Barbecue – street food
In many parts of the world, barbecue has become a staple of snack food trade. Here are some of the various flavours and styles that the humble barbecue has developed around the world.
- In Thailand barbecue (known by the name of the north Thai region, Issan) food has made its way to the streets of every town. From early in the morning, travellers find themselves tempted by the aroma of chicken and pork sizzling over a charcoal fire. Issan is usually consumed with kaao nieow (sticky rice), moulded into balls with the hands, and a side dish of Som Dtam (spicy shredded papaya salad) – this is really the classic Thai lunch which you’ll see many office workers consuming in their breaks.
- Jerk is Jamaica's most popular street food. On weekend nights, the oil-drum barbecue grills known as jerk pans are found smoking on roadsides – and Kingston has a savoury cloud of jerk smoke hanging above it. Jerk mixtures can be either wet pastes or marinades or dry rubs, the common factor is that they combine ingredients such as ginger, tamarind, nutmeg, thyme, green onions, allspice berries, and Scotch bonnet chilis. Meat, poultry and fish are coated with the jerk seasoning and marinated for several hours or, in the best systems, up to two days. The meat is then cooked in a pit or barbecue grill, very slowly to create the rich flavours.
- A wide variety of street foods are popular in the Philippines. Roadside stands serve barbecued pork, chicken and offal. The best offal, which is utterly delicious, although foreigners often look on it with deep suspicion, is made from pig's blood and is known throughout the islands as Betamax, because it is cut into rectangles before being grilled!
- The most common street food in Australia is the sausage sizzle, usually consisting of a thin sausage or sandwich steak cooked on a barbecue and served on a slice of bread with optional fried onions and tomato or barbecue sauce.
Barbecue street photograph by Meg and Rahul, used under a creative commons attribution licence.