Book Review: Eat St.

'Eat St.: Recipes from the Tastiest, Messiest, and Most Irresistible Food Trucks'
Author: James Cunningham

Format: Paperback
Published: Pintail; Apr. 2013
Pages: 304
Genre: Cookbook
Grade: A
Source: Publisher

Synopsis: Eat St. is a lip-smacking celebration of North America’s tastiest, messiest, and most irresistible street food. Join James Cunningham on the ultimate cross-country culinary road trip to find the most daring, delicious, and inventive street food across the country.

And now you can make these over-the-top culinary creations at home. Eat St. is packed with full-color photographs and more than 125 recipes from the best food vendors on wheels dishing out great curbside eats all over North America. From Tijuana-style tacos served out of an Airstream trailer and pizzas baked in a brick oven to sirloin burgers slathered in bacon jam, Eat St. is irresistible!

This is the perfect book for fans of the hottest food trend—a full-course meal of the world’s ultimate street food.

My Take: I LOVE food! My husband and I love to try new restaurants, cook fun dishes at home, and just generally enjoy the delicious food our world has to offer. Unless you've been living under a hole, then you know that food trucks have exploded onto the food scene in the past few years. Living in San Francisco, I eat at them all the time. We have a ton right outside where I work and on the streets near where I live. Want something quick and surprisingly gourmet? Eat at a food truck!

Eat St. is a TV show on the Cooking Channel. A channel that I don't have at home. However, I have seen this show when I was on vacation and it was mouth-watering! So when this cookbook came out I knew I would want to try it. First, I flipped through it to see if any of the recipes were from SF food trucks (a bunch were!) and if I had ever eaten at any one of them (nope!). Then I flipped through it to see what I would want to try. 

For me, a cookbook is a winner if it meets a couple of qualities. Are there pictures for every recipe represented so I know what it's supposed to look like when I make it? Check. Do the recipes actually sound good? Check. Are they relatively easy to make? Well I am sure some of them are but the one I tried wasn't. However, it was so yummy, it was worth the wait!

Eat St. is divided into seven sections: Mobile Snacks; Burgers, Dogs & Slices; Ultimate Street Sandwiches; Tacos, Wraps & Cones; Soups, Noodles & Saucy Things; Curbside Meals; and Sweet Wheels. Each section then lists the name of the dish, the name of food truck it's from, and the location of said truck. 

My version of the Turkey Meatball Sandwich from Le Truc!

I knew I wanted to make something from San Francisco so I tried the Turkey Meatball Sandwich from Le Truc in the Ultimate Street Sandwiches section. Let me just say that after making this, I have a whole new respect for food trucks! This recipe was really involved and was one of the more 'gourmet' things I have ever made. You may laugh and think a sandwich is gourmet? But this was a two-and-a-half hour sandwich. Most of mine take 10 minutes tops! However, look at that? My husband and I both thought this was incredibly delicious and it made for a very hearty dinner.

Honestly, I can't wait to try something else from this book and to try more food trucks too!

Cover Lust: It's bright and colorful and includes food I want to make. Love it!