honesty, this year is all about getting to that grand final and winning the overall championship. I felt last year we were in a good position to win but it wasn’t to be, so I’m hoping to take on board advice from last year and give it a big push.” Serious talk….
Porco
These winners of Best Burger in 2020 British Street Food Awards grand final took a year off to recover. Now these pork specialists from Nottingham are ready. “Our signature dish is Porchetta, and we’ve been spit roasting epic joints for the last 9 years. But we were a hair’s breadth from victory last time and this time there will be no doubt. We’ve a very special ‘weapon’ currently in development…
Unagi
The Unagi food truck – lovingly named ‘l’il kimchi’ after a public vote – was Unagi’s first foray into street food, And purchased two months prior to lockdown….Hopefully she’ll be making an appearance at the Northern heats in Manchester where these local Manchester traders hope to acquit themselves well. House special? The mushu special uramaki roll. “Named after a very special lady in the life of Ralph, the head chef, the ‘Mushu’ is crispy breaded prawn, avocado, cucumber, seared salmon, black tobiko and teriyaki glaze. It’s our top-selling sushi roll – to watch our chefs roll is always a spectacle but with this one the roll is ‘blowtorched’ to finish leaving a lovely smoky finish to the fish on top…”
DOSA (delicacy of South Asia)
Kumar, from Nottingham, promises a vegan menu of dosas and signature short eats. “Our dosa batter is made following the artisanal process of stone grinding and natural fermentation” he says. Plus one (ahem) special ingredient. “The batter is made with love as it’s a recipe passed on from my mother.” Now THAT’S got to be worth a few extra votes right?
Teds Tacos
Famous for their smoked chipotle beef brisket – and one hell of a food truck. A lot of newbies out there would like to know how Ted’s from Herefordshire are managing to boss it so successfully. “I always think about what advice I would give myself if I knew what I do now” says Ed. But I have a top 3.
1. Don’t be disheartened if an event doesn’t go your way. Sometimes it is just a bad event and not your fault. Don’t then go back and rip the cookbook and menu up. Give it another go!
2. Street food you have to be able to think on your feet and deal with situations that never come up in a fixed restaurant or pub. So be prepared for anything and being able to be calm and not get stressed about the little things is good.
3. Get ready for some long hours.
Kara’s Kitchen
Kara’s signature dish is paella. Completely fresh – NOTHING pre-cooked. “It’s the true epitome of street food” she says. “This is a street competition right? The smell draws the people, it’s look makes the eyes want to eat, and when they get past the fact it’s doesn’t contain fish (unless you want it too of course) you are opening yourself up to a taste sensation (excuse the cliche) but it really is. We use real saffron in the base rice paella – pound for pound it’s more expensive than crack (I can say that because crack heads don’t eat ). We then use a hot bravas sauce that has been cooked with high-end smoked paprika. The depth is immense. We then top it off with our home-made (three days in the making) alioli sauce. One famous chef said, “If you don’t win with that, I don’t know what will”. Come and judge for yourself….
Archchi’s
Archchi’s from Manchester want to 1. continue sharing Sri Lankan food and, along the way, win through to the BSFA grand final so they can 2. defend their 2021 British Street Food Award for Best Snack and 3. be declared Champions of Champions. Expect their trio of Sri Lankan curries plus a fresh sambol all in one bowl…and a mix of their short eats – including their BSFA-winning cauliflower, vadai and brand new Chinese roll.