Eating while walking may be a tense and cramped living condition, or it may be a leisurely and enjoyable attitude towards life. It's both embarrassing and rude for people rushing to work to bring a strong-smelling breakfast into the subway. A girl shopping with her best friend, holding a cup of milk tea or a small box of takoyaki, is the most beautiful picture in life.

Snacks suitable for holding in hand and eating while walking, each place has its own characteristics. The kohlrabi and pot helmets on the streets of Chengdu cannot be seen anywhere else. The radish and beef offal sold at roadside stalls in Guangzhou is simply unparalleled in taste. Simple glutinous rice balls with sweet-scented osmanthus and red beans are also the best on the street. Twenty years ago, I saw Jin Nong’s Double-hooked Ink Bamboo at the Yangzhou Museum and had a bowl at the tricycle vendor at the door. I have never encountered such a delicious combination of light and dark. Just the right amount of warmth and softness.

In North America, except for the coffee in your hand, eating while walking is really not very popular. There is no such atmosphere and the food is lackluster. However, although it is few, it is not nothing.

1. Hot dog

Hot dog is the well-deserved number one food that can be eaten standing on the street. In the bustling downtown, there is a hot dog vendor selling hot dogs at the corner of every block. He pushes a four-wheeled cart that is three feet long and one or two feet wide. He holds up a parasol to form a stall. The stall owner was standing inside, with several sausages sizzling on a grill.

Although there is not much difference in appearance, hot dog stalls usually distinguish between "hot dog (hot dog)" and "sausage (sausage)" - hot dog is beef stuffed and hung on the stall The price list often says all beef hot dog, while sausages are mostly pork-filled, with different flavors such as German (German), Italian (Italian), and Polish (Polish).

German-style sausage is also called Bratwurst, or brat for short. Most of them are fresh and not smoked, and have a strong spice flavor. Polish sausage is sometimes written directly as Kielbasa in Polish. It has a strong garlic aroma, is lightly smoked, and looks more like Harbin red sausage. The shape of Kielbasa sold in North America is also different from other sausages. It is a long piece bent into a horseshoe shape. The Italian sausage at the stall is often spicy Italian or hot Italian, spicy.

The vendor puts the grilled sausage in the bread for you, without adding any seasoning. There is a long groove on the side of the cart facing the customers, where various sauces and toppings are lined up, and diners can add their own. These ingredients are collectively called conditions. The essential sauces are ketchup (ketchup), mustard (yellow mustard), hot sauce (hot sauce with a strong sour taste), and dry goods include onion (onion, cut into small pieces), tomato (tomato, cut into small pieces) ), relish (a green, sweet and sour pickle, cut into pieces), pickle (pickled cucumber, diced or thinly sliced), pickle pepper (pickled pepper), and usually there are also dishes that look and taste similar to the Northeast Sauerkraut (Sauerkraut).

The hot dog’s status on the streets of North America is not just based on its wide distribution. Just like a beggar gang with only one or two sacks of disciples, no matter how large the number of disciples is, it won't be enough. It has to have a few big protectors and a few big elders to hold it down. The hot dog world also has such luxurious configurations.

Cheese dog (cheese hot dog) is one of the typical representatives. Some cheese dogs use sausages containing cheese, while more often put a piece of cheese on the bread after sandwiching the sausage, basic sauce and toppings. It is best to bake it slightly with the cheese, so that the cheese tastes best when it is not melted.

Just as the beggars’ branches all over the country have their own characteristics, hot dogs also have local favorite versions in different cities. Chicago-style hot dog, also called Chicago dog or Chicago red hot (Chicago hot dog), is characterized by a large amount of ingredients. While other places dice tomatoes, Chicagoans stuff them in large swaths. While other places slice their pickles into thin slices, Chicagoans serve them whole and cut them into two pieces.

