Harelik - Trailer Food Diaries Cookbook:: Portland Edition, Volume One

Published by American Palate

A Division of The History Press

Charleston, SC 29403

www.historypress.net

Copyright 2013 by Tiffany Harelik

All rights reserved

Cover design by Tom Kirsch Designs, LLC.

Originally published 2013

e-book edition 2013

Photo credits:Scott Batchelar p. 20, p. 23 (top and middle rows), p. 98, p. 101, p. 121; Joshua Chang p. 73, p. 74, p. 77. All other images courtesy of the author.

Manufactured in the United States

ISBN 978.1.62584.039.4

Library of Congress CIP data applied for.

print edition ISBN 978.1.60949.971.6

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

A bird doesnt doubt the wind.

This series is dedicated to anyone

who has ever taken a leap of faith.

Contents

Da-Pressed

Da-Pressed

Captured by Porches

Sean Brown of No Fish! Go Fish!

No Fish! Go Fish!

No Fish! Go Fish!

No Fish! Go Fish!

Savor Soup House

Savor Soup House

Beez Neez

ElMasry Egyptian

Big-Ass Sandwiches

Bro-Dogs

ElMasry Egyptian

Nikki and Leftys

Lardo

Grilled Cheese Grill

ElMasry Egyptian

Addys Sandwich Bar

Awesome Cone

Skewed Concoctions

The Cheese Plate PDX

The Gaufre Gourmet

The Gaufre Gourmet

The Swamp Shack

Artigiano

Artigiano

Artigiano

Tabor

Tabor

Tabor

Lardo

Addys Sandwich Bar

Addys Sandwich Bar

Built to Grill

Built to Grill

Roshambo

Viking Soul Food

Homegrown Smoker

Ramys Lamb Shack

The Cheese Plate PDX

The Cheese Plate PDX

The Fried Onion

The Fried Onion

Viking Soul Food

Homegrown Smoker

Eurotrash

Altengartz Bratwurst

Stoked BBQ

The Pie Spot

The Pie Spot

Lardo

A Little Bit of Smoke

Stoked BBQ

The Honey Pot Bakery

Viking Soul Food

The Trailer Food Diaries cookbook series and projects are dependent on many people. I love my role in compiling and narrating the food truck histories and recipes and would like to acknowledge the many people who made this edition possible.

Thank you always to my supportive parents, Patsy and Jimmy Harelik, and to my Aunt Tootie, who flew me out to Portland in order to accomplish the interviews. Thank you to Deborah and Pat Mastelotto, who connected me with the incredible Celeste Vega, my hostess in Portland, along with their sister Julien Mastelotto. Thanks also to Zuzu and Finn for allowing me to share their loft while I was visiting.

Local food cart authority Brett Burmeister of Food Carts Portland, Jess Sword of Eat Mobile and the Eat Street production team were integral in helping me find some of the finest food carts during my first visit to Portland. Tom Kirsch Design, thank you for your continued guidance on the TFD projects. Thank you, Roy Spence and Haskell Harelik, for being my leading sources of inspiration on how to encourage others to live the American Dream, the very core mission of this series.

Thanks to all those who have influenced this volume, especially the entrepreneurs who spent time with me sharing their stories. Last but not least, a big thank-you to The History Press, Aunt Christy, Maurine Winkley, Bob Gentry and the Gemini Moon Writers Group.

Introduction

The Trailer Food Diaries Cookbook series debuted in Austin, Texas, because its my hometown. Im a fourth-generation Austinite who has been watching street food trends since I quit my day job in 2009 and started a journey to write about the food carts and their pursuit of the American Dream.

In truth, the series really started in Hamilton, Texas, a century prior to my fascination with what I call trailer food. My great-grandfather, Haskell Harelik, began his pursuit of the American Dream with a banana cart in the early 1900s after emigrating from Russia. This humble beginning in central Texas eventually blossomed into a fruit and vegetable stand and later expanded into a general store. Ultimately, five Haskell Harelik Dry Goods Co. stores were established in the surrounding central Texas towns during the Second World War.

Over half a century later, I found myself jaded with the corporate lifestyle. Inspired by my great-grandfather, I decided there was more to life than my job and set out on my own pursuit of entrepreneurialism. I began interviewing and writing about entrepreneurs who had also given up a previous lifestyle to pursue happiness, and I focused on Austinites who were selling gourmet street food from repurposed Airstream and cargo trailers. I wondered what would make an attorney close his practice and move across the country to open a food truck. I soon found exactly what their motivation was: the opportunity for a happier life and the chance to live the American Dream.

In less than five months of writing about these unique small businesses, the seeds had been planted for the Gypsy Picnic Trailer Food Festival in Austin, Texas. With nearly twenty thousand people attending our first festival and nearly thirty thousand at our second, the demand and support of the food trailer industry in Austin continues to grow.

Dont tell Austin this, but Portland should probably get credit as having the most food cart vendors in the United States; Portland has an estimated double the number of carts as Austin at the time of this writing. But these are by no means the only two U.S. cities to boast incredible trailer food. After the launch of the Portland cookbook, we have several deserving cities to feature in the Trailer Food Diaries.

The main reason Im compiling these cookbooks is to shine a light on small businesses that are living the American Dream across the nation. Of course, the second reason is to share the incredible food these folks are able to churn out of kitchens that have limited elbowroom. I hope the recipes and histories inspire you as much as they have inspired me.

Ask a Local

With Kelly Rodgers, co-author of Cartopia

A Birds-Eye View and History of Food Carts in Portland

Cartopia documents the food cart movement in Portland, Oregon. Written by friends and colleagues Kelly Rodgers and Kelley Roy, the book was released in October 2010. Kelly Rodgers agreed to help explain what it means to be a cartivore and how food carts are an integral aspect of Portlands culture.