Kenny McGovern - The Street Food Secret: The Worlds Most Exciting Fast Food in Your Own Kitchen

At the age of nineteen, Kenny McGovern was diagnosed with what is known as Social Anxiety Disorder and eventually became too ill to carry on working. As the years passed, he became almost housebound as a result of his illness and as such lost touch with many parts of life which although enjoyable are often taken for granted. Simple pleasures such as buying a nice sandwich from a local caf or going out for a meal became impossible for him to do.

As a result of this, and because of his love of food and cooking, he eventually took to trying to recreate many of his favourite shop-bought foods at home. If I cant go to McDonalds, Ill make my own, was his philosophy. Over a period of five years or more, he tested and tweaked many, many recipes, his new hobby quickly building into an obsession.

In 2010 Kenny decided to publish some selected recipes in his first book, The Takeaway Secret: How to Cook Your Favourite Fast-Food at Home. It became an instant bestseller, following word-of-mouth recommendations on the internet.

With huge support and encouragement from readers, his confidence has grown, along with his food obsession. As a result, Kenny has ventured into the world again, researching and learning about the historic links between street food and local people and the recent upsurge in the modern, exciting and vibrant street food culture. This book is the result.

OTHER TITLES

The Takeaway Secret

The Busy Mums Plan-ahead Cookbook

Eat Well, Spend Less

The Healthy Lifestyle Diet Cookbook

The Everyday Halogen Oven Cookbook

Slow Cook, Fast Food

The Air Fryer Cookbook

Superfood Soups

Kenny McGovern

A How to Book

ROBINSON

First published in Great Britain in 2017 by Robinson

Copyright Kenny McGovern, 2017

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

A CIP catalogue record for this book
is available from the British Library.

ISBN: 978-1-4721-3905-4

Robinson

An imprint of
Little, Brown Book Group
Carmelite House
50 Victoria Embankment
London EC4Y 0DZ

An Hachette UK Company

www.hachette.co.uk

www.littlebrown.co.uk

With love and thanks to my mum, dad, brother and sister for a lifetime of support and for listening to endless hours of food talk and never looking bored when being asked to look through one hundred food pictures on my phone. Thanks to my niece and nephew for their encouragement and assistance in testing desserts and sweet dishes. Thanks to my fiance for everything, every day. To John and Audrey for building an amazing kitchen for recipe testing and a conservatory for relaxing. To Adele for eagerly helping test recipes and always helping tidy up afterwards. To Frank for being a friend in food. To Jessica for being the happiest soul Ill ever meet. To Lucy the pussycat who has made herself part of the family. To my family and friends in America for all their help in researching this book. For Granny, and everyone who ever knew and loved her.

A s readers of my first book, The Takeaway Secret, will know all too well, my interest in cooking came about as a result of my difficulties with Social Anxiety Disorder. Having become almost completely housebound at one stage, I took to trying to recreate my favourite foods, which had suddenly become out of reach. Being open and honest about the effects the illness was having on my life was, without a doubt, one of the best decisions Ive ever made. I was of course delighted that the recipes were proving popular with readers and to this day remain excited when people send me pictures of their creations. The encouragement and feedback I also received from readers in relation to my Social Anxiety, however, was unexpected and very greatly appreciated.

In recent years, with the support of family and friends and with my food obsession still raging, Ive managed to expand my horizons hugely and experience a world of food adventures across various countries. Attending street food festivals along the East Coast of the United States sparked a new obsession and one Im joined in celebrating by many millions of people around the world.

The real beauty of street food is that each dish is tailormade to provide 100 per cent satisfaction to the customer. With such healthy competition and a fast turnover of people, street vendors need to devise a dish that can be served quickly but always to a high standard in order to ensure the customer remembers them and returns for more. Every mouthful matters and so dishes are created with full-on flavour in mind.

Of course, as home cooks were ultimately looking for the very same thing when we prepare food at home. Crowd-pleasing dishes made easy, thanks to prior preparation, and finished quickly when our guests (or we ourselves!) are ready to eat. So, with an open and curious mind, I hope youll enjoy The Street Food Secret...

Kenny McGovern

T he story of street food is the story of people, politics, places and personalities. At its heart, street food is the food of the people. Its heritage and history stand proud and can boast of having kept thousands, if not millions of people alive and nourished where they might otherwise have gone without. Providing inexpensive meals to the poorest people in villages and towns around the world, many of the simplest and humblest of street foods are now enjoyed and celebrated by the wealthiest people in the fanciest restaurants. However, these dishes arent in need of improving or glamorising, as the classics amongst them have been tried and tested on the city streets for generation after generation.

In contrast to its history and heritage, its fair to say modernday street food is undergoing something of a revolution. With the rise of social media, food trucks are building up solid reputations and customer bases, even to the extent of being followed religiously on their travels by customers who just cant get enough of their favourite dishes. Chefs of all backgrounds are creating their own brands and even their own sub-genres of food, bringing together ideas from East and West to create vibrant, modern dishes. Its just one of the many benefits of the multicultural society we live in that we experience and share food ideas amongst each other and theres no better example of togetherness and inclusion than the street-food scene.

For hungry customers, competition amongst vendors results in increased choice and higher standards overall many chefs focus on just one dish, practising and honing it until it becomes as close to perfection as is possible. The constant evolution of dishes means that the customer is the lucky benefactor and is able to enjoy the best the planet has to offer. As the years go by, more talented chefs will offer their own take on classic dishes and the scene will continue to grow from strength to strength. Street food not only has a long history, it also has a bright future!

Please note

Large eggs are used in all the recipes.

All honey used in the recipes is clear.

Although serving amounts are indicated throughout the book, recipes may be halved or doubled etc. as desired, with good results. Of course, in the case of fried foods or stir-fry dishes, food should be cooked in batches in order to avoid overcrowding in the pan.