Street Vendor Hot Dogs

I'm keeping a journal of my experiences while interning as a Community Organizer at the Street Vendor Project, and was thinking the other day about my personal relationship to NYC street vendor food.

I'm a fourth generation native Brooklynite, and the earliest food memory of my entire life is eating hot dogs from a cart with my dad at McKinley Park in Bay Ridge. The twang of the sauerkraut moistened the bun into a soft gluey cradle for the most delicious, salty, spicy boiled hot dog with a mustard blanket. It was special food, not to be confused with anything I might eat at home. And it was "daddy food", a small collection of food that came to my stomach exclusively via my dad that also included sunnyside up "pink" eggs and "protein shakes" made with strawberry ice cream. While these days I'm more likely to buy fruit from a vendor than prepared food, I still eat a hot dog about once a year. Even though I know what’s in them, street vendor hot dogs are food that tastes like memories to me, and no amount of fact-therapy is going to change that.

My dad enjoyed street vendor hot dogs with his father, in the same neighborhood, maybe even on that same street corner. Long before Nathan's was famous, there were German immigrants selling hot dogs all over the city from push carts. Maybe the so-called dirty water in the carts is part of what makes New Yorkers so naturally resilient. There's also implied physical activity to eating street food. You are eating it because you are obviously on the street, not in a car. That implied exercise perhaps absolves street vendor food from ever being labeled as junk food. No matter what you are eating, you are burning calories as you walk away from the cart!

Note: If I've managed to offend any public health or nutrition people, you should know that's why I'm a Food Studies person.

Recipe: Moroccan Millet Burgers

In the photo, these are topped and sandwiched with homemade tapenade. Hummus or ketchup would be equally great.

Ingredients

1/2 cup chopped onion, divided
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp cinnamon
seeds from 5 cardamon pods
1 tsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp fennel seeds
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 cup millet
1 cup water
1 cup canned kidney beans, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup cashews or walnuts
2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup packed beet greens (or spinach), stems removed
3/4 cup cornmeal
1 egg

Preparation

Cook half of onion with 1/4 teaspoon salt, cardamon seeds, cumin, cinnamon, fennel and cayenne in oil in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Add millet and water and cook, covered, over low heat until water is absorbed, 15 to 18 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and stir in beans.

Pulse millet mixture, nuts, garlic, greens, cumin, cayenne, a rounded 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and remaining onion in a food processor until finely chopped. Before you add the egg, taste it and see how you like it. Add some hot sauce or more spices if you want. Add egg and cornmeal and mix until combined. If it’s too wet, add more cornmeal, a little at a time.

Form rounded 1/2 cups of mixture into 4 (3 1/2-inch-diameter) patties. Chill at least 10 minutes. This will help them stick together better. You can spray each patty with a canola oil or olive oil spray before putting them in the pan. This will give even browning.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat until it shimmers, then cook patties, carefully turning once, until golden brown, about 6 minutes on each side.

Makes about 10 patties (serves 5 people, or 2 with delicious leftovers)

On Composting

I love living with and around green things, and consider myself fortunate to be married to a man who can take care of houseplants, among other talents. Perhaps the dancing Shiva that he gave me for Christmas one year was a token of his acceptance that I am much more accomplished at change in the form of death and destruction. Enter composting, which is lowest common denominator gardening (for people who kill houseplants).

I have helped organize about thirty households around what and how to compost at our small community site. It’s been a beautiful experience to work together, “growing” our garbage from trash to usable soil. Over the past two years, our small program has probably diverted about 7 tons of organic matter from landfills.

My experience with our compost program represents a turning point in my life-—a point where my sense of place in the natural world grew beyond the mere consumption of locally grown CSA produce into the satisfaction of participating in the cycle of life, from birth to rebirth, through food. I may never live on a farm or even be able to cultivate houseplants, but I know that I can make a positive impact on the natural world in this way.