Essay On Street Food

2.1 Introduction

Street food or street-vended foods are defined as foods and beverages prepared and/sold by vendors or hawkers in streets and other public places for immediate consumption or consumption at a later time without further processing or preparation (FAO, 1996). This definition also includes fresh fruits and vegetables which are sold outside authorized market areas for immediate consumption. There are many type of street food vending. It can be either in push cart, kiosk or tent (Yatmo, 2008). Apart from that, it can also be found in another form such as stalls, night market and food court (Norhaslina, 2003). Street food can be found in almost every corner of the world and had been on sale for thousands of years (Fellows & Hilmi,

The type of food available on the street usually depends on the culture and the climate of that particular area (Fellows & Hilmi, 2011). Religions also give big impact on the type of food to be sold on the street. Although street food usually associated with finger food, there are many vendors who sold heavy food on the street. Study in Thailand conducted by Khongtong et al. (2014) shows that the street food can be classified into several categories such as main dishes, noodles, snacks, deserts, beverages and fresh cut fruit. The paper suggests that both main dish and noodles suitable to be eaten during lunch and dinner.

This situation can also be seen on the street in Malaysia where you can see many vendors selling main dishes in public and office area. John Torode in his interview with RadioTimes (Webb, 2016) stated that the street food in Malaysia is very special due to the multiracial environment that keeps their identity within the food they produced. The cultural diversity has result in mixed cuisines that represent the street food in Malaysia. Street food have become part of daily snacks and packaged food (Privitera & Nesci, 2015) for city