In addition, most ordinary hot dogs are made with white bread, but the Chicago version uses a poppy seed bun (poppy seed bun), which has black poppy seeds smaller than sesame seeds on the bun. By the way, poppy seeds are a safe ingredient and are legal in countries around the world. They are also included in the spice list of China’s national food standards. It is very common in European and American countries to add poppy seeds to bread and baked pastries, but to be honest, I have never found it to have an attractive taste.

There is also a hot dog that Chicagoans love called Maxwell Street Polish, named after the street. It uses Polish sausage as the main ingredient, and the most important thing is that it is served with pickled peppers and grilled peppers. Soft and fragrant onions.

Coincidentally, echoes of Chicago in the center are Seattle on the West Coast. They also like to add a lot of grilled onions to their hot dogs, and the unique toppings of the Seattle dog also include cream cheese. , cabbage (cabbage) and BBQ sauce (BBQ sauce).

As the capital, Washington is not willing to be outdone and must have its own special hot dog. The half-smoke hot dog here is also unique, with the word "half" highlighted everywhere. The ingredients of the sausage must be half pork and half beef. The stuffed sausage must be smoked but only semi-moist, not dry and smoked. When grilling, it must be cut in half to make it half. In addition to the usual condiments, this hot dog is topped with a spoonful of chili, which is a mushy soup made from beans and ground beef.

Cannot list any more. All in all, wherever you go, you will definitely gain something if you look for local hot dogs on the streets.

2. Fried snacks

The vendors selling hot dogs from push carts all have fixed positions. This is not because they are fighting for their own sphere of influence, but because of the municipal licensing system.

There are traveling merchants all over North America, but they sell different things. In residential areas, you can occasionally hear the crisp sound of iron sheets hitting each other. The volume is enough to penetrate the houses and reach the ears, but it is not loud enough to disturb the residents. Experienced residents don’t have to look outside to know that this is where the knife is coming. With today's lifestyle, it is rare that this kind of traditional business can still be maintained, but after all, there are not many trucks like this, and you may not hear about them once a year.

More truck business is food truck. If the hot dogs that can be sold from a pushcart are moved to such a big truck, will the cost be too high to make money? So the food truck will never just sell hot dogs. The burgers that are freshly grilled and sold on the bus will emit a tangy aroma and attract passers-by to stop.

The most attractive thing about this food truck is not the hot dogs and hamburgers. The fries (french fries) cut into thick strips are their trump card. I don’t know whether it’s the different varieties of potatoes used, the uniqueness of the oil in the pot, or just the psychological feeling caused by the different environment. The French fries on the food truck are incomparable to those produced by any other restaurant, and cannot be compared to fast food restaurants. , high-end restaurants can’t compare.

There is always a food truck like this parked in front of my office building, and there is always a long queue during lunch time. If the weather is sunny and warm, you can buy it and eat it outdoors downstairs. It is really a kind of enjoyment during work breaks. One time I bought French fries and it suddenly started raining, so I had to take the courage to take them back to the office. This is a long and narrow one-story, fully open office area. There are people from several different departments. Everyone is busy with their own tasks. Many people are familiar but don't know each other. A week after eating the French fries, I met a colleague in the elevator who I couldn’t name. He winked at me and said in a mysterious tone: “I smelled your French fries the other day. It’s so delicious!”

There is a luxurious upgraded version of French fries in Canada, which is poutine, the specialty food of Maple Leaf Country – French fries plus special cheese curds (cheese cubes), and then topped with Hot gravy.

Authentic poutine must use cheese curd instead of cheese. This cheese curd is actually not cheese in the strict sense, but a by-product produced during the cheese making process. It is smoother and more tender than cheese and has a lower fat content. The reason why it is not very popular is that cheese curd must be eaten the same day after it is produced, otherwise it will lose its "elastic" taste.

When making poutine, the gravy poured on it while it is hot is at a moderate temperature, which allows the cheese curd to melt and soften when heated without completely melting. The cold cheese curd and the hot gravy collide in the mouth. It is hot but also wrapped in a bit of coolness. It is semi-liquid but sticks to the teeth and pulls out threads. Just the touch can bring you to an ethereal but yet... The paradoxical state has the meaning of "not being able to steal something".

