Street Food - Netflix

[BeeZee]

There is a new series on Netflix all about street food and the vendors who bring it to the masses. I saw one episode so far on a Thai woman who earned a Michelin star for her food, it is humble beginnings and pure necessity that drive a lot of these people to this vocation. What was striking when you look at this woman of advanced age (I don't recall if they said her age or I just missed it) you can see the strength in her arms from tossing a steel wok all day, every day, and the burn marks that are no doubt the occupational hazard. She wore some crazy goggles while she cooked (looked like motorcycle goggles) to protect her eyes. A real badass, she cooked what she wanted to eat and knew people would want to buy it.

[eugenep]

I wonder if this Street Food series will be similar in theme to Chef's Table - where it's not about recipes or technique but a personal drama with a hero/narrator, conflict, resolution etc. that is partly autobiographical and beautifully shot 

 

e.g., Mr. Ivan Ramen suffering the tragedy of losing a loved partner and struggling to find his place identity 

 

A woman from Lat-Am escaping a bad marriage and finding a new life in Philadelphia though food etc. 

 

Human personal dramas and stories with food in the background 

[Okanagancook]

https://www.eatyourbooks.com/blog/2019/4/29/netflix's-new-series-'street-food'-may-be-even-better-than-'chef's-table'

 

looking forward to seeing this.

[SusieQ]

She definitely had a personal story, but I wouldn't say the food was in the background. She went from a one-dish street stall to a Michelin star. I think the show did a good job of showing the progression of the dishes and why and how she developed them. (I'm talking about the first episode. featuring Jay Fai in Bangkok. )

[liuzhou]

10 hours ago, BeeZee said:

you can see the strength in her arms from tossing a steel wok all day, every day, and the burn marks that are no doubt the occupational hazard.

 

Her woks are actually cast iron, which is even heavier. I had the privilege of eating her food about 20 years ago. It was amazing!

 

Thanks for pointing me to this documentary.

[gulfporter]

Enjoyed her story very much, nice balance of personal struggle and food prep.  Particularly interested in the Bangkok government's attempts to crackdown on street vendors.  That is an issue in Mexico as well.  Hate to see street food disappear.  

 

I fear many 3rd world and emerging world governments think "street food" is somehow a detriment, something that needs to be purged.  Our little village was vying for Pueblo Magico status and one of the requirements was that street vendors of all kinds be banished or relegated to official stands/homogenized/standardized carts, etc.   Thankfully we never achieved that "status."

 

Just like every mall in America has the same stores, the same look.  They want to do the same to street vendors.  

Edited April 30, 2019 by gulfporter (log)

[TicTac]

Wish they would include a bit more information on some of each chef's unique dishes...

 

Just watched the India episode - those Chaat dishes looked fantastic!!!  Going to try to (re)-create one tonight.

 

Loved the episode on Japan - though seeing elderly men cry always gets me!

 

[KennethT]

Yes, thanks for this!  I also had the pleasure of going to Jay Fai - I wrote about it and showed pictures in my "memories of Bangkok" thread...  I was really impressed with that place.

[liuzhou]

I've watched a few of these now, and excellent as they are, one thing irritates the hell out of me. I was quite interested in the Korea episode, but they keep having two people talking at the same time (original speaker and interpretor) while simultaneously playing music in the background!

Never let the sound engineer do the editing! Nothing is clear to my old but still slightly functional ears!

 

[BeeZee]

Agreed, I noticed that with the episode in India, I would rather have subtitles.

[pastrygirl]

49 minutes ago, BeeZee said:

Agreed, I noticed that with the episode in India, I would rather have subtitles.

 

You can turn on closed captioning for all subtitles all the time. 

[liuzhou]

On 5/8/2019 at 9:28 AM, pastrygirl said:

 

You can turn on closed captioning for all subtitles all the time. 

 

For some reason, my subtitles are coming up in German, a language I don't speak!

 

Anyway, two vocals plus music and incomprehensible subtitles all at once isn't exactly rocking my boat! Pity, because I would love it otherwise.

Edited May 9, 2019 by liuzhou (log)

[pastrygirl]

3 hours ago, liuzhou said:

 

For some reason, my subtitles are coming up in German, a language I don't speak!

 

Anyway, two vocals plus music and incomprehensible subtitles all at once isn't exactly rocking my boat! Pity, because I would love it otherwise.

 

 

That's interesting, I don't have the option of German for subtitles, or at least not for Street Food.  If anyone can't find their language/subtitles options, it's a box at the lower right of the screen.

[ChrisZ]

I was so happy to see Toyo's restaurant appear in episode 2.  I was there MANY years ago and still remember the experience.  I just did a quick search and found a post where I recomended it, which is almost 10 years old now...

 

 

[liuzhou]

Just spent a couple of days rewatching this series. I did finally sort out the language problems - I now have English sound and English subtitles for the languages I don't know - i.e most of them!

 

Still a recommended watch.