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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2012 20:40:37 GMT
I have never had many occasions to eat from a food truck, because I didn't work in the sort of places where they came. The closest I have come is "snack wagons" and I have a vivid and strange memory of when I worked in the Tour Montparnasse in Paris -- in this 56 floor building, we knew exactly when the snack wagon was coming through the corridors and listened carefully for its little tinkle. That's not exactly the same as going down to a parking lot at noon to get a burger or a burrito. The food trucks I have eaten from are the ones that come to marketplaces in Europe, or fun fairs, or the ones that park along the Belgian motorways and highways to sell frites and fricadelles after posting a sign 100m, 200m, 300m before the cars get to the location. I think it is a great profession, and the people who work in such places really put their heart into the job. You can see even in NYC that those people with the little food carts really love their job and take it seriously in spite of their limited offers. The main problem is that they are not always very good, so it is always encouraging to read an article like this one about food trucks that go the extra kilometer.
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Post by mossie on Nov 6, 2012 21:06:23 GMT
In the RAF in my day everything stopped for the "NAAFI wagon" so the erks could buy "char and wads". To translate, an "erk" was an airman, "char" was tea, brewed in an urn with sugar already mixed in, and "wads" were sandwiches or similar. Everyone carried tin mugs, which were standard issue, and so they were responsible for their own washing up. Incidentally they were also issued with a knife, fork and spoon, known as "irons". These would be kept in a pocket and washed in a big sink on the way out of the mess hall. All extremely hygienic, of course
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2012 21:14:04 GMT
And nobody got ill from that -- I really think that people are excessively obsessed by the "hygienic" aspects of street food. If you survive the first meal, you are generally immune to random ordinary bacteria.
Any idea about the origin of the term 'wads,' Mossie? Char/chai is easy to understand.
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Post by patricklondon on Nov 7, 2012 17:33:12 GMT
If I may butt in on the linguistic point, my understanding is that in this context a "wad" is a humorous reference to the texture of institutional sandwiches or plain cake or some other fairly undistinguished stodge. "Wad" usually means a pad or lump of something, such as, for example, cloth used for (that favourite military occupation) polishing, or a plug of folded paper to prop up a table, with various metaphorical applications, e.g., to a pile of paper money.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2012 18:23:32 GMT
Well, yes, I know what wadding up is, as in a wad of paper. I just didn't realize that British food is so bad (or that the British have such deprecating humour about vital items).
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Post by mossie on Nov 7, 2012 19:23:50 GMT
Ah Kerouac, we cannot all have glorious French cuisine . We poor English have to fill up with stodge, of which wads can be a vital part. ;D ;D
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Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2014 20:16:56 GMT
I don't think that food trucks are new anywhere in the world, but they have become a recent obsession in Paris. Other parts of France (including the Paris suburbs) have had pizza or couscous trucks for decades, not to mention the frites trucks of northeastern France. On top of that, at any trade fair or political demonstration, all sorts of trucks appear to sell grilled sausages, sandwiches and drinks. This is fine for most people, but the bobos (bourgeois bohèmes) apparently need more sophisticated items. I have little interest in food trucks, but I was happy to be able to check out the food truck festival that was held a weekend ago at the Carreau du Temple in the centre of Paris. The Carreau itself was the rag market of Paris for about a hundred years but a few years ago it closed and it reopened recently after a total renovation and is now a cultural centre for the 3rd arrondissement. I had to go there rather early before things were in full swing, but at least all of the trucks were already there and I was happy to see the variety of offerings.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2014 20:33:58 GMT
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Post by lagatta on Sept 28, 2014 22:09:07 GMT
There aren't a lot of "food trucks" in Paris, but there are a lot of food stands that sell crêpes, banh mi, brik à l'oeuf, sandwiches tunisiens, frites, sweet and savoury pastries and other stuff. I really wonder what the truck adds.
The furniture in the indoor space is a lot like what might find at "populaire" social events. I remember such seating at the Forum social européen at La Villette, St-Denis and other venues. Those of us on the interpretation team had food (and psst, wine or beer tickets) There was a kind of ad hoc food court staffed by members of L'Union paysanne from different regions, and very nice food indeed. However the vegans from Britain, Germany and Northern Europe weren't happy. There was certainly meatless food, but most of it involved cheese.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2014 9:46:22 GMT
So, does anybody else have any food trucks to show?
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Post by htmb on Sept 29, 2014 10:35:47 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2014 10:46:33 GMT
COOL. There's an annual food truck festival here. And, food trucks in general in various parts of the city are quite prevalent. Post Katrina brought in a slew of them to service the huge Hispanic migration of workers. Some of the best and very cheap places to eat. We have a favorite that's fairly close-by. One has to get there rather early at lunchtime because the queue gets pretty long.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2014 11:29:48 GMT
Thanks to Casimira's vigilance, the two food truck threads have now been merged. And my mind is going.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2014 14:25:08 GMT
Thanks K. And, I don't think your mind is going by any means. There is such a plethora of threads on here, some are bound to be duplicated. this one just happened to "ring a bell" in my head.
Our weekly periodical of local events etc. reads that there is a "Food Truck Roundup" here October 2-4 in Bywater, a section of downtown below the French Quarter. It's also apparently going to begin a month of "roundups" in nearby neighborhoods. Accompanying the food trucks will be food from neighborhood "pop ups", beer, live music, and restrooms. (!!!!!)
I hope we make it to at least one.
There was a time not too long ago when food trucks were very controversial here. Gratefully, we now have a half way decent, reasonable City Council that has been helpful in approving these entrepreneurial assets as long as they comply with certain provisos and zoning restrictions.
