It is a book that can be read as a cultural history of civilizations through street food: “street food”. We can also taste it by delving into its encyclopedic richness if we want to know the origin and history of dishes which more or less belong to our daily lives and whose beginnings and adaptations are sometimes unsuspected. Finally, we can obviously consider it an incredible recipe book for traveling around the world.
A gargantuan work for its author, Marcelle Ratafia, a culinary history buff: “I had to cross paths with lots of different sourcesshe explains. And it wasn't always easy to disentangle fact from fiction. But it was really exciting because it's like a different journey each time and always in a popular universe. This is close to my heart,” adds the one who has already written works on slang, clothing and wine from this angle.
Recipes that are sometimes thousands of years old
Prefaced by the great chef Mory Sacko, Culture street food (Éditions Marabout) also strives to pay homage to the richness of street food. “There is no reference book on the subjectshe continues. And in France, we especially have a vision that means we don't know much about anything other than McDonald's when we talk about street food. Just to talk about the kebab, which is not always well regarded, there is a special story. It passes through Germany, Lebanon and Greece ». And even if she concedes that there are often “lots of oil” in street food, there are also very healthy recipes like in India for example.
Monuments of street food have entered homes, particularly French ones, such as the spring roll, “a concentrate of Vietnamese cuisine”et “the spring roll which is its fried version”.
“There are recipes that are almost a thousand years old and there are some that are very recent because people have moved. Whether within a large country like China or India, there are also Southern Chinese who have had to go find work in Reunion. This gave the cork which today is a kind of Reunion-Sino-French mix”.
“There is a kind of slipper community”
The hamburger that everyone knows “probably comes from Germany” and his minced steak from the Mongolian steppes of Genghis Khan surely. The famous pasteìs de nata which are the pride of the Portuguese followed the route of its counters to Macau and Singapore, where it changed and evolved into another equally delicious specialty.
It is also striking to see that thousands of kilometers away, from one continent to another without any interactions being able to be imaged, very similar techniques and dishes have flourished. “Everything that is pancakes, pancakes, donuts… We find them all over the world. They don't have the same head, sometimes they look extraordinarily similar like the little slippers that can be empanadas (in Argentina) For example. They all have a bit of the same shape, not quite the same recipe but there is a sort of slipper community. »
Obviously, this richly illustrated book does not only serve to salivate or stimulate the taste buds at the idea of going to these markets at the end of the world or to these streets full of outdoor kitchens. Marcelle Ratafia encourages readers to reproduce these dishes at home. Not all of them are simple, she admits, because as they are intended to be made in large quantities, a lot of oil or suitable tools are sometimes required.
“I’m thinking of Algerian calentica. For me, she is the future of Humanity! It's a sort of chickpea flan with cumin that you slip into a bread with harissa. It's a snack that you eat for 20 cents in Algeria and it's very easy to make. Like Chinese jian bing pancakes. I also think of suya, Hausa skewers which are very common in West Africa. These are beef skewers with a mixture of chili, peanut powder, etc… and it's divine. For barbecues and for showing off in front of friends, frankly, there is nothing like this mixture that you find in grocery stores”.
“Street food culture” by Marcelle Ratafia, 360 pages, 39 euros from Marabout editions. Marcelle Ratafia will be signing at the Humor & Vin festival in Bourges, on December 7 and 8 and at the Fnac in Tours, on December 11, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.