When Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken folded City Cafe into the bigger, more sophisticated City Restaurant on La Brea, the lease on their Melrose location was too good to loose. Both women were big fans of Mexican street food, so an expanded taco stand in the heart of a rapidly changing, soon-to-be hip neighborhood seemed a sure thing. MSM/SF took an extended trip south of the border and lived under the wing of a prominent Mexico City family. Eulalia, the family's cook for many years, was rumored to be the best cook in the city. She taught them how to make handmade tortillas, fold tamales, grind corn for masa, simmer the best sauces, and mix the most potent Margaritas. Just outside the walls of the family home, the streets were lined with food vendors selling empanadas, huaraches, horchata, fish tacos, and chiliquiles. Mary Sue and Susan came back to Los Angeles with their heads stuffed with visions of colorful murals and bold designs and their binders stuffed with recipes.



Street food gives the traveler a quick glimpse into the soul of the city. In India, chai stands are everywhere. Any trip taken through Bombay's city streets or on rural roads can be broken up as often as desired by a quick stop for a frothy cup of tea and a savory samosa. In South Africa, wandering diners fill up on Gatsbys—baguettes filled with sausage, salad, cheese, and chips. In Jamaica, chicken or pork skewers marinated in jerk—scotch bonnet peppers, onions, vinegar, allspice, and thyme—can be found on every corner. In China, large, barely mobile food carts offer cold noodles, dim sum, kabobs, and fiery shredded pork.  Strangely enough, street food hasn't much presence in Europe. For all their wondrous cuisines, France, Italy, Switzerland, and Germany barely dip a finger in the street food pot.

Chai stand, Bombay

Not so in the Middle East. Falafel is the food of choice on the streets of Lebanon, Turkey, Israel, and Palestine. During a trip to Israel in 1971, I made it a must to eat falafel at least twice a day. Falafel carts were as plentiful as hot dog carts in New York City or espresso stands in Seattle. The falafel were fried on the spot, wrapped in soft flat bread and loaded with condiments—pickled vegetables, scorching pepper relishes, radishes, chopped tomatoes, shredded cabbage, grilled onions, and sliced beets. 

Maybe street food has to be spicy to insure the return and well-being of the customers. A country like France or Italy, whose culinary reputation is built on quality ingredients, long conversational meals, and dairy products, is not apt to deep fry ground beans, slather them with hot spices, and wrap them in waxed paper to go.

Anyways, grab a dog in New York or Chicago if you're there. Take a chance and try a street taco if you find yourself in Tijuana, or buy a samosa next time you stop at a chai hut in India.

Empanadas

• 1 # ground beef
• 1 chopped medium onion
• 1 Tbs. minced garlic
• ½ c. currents
• ½ c. chopped almonds
• ½ c. chopped ripe black olives
• 8 Roma tomatoes, chopped
• 2 diced Serrano
• 1 Tbs. cumin
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground black pepper
• 2 Tbs. lime juice

Brown ground beef over medium heat stirring to break up clumps. Add onion, sauté 5 minutes. Add cumin, cinnamon, salt, pepper, garlic, currents, almonds, olives, tomatoes, and chiles, sauté 5 minutes.  Stir in lime juice. Cool mixture before using.

Divide dough in half and roll out each part to thickness of 1/8”. Cut out 3” circles. Place 1 tsp. filling on each circle, fold over and either press or use folk to seal edges. Transfer to baking sheet and chill 30 minutes.

Paint empanaditas with egg wash before baking in 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. (Can be frozen and baked without thawing). Makes 24 empanadas

Empanada Dough

• 2 c. all purpose flour
• ½ tsp. salt
• ½ c. lard or shortening. (Don’t use oil, let your fat worries go just this once.)
• 2 ½ Tbs. butter
• ½ c. ice water

Combine flour, salt, lard and butter in a large bowl. Lightly blend with your fingertips until fat is evenly distributed. Stir in ice water. Turn out onto floured surface and lightly knead until dough forms a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Return to room temperature


Falalfel

• 1 lb. dried chickpeas
• 1 small onion
• 1 Tbs. garlic
• 1 Tbs. ground cumin
• 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 2 tsp. ground coriander
• 2 tsp. minced garlic
• ½ cup bulgur wheat
• 1 cup fresh parsley
• 1 cup fresh cilantro
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 Tbs. flour
• 2 tsp. salt

Cover garbanzos with cold water and soak overnight. Soak bulgur wheat in cold water for 2 hours; squeeze by handfuls to remove water and reserve. Drain the chickpeas.

Chop parsley and cilantro. Sauté onions, garlic, and spices until onions are soft  Process garbanzos in a food processor until you have small grains and no whole beans, but stop short of an all out purée. Next, add sautéed onion mixture, squeezed bulgur, chopped cilantro, chopped parsley, baking powder, and flour. Add salt and pepper to taste, pulse until well combined, and refrigerate for two hours or until falalfel mixture is well chilled.