If it is not to satisfy hunger but to eat for fun, sweets are more attractive. In the chapter of "Fun and Eat", we talked about funnel cake, Churros and other fried sweets in theme parks, which can also be found on the streets. In addition, some very local street snacks are close relatives.

Like poutine, what can be called a Canadian specialty is Beaver Tails, literally translated as beaver tail. Beaver tails are a specialty of Canada because beavers are a specialty of Canada. The beaver is a naive but powerful mammal. It can bite off thick trees with its sharp teeth, and then push the broken trees from the mountains to the river to build elaborate dams for fishing. Like the elk, the beaver is also a national pet that Canadians are proud of. Beaver cartoon dolls wearing RCMP uniforms can often be seen at tourist attractions.

A beaver's appearance has a particularly easy-to-recognize feature, which is its round and flat tail.

This snack called Beaver Tails is actually a pancake, so named because its shape is flat and resembles a beaver's tail. This kind of pancake is very similar to the sugar pancake that old Beijingers often eat for breakfast, but the Canadian version has to be topped with toppings after being fried.

This stuff is all made to order. The dough is prepared in advance. When making it, it is pulled into a flat sheet by hand and fried in oil until golden brown. Sprinkle some sugar mixed with cinnamon powder to become the most basic Cinnamon & Sugar (cinnamon white sugar) style. If you want to make it more enjoyable, you can add Chocolate Hazelnut (chocolate hazelnut spread) and Banana (banana), and you can also break up Oreo (Oreo cookies) and sprinkle them on.

In 1978, a couple registered their unique recipe for Beaver Tails as a trademark. After decades of hard work, it has now become one of the must-eat snacks when traveling to Canada. Even at the reception held by the Canadian Embassy for Obama’s first election as president, Beaver Tails was served. Chocolate and maple syrup were specially mixed into a sauce to draw the letter O representing Obama on the cake. , since then this special edition has been named Obama Tail.

In the United States, another variant of this oil cake has appeared, also named bear claw after the animal's body. Unlike beaver tail, bear claw pancakes are filled with fillings, which are usually a mixture of chopped almonds and sugar.

3. Ice cream

One of the food trucks is very popular among children, naturally it is the ice cream truck. You can tell this kind of car at a glance because the white car must have a huge ice cream cone painted on it. On beaches and parks in summer, wherever there are many children, this kind of truck is indispensable. They also roam the streets like knife-sharpening trucks, drumming up business with upbeat music that can never be confused with the clang of sharpening knives.

The main product of the ice cream truck is soft serve ice cream. Most of the soft ice cream squeezed out from the machine only has three flavors, vanilla (vanilla), chocolate (chocolate), and A twist of half vanilla and chocolate.

The ice cream sold in the store is frozen hard and is scooped out with a spoon when sold, so the unit of measurement is scoop. The soft-serve ice cream on the truck is priced based on size, small, medium, and large.

Ice cream can be eaten in a cup with a spoon or in a cone. The price is the same, but if you don’t say it, the boss will definitely ask you “in a cup or cone”. cylinder)". The ordinary cone is called sugar cone, which has a thin and crispy layer. For a few extra cents, you can upgrade to a waffle cone, which is harder. Some people like it and some don't.

You can also add some flowers on top of the ice cream. The slightly warm chocolate syrup exists in liquid form, and is poured a layer on top of the ice cream. After cooling quickly, it forms a hard shell, which is called chocolate dip. You can also sprinkle some peanuts (chopped peanuts) or sprinkles (colored candies) on top. The former adds flavor, while the latter is mostly fun for children.

Among the few choices on the menu, banana boat and sundae are the more "luxury" configurations on the ice cream truck. Banana boat, as the name suggests, is a banana cut along the long side and arranged in a boat shape, with ice cream "sitting" inside. The sundae is a classic American dessert that has been passed down for centuries, with a layer of sauce or syrup poured on top of the ice cream. The most traditional combination is vanilla ice cream with maraschino cherry (candied cherries) and whipped cream (fresh cream). Nowadays, common ones include chocolate syrup (chocolate syrup), caramel (caramel), etc.

