Exploring street food

An Australian chef of Vietnamese origin, Luk has been guiding us on a journey of exploration and inspiration through the streets and markets of Vietnam – tantalising the tastebuds.
Vietnamese street food is vibrant. We have watched quantities of shrimps dried and pounded into paste and rice noodles made by hand stretched out on bamboo mats in long sheets before being cut and dried. Its labour intensive and in the markets where women have been squatting patiently for eight to 10 hours a day, every day for years, cleaning skins off garlic and onions – the feeling is still one of good cheer, good humour and joy in life.
Every corner and alleyway offers mouth watering food. Whenever you are hungry a tasty treat is available, prepared in front of you on charcoal or gas fires from fresh ingredients close at hand – from savoury pork wraps with sweet and hot dipping sauce, to barbecued satays, whole crispy duck and sweet bean treats.
Fresh herbs and vegetables found in Vietnamese street food are what inspire Luk and I have met many new green herbs that I haven’t seen before – different kinds of mint  and basil, various varieties of coriander and bitter leaves and the intriguingly named crawling crab claw herb! How can I grow some?!
One of the treats that took my fancy was the sweet bean desserts – made in numerous variations, the name changing with the beans used.  Their hearty contents –  beans, sticky rice and sugar make them a popular snack food.
I loved this notion – that the sweet is not served as an after dinner dessert but as a little pick me up during the day – and that’s what I could have done with last week when I constantly seemed to be rushing from one end of the city to another without enough time to grab a meal. 
Street food isn’t easy in Harare – at least not in the top end of the City Centre and the low density suburbs.  Round the bus stations one can       get boiled eggs, buns and fruit, some roasted corn – but our     British inherited by laws don’t allow for the vibrancy of street cart cooking.
The best I could do was beef stir-fry and chips from Silver Glory Spar (US$3) – the first time I had seen food sold by weight locally. It’s a bit laborious but means your pocket can dictate what goes on your plate. First the chips or sadza are weighed and labeled, then the stew, or stir fry. It tasted good and there are various options – chips, sadza, rice – stir-fry, stew, fish, chicken and vegetables.
A lot of rubbish is generated by lunch for three – polystyrene cartons, plastic sachets, aluminium drinks cans. Oh for a kebab wrapped in a banana leaf!
The closest I came to a sweet option was Peis Patisserie in Newlands – which offers a variety of cakes and muffins. We sat outside where there are a couple of little tables but, with no power that day, hot drinks and smoothies were not an option. We settled for juice (US$1,50) and I loved the little coconut tart (US$2) – suitably sticky with syrup to satisfy my sweet craving. 
On another note, The Book Café, is almost back. Thursday night saw the handing over of the prestigious Prince Claus award and a baptism of the new space on 139 Samora Machel with a great party and many artists happily celebrating the new venue.
Pizzas from the new pizza oven were delicious and I really look forward to it being fully operational within the next couple of weeks.
– g.jeke@yahoo.com