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Post by bjd on Sept 29, 2014 14:39:37 GMT
No food trucks around here, although I know there used to be some in front of the university in Toulouse a few years ago. Mostly selling kebabs and fries.
Last time I ate from a food truck was in New York city in 1998! Although some of those in Kerouac's pictures look pretty good, I haven't had anything since then. I remember seeing some in Toronto, but none selling anything appetizing. And anyway, I don't usually snack when I'm out.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2014 14:49:10 GMT
There is a distinction between what some people call "food trucks", and others "street food", especially in NYC. I believe there's yet another thread on here somewhere called "Street Food". NYC has always had "street food". Some of the best kibbi I have ever had was in NYC back in 1975. But, it wasn't a food truck. There's a fine line in some people's minds about the difference.
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Post by bjd on Sept 29, 2014 15:45:22 GMT
As I recall, there was a small square near Wall Street somewhere where office workers ate their lunches in nice weather. They were definitely food trucks lined up along the street-- I had some Jamaican food, my husband took something vegetarian and less spicy at a different one.
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Post by mich64 on Sept 29, 2014 16:36:03 GMT
We have perhaps 6 food trucks around our city. All serving mostly the same items, fries/poutine, hotdogs/sausages and hamburgers. We have on occasion stopped for fries but that is about it.
When I first began work, around 30 years ago, our location was in an industrial part of town and a lunch truck used to come three times a day. Coffee breaks and lunch hour. He always had such fresh delicious sandwiches and people would say good coffee as well.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2014 17:01:51 GMT
There is a distinction between what some people call "food trucks", and others "street food", especially in NYC. In my opinion, food trucks actually cook food with at least a stove and a deep fryer, whereas things like the food carts in NYC mostly just keep it warm (there may be a debate about the preparation of hot dogs). I have always been astounded at the street food of Bangkok and all of the different things that can be made on just one griddle. When the food trucks first began to appear in Paris (even though there were plenty in the suburbs), obviously the restaurant industry tried to block them. I know that at the very beginning there was some sort of technical thing about "you can't cook food in a van" but I have no idea whether it was about the actual cooking or more likely about facilities for cleaning up. I'm not exactly sure when that obstacle was swept away, but it obviously was because now there are food trucks all over the city. But I give the fad a lifespan of perhaps 5 years maximum and then only a few of them will remain in areas truly lacking of other options. They are a cute gimmick, but they are too limited.
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Post by fumobici on Sept 29, 2014 17:27:13 GMT
Food trucks are common here, the food they serve is generally quite good as are the prices. I'm a little surprised how American influenced the Parisian food trucks seem with their subversive English, even if the hot dogs are 'perritos calientes' rather than 'chiens chauds'. K2, how much were the tokens for the trucks? I'm curious about the prices.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2014 17:43:19 GMT
The tokens were considered to be very overpriced according to what I read on the Facebook page: 4€ per token. On top of that, people had to queue up for at least 30 minutes to even buy the tokens and then another half hour or more to get to the food. On top of that, even though unused tokens were refundable, many people didn't know that.
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Post by lagatta on Sept 29, 2014 18:19:40 GMT
I do like the renovation of le Carreau du Temple. Kerouac, there is a similar structure in Montmartre where there are art expositions, Halle St-Pierre. See that it is devoted to "l'art brut" (which I don't always like). Interesting use of one of those old market buildings, though.
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Post by fumobici on Sept 29, 2014 20:41:01 GMT
The tokens were considered to be very overpriced according to what I read on the Facebook page: 4€ per token. On top of that, people had to queue up for at least 30 minutes to even buy the tokens and then another half hour or more to get to the food. On top of that, even though unused tokens were refundable, many people didn't know that. Nobody would, pardon the expression, stand for that here. First the tokens thing would kill it, being fussily disrespectful of the clients' time. You can use a card or obviously cash at almost any food truck here, most can do the business on their smart phones even if they don't have a big commercial card reader. Secondly the prices I can see are then really high for a system built on low overhead costs as their main advantage. I could find a decent sit down meal in Paris for what these trucks appear to be charging. Food trucks make no sense at all except as a trendy here today, gone tomorrow fad if the value isn't passed along to the customer as a better price. One should be able to get a nice interesting meal at a food truck for around 5USD, and one generally can here. You see some trying to move upmarket, selling $10-$15 meals but I expect they won't be around for long, and particularly when the cheaper vendors have good food.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2014 21:05:19 GMT
At a normal food truck in Paris, you pay in cash. This whole "token" travesty was just for the event and meant to twist people's arms into testing several places with the idea that they had to use all of their tokens.
The very first famous food truck in Paris was "Le Camion Qui Fume" which is run by an American woman (there is a photo of it -- not open yet -- in my report). It was written up in all of the press over the last six months as a fabulous innovation with "real" American burgers (bla bla bla) and it became a sensation. Even on a normal work day, people wait an hour or more to place their order. I regret that I did not take a more revealing picture on that particular day, because even though it was not open yet, there were already at least 30 people in line, as though it were the most special and amazing truck of all of the offerings. The articles said that burgers (with fries) started at 10€ which I find totally outrageous and yet on sites like Trip Advisor there are people who say that it is worth it because they are "so good."
This offends me enormously, but then again do I have the right to protest because I have no intention of ever paying that price for a burger? I guess that it will just have to remain a mystery.
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Post by htmb on Sept 29, 2014 21:44:10 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2014 5:45:54 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2014 10:52:38 GMT
There are some really cool food truck pics in Mossie's thread on a Lazy Parisian weekend taken in the park where the festival was. I really love the vintage airstream one!!!
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