Parfait is a variation of a sundae, with granola sandwiched between layers of ice cream. If you're in a dessert shop, you can drizzle a little liquor on top of the parfait, but due to strict controls on alcoholic beverages in most places in North America, you won't have it on the truck.

In addition to on-site production, the ice cream truck will also sell some packaged popsicles, with red, white and blue being the most common ones. This kind of popsicle is basically sugar plus coloring, which is super unhealthy and has no other taste except sweetness, but children can’t help but like it.

The ice cream truck also has drinks. Similar to pigmented popsicles, they are slush. The only difference is that the pigmented sugar ice is not strung on a stick but broken up and put in a cup. Even more delicious is shake, which is the abbreviation of milkshake - fruit and ice cream smashed together.

Another version of milkshake is smoothie. Ice cream trucks generally do not sell it, but there are many small shops that specialize in this.

Relatively speaking, the content of dairy products in smoothie is slightly lower, the fruit is not so crushed, and it tastes more grainy. Small shops that sell smoothie have a special frozen yogurt that can be blended with fruit into a blender. This frozen yogurt is made in a different way than ice cream. You just freeze the thick yogurt into ice. Because North American ice cream is very sweet and yogurt contains less sugar, frozen yogurt is touted as a substitute for ice cream by many health-conscious diners. In terms of taste, I personally think both have their own merits.

4. Chocolate and Candy

Chocolate is really a culture in the West, so important that it needs a special term to describe the masters who make chocolate. In English, a chef is called chef. Generally, a pastry chef can use "dessert" in front of "chef" to call it dessert chef, or "pastry" to call it pastry chef. But this naming method does not apply to chocolatiers. They are called chocolatier, which makes them stand out and must not be confused with ordinary chefs.

Various beautifully packaged chocolates occupy many shelves in supermarkets and convenience stores, but they are not street snacks in the strict sense. Professional chocolate shops are either chain stores of big brands or century-old family workshops with local characteristics, and the latter must have on-site production.

In addition to demonstrating the chocolate-making process, these stores also offer a snack of chocolate-dipped fruit. The most famous one is chocolate dipped strawberry (chocolate dipped strawberry), or chocolate covered stawberry. Fresh strawberries, wrapped in dark chocolate (also called black chocolate) or white chocolate (white chocolate), are beautiful and delicious.

The raw materials of chocolate mainly include solid cocoa nibs, cocoa butter, milk and sugar. Dark chocolate contains no milk, only a small amount of sugar or no sugar at all, and has a slightly bitter taste. When paired with strawberries, the two different flavors and textures complement each other, creating a unique flavor. White chocolate does not contain solid cocoa, only cocoa butter and milk. Cocoa butter is a vegetable fat extracted from cocoa beans. It is light yellow and similar to butter. Therefore, white chocolate is smoother and mellower, and it is a completely different experience when put together with strawberries.

In addition to chocolate, you can also see a confectionary (candy shop) in tourist spots or shopping malls, among which fudge made on site is the most famous. This is a soft candy that is very similar to caramel and is more complicated to make. Heat and melt the sugar, pour it out, add butter, and knead it repeatedly.

Similar is toffee. This candy was improved in Atlantic City, absorbing the Chinese philosophical spirit of "if you want sweetness, add a little salt", and became a famous Atlantic City specialty. Because salt is added during the production process, it is named Salt Water Taffy.

The word Toffee also appears in the name of another snack sweet, which is toffee apple (toffee apple), but this thing is generally called candy apple or candy apple (candy apple) in North America. It's similar to a chocolate-dipped banana. The whole apple is stuck on a small wooden stick and wrapped in a layer of red syrup. After cooling, it forms a sticky hard shell, which is really not very delicious.