Local food writer Deanna Thomas shares the latest culinary trends in Greater Manchester.

With rising food prices and the recession, many independent food and drink businesses have had to get creative, resulting in a rise in top quality street food, with a number of talented Manchester chefs quick to get hold of the idea.

Diners across Greater Manchester are now spoilt for choice, with delicious rare breed burgers, handmade hot dogs, bulging burritos and artisan ice creams on sale at the growing number of farmers markets, food festivals and other local events where food is a central ingredient.

Guerrilla Eats is an exciting new collective group of local street food vendors. Many trade regularly in their home town, source quality local ingredients and just love the food they make. Guerrilla Eats also hosts regular pop up events and night markets around the region – in basements, backyards, skyscrapers and secret gardens, with music and independent breweries to create a buzz around their creative recipes. Gone are suspect sausages and questionable kebabs, their mission is to supply good quality, fairly priced street food across Greater Manchester.

The cream of the street food crop:

Chris Birchall from The BarnHouse Bistro is easy to spot in his green corrugated iron clad trailer. He provides a range of fantastic homemade burgers made using rump steak sourced from Nixon’s farm shop near Manchester Airport. All his burgers are served on a brioche bun, specially supplied by Robinsons bakers.

90% of what they sell at Penelope’s Ice cream is made in Manchester and everything possible is locally sourced. Their cones are made in Eccles (as they have been for over 100 years), Penelope’s ‘Yummy Hunny’ flavour is made using Heaton Park honey and they use chocolate from Slattery.

Ginger’s Comfort Emporium sells award winning ice cream from a pretty pink ice cream van. Its seasonal collection of luxurious flavours include Spiced Apple Crumble, Whisky Marmalade or Quince, Honey & Rose plus Manchester’s favourite, the bestselling “Chorlton Crack” – Salted caramel & peanut butter. Ginger’s recently won ‘Best of the Best’ and ‘Best Dessert’ at the British Street Food Awards 2012.

Mal O’Connor from Fire and Salt BBQ is inspired by the traditional art of BBQ from the southern states of America. He smokes whole pigs over hickory smoke for divine pulled pork and sticky ribs all topped with homemade sauces and crisp salads. He sources all his meat from local butcher WH Frosts and his fruit and vegetables come from R. Noone and Son.

Click here for further information on all the Guerrilla Eats traders and events or follow@Guerrilla_Eats

For more information on food and drink in Manchester go to visitmanchester.com/food

http://visitmanchesterblog.wordpress.com/2013/04/16/manchester-gets-a-taste-for-street-food/

GUERRILLA EATS is letting their street food traders out for their first monthly outing on Saturday 23rd February 2013.

There will be music and a bar to help transform Guerrilla Eats into a full on street food party. The event will be indoors too to help prevent the winter chill biting.

The location for ‘party’ is 60 New Bailey Street, Salford M3 5FS – opposite Salford Central Station. It’s easy to find, take Bridge Street from Deansgate and walk over the bridge and past the Mark Addy.

Some of the food on offer will be:

• BBQ Pork and Brisket with sides from Fire and Salt BBQ Co.
• Burritos, nachos and chilli hot chocolate from Margo and Rita
• Wood fired pizza with a selection of toppings from Streatza
• Gourmet burgers from Barnhouse Bistro made with 100% rump steak
• Traditional indian street food including samosa chaat, dosa and bel puri from Chaat Cart
• Top dogging action from the boys at Dirty Dogs
• Sweet and savoury pancakes from Pancake Corner

Guerilla Eats is also working with local breweries to bring a selection of local ale and craft beer to the event as well as a range of ‘fueled up’ cocktails.

http://www.manchesterconfidential.co.uk/Food-and-Drink/Food-and-Drink-Retail/Guerilla-Eats-Street-food-Market-Returns-23-2-13

NOT A NAPKIN IN SIGHT: Street food

A steadily growing group of traders, aptly-named Guerrilla Eats, are launching their mission to shake up our city’s street food scene with good quality, fairly priced offerings this weekend.

On Saturday December 8 between 4-11pm and Sunday December 9 between 11am-4pm traders will be taking over the Northern Quarter’s Port Street Car Park for a celebration of the most creative and diverse of Manchester’s street food vendors.

Culinary offerings will include southern-inspired barbeque pork from Fire and Salt BBQ, quality sausages from Dirty Dogs Hot Dogs, luxury ice cream from Ginger’s Comfort Emporium, burgers from The BarnHouse Bistro, Indian savoury snacks from Chaat Cart, creative cupcakes from Sugar Bun Sisters and vibrant Spanish street food from Las Paelleras.

Sean Robinson, of Dirty Dogs Hot Dogs, said street food makes sense and is the best way to bring the cream of Manchester’s amazing food to local people.

“Guerrilla Eats celebrates people who are passionate about the food they make and brings us together with people who are passionate about the food they eat,” he said.

“It’s fun, relaxed, inclusive food that makes people happy – there’s not a starched napkin or stiff upper lip in sight!”

The Guerrilla Eats traders want to bust the stereotype that street food means either cheap and dirty kebabs or sky high prices, and Mal O’Connor of Fire and Salt BBQ said the group are determined for street food to be accessible to everyone.

“Working as a collective helps bring our costs down and means no one takes money from the setup – it allows us to keep the quality of our food high and our prices down,” he said.

Entertainment over the event will include spice tolerance competitions, man vs. food challenges, street performers and more.

Alan Fox, director of streetfood.org.uk, thinks 2012 has been the year that cities outside London have fully opened up to the street food revolution but that