Heat enough oil in a heavy pan for deep frying (3-4 inches). When the oil is hot, form the falafel into slightly flattened golf ball sized rounds and deep fry in batches of five or six. The oil should stay between 350 and 375°. If you don’t have a thermometer, time the falafel carefully. If they are golden brown in 4-5 minutes then you have a winner. Oil that is too cool, will fail to brown the falafel and result in greasy falafel. If the oil is too hot, it will burn the outside and leave the center uncooked.
 
Israeli Tomato Salad

• 3 medium tomato, seeded and chopped
• 1 medium cucumber, seeded and chopped
• ½ medium sweet red and yellow pepper, chopped
• 1 green onions, thinly slices
• ½ jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
• 2 tablespoons each minced fresh cilantro, parsley, dill and mint
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, sweet peppers, cucumber, carrot, green onions, jalapeno and herbs. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients. Pour over the tomato mixture; toss to coat evenly. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Samosas

Samosas are the perfect receptacle for leftovers. We love Indian food, so leftover curry shows up regularly.  Any vegetable curry can be used as a filling for a samosa. Potato pea seems the favorite, as it is soft, chunky, and not runny. Here's the recipe I use most frequently for one dinner plus leftovers for samosas. Samosas show up more frequently on our table when I bake the samosas instead of fry them and use purchased pie dough and leftover curry.


Cauliflower or Potato Pea Curry

• 1 T. mustard seeds
• ½ c. ghee or oil
• 1 diced onion
• 1 T. fresh garlic
• 1 T. grated ginger
• 1 t. cumin
• ½ t. turmeric
• 1 t. cardamom
• 1 fine-dice Serrano
• 1 can diced in juice tomatoes
• ½ c. tomato sauce
• 2 t. sugar
• 1 head cauliflower or 4-6 waxy-type potatoes, small dice
• 1 c. frozen peas (defrosted)

Sauté mustard seeds in hot oil—add onions, garlic, ginger and spices.
Add serranos, tomatoes, tomato sauce and sugar. Simmer 10-15 minutes to thicken.
Add diced potatoes or 1 cauliflower divided into small florets. Simmer the raw potatoes or cauliflower in the sauce until tender in the sauce; it will absorb the rich spiciness. Add peas, heat through. Serve with a squeeze of fresh lime.

Curried Pea and Potato Samosas (adapted from the April 2008 Cuisine at Home) Makes four very large samosas

1/2 lb. Yukon Gold potatoes, small dice
1 Tbs. oil
1/2 large onion, small dice
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. minced garlic
1 Tbs. minced fresh ginger
1/2 tsp. coriander
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. turmeric
1/8 tsp. cayenne
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 Tbs. fresh lime or lemon juice
1 package purchased pie dough, the rolled out type not the one that's already formed into a pie shell


Preheat oven to 450 degrees; line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Cook potatoes in salted water in a large saute pan, covered, over medium heat until tender, 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain, set aside.

Saute onion and garlic in oil over medium heat until onion begins to soften, about 3 minutes. Stir in spices and cook for 3 more minutes.

Deglaze pan with chicken broth, then add peas and potatoes, bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute, add lime juice, and season with salt; cool slightly.

Unroll pie dough rounds and cut into quarters. Spoon 1/2 cup curry mixture in the center of 4 quarters. Seal samosas with fingers, crimp with a fork, and transfer to baking sheet. Bake until golden, 15 minutes. Serve with chutney and yogurt.

Traditional Indian Fried Samosas (recipe from Food India)

Pastry:
2 cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
4 tablespoon oil or ghee
6 tablespoon water

Potato stuffing:
5 medium potatoes
4 tablespoon oil
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 cup green peas
1 tablespoon ginger, grated
1 hot green chili (finely chopped)
3 tablespoon green coriander (cilantro), chopped
1 1/2  salt
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon ground cumin seeds

Dough for Samosa Pastry:
Mix flour and salt in a bowl.  Add 4 tablespoons oil and rub until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Slowly add about 6 tablespoons water and knead the dough for about 10 minutes or until it is smooth.  Rub dough with oil. Cover it and set aside for 30 minutes or longer. 

Potato stuffing for Samosa:
Boil, cool and peel the potatoes. Dice it into 1/4 inch size. Heat 4 tablespoons oil in karahi or wok in medium flame. Lower the heat and carefully put the onion. Stir fry until golden brown in medium heat. Add peas, ginger, green chili, and fresh coriander (cilantro). Add diced potatoes, salt and all spices. Mix and cook on low heat for 3-4 minutes. Do not forget to stir while cooking.

Making Samosa: (follow the Food India link above to get the picture on this "cone" procedure)
Knead the dough again. Divide it into about 10 balls. Roll it into flat round shape with about 5 inch diameter. Cut it into half. Make the half into a cone by sticking seam together with a little water. Fill the cone with about 2.5 tablespoons of the potato mixture. Stick the top of the cone together with a little water. The seam should be about 1/4 inch (5 mm) wide.

Cooking Samosa
Heat about 2 inches of oil for deep frying over a medium-low flame. (You may use a wok, Indian karhai or any other utensil you seem fit). When the oil is hot, carefully put in as many samosas as it fits. Fry slowly, turning the samosas until they are golden brown and crisp. Drain excess oil and serve hot.