By Donna Howarth
@cleaneatUAE
(From L-R) Ulugbek Hudayarov, Donna Howarth, and Haroutioun Derderian
Food trucks rolled into town from the UK as part of the Abu Dhabi Street Feast Festival 2015.
One of these trucks was a converted, bright yellow, 1973 Bedford CF Van (British Ice Cream Van) – lovingly referred to as Archie, The Cheese Truck. I made contact with the owner, Mathew, via Twitter and promised I would visit Archie on the Corniche in Abu Dhabi.
After a few tweets were exchanged, Mathew revealed that the food trucks were in desperate need of help as they had been overwhelmed with the public response and asked if I was able to arrange a group of volunteers.
By using my CleanEatUAE Facebook page, I quickly arranged a group of ‘Clean Eaters’ to help The Cheese Truck and other trucks prepare food during their three days stay on the Corniche.
(From L-R) Julie and Rebecca Higgins
I was privileged to volunteer during one of the shifts and had a fantastic afternoon working behind the scenes in a temporary kitchen area, away from the trucks. My job was to make Cheddar cheese sandwiches with red onions. My fellow volunteers were preparing Stilton, Rocket and onion chutney sandwiches. All to be toasted, lovingly, on a grill, inside Archie. The Cheese Truck had a constant line of people waiting to sample a traditional British home comfort food, so the pressure was on to prepare as many sandwiches as possible! I managed to find the time to taste the Goats Cheese Toastie – such a creamy cheese complimented by walnuts and toasted, rustic bread – (supplied by La Brioche), beautiful!
The other truck I became involved with was The Roadery who offered a Wagyu Braco (British taco!) with salsa and fresh herbs – for a small appetizer it was jam-packed with flavour. Their truck was an old converted, 1979 Renault Estafette Van managed by a father and son from London. A couple of other volunteers had the job of rolling out the Bracos for the Wagyu to sit in – quite an arduous task I might add. Even so, they did it with a smile.
The atmosphere during the festival was fantastic and it was uplifting to be surrounded by fellow Brits and for us expats to be given a taste of what’s happening in the Street Food scene back in the UK.
It would be amazing if the trucks came back next year and perhaps the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority can arrange for other European food trucks to visit Abu Dhabi to allow us all to taste the culinary delights from different cultures and countries
This month’s recipe is in keeping with the Roadery’s Wagyu Braco –
Grass-fed, New Zealand Wagyu Kebabs with Spicy Tomato Salsa – Serves 2
4 Wagyu Kebabs (100% Grass-fed from Firstlight Foods, Mushriff Mall)
Cook to your preference with a little coconut oil (if needed). Allow to rest
Spicy Tomato Salsa
6 Organic Tomatoes, chopped (Try to use local i.e. Al Ain)
½ chopped onion
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 freshly squeezed lime
Fresh chili to taste
Pinch of salt
1-heaped tablespoon fresh, chopped coriander.
Mix the above ingredients together and serve alongside the Kebabs. You could always make a side of Quinoa, brown rice or even Cauliflower Rice. I was more than happy to eat this on its own. (The Wagyu needs no fanfare!!)
Suitable for Clean Eaters & Paleo’s – enjoy!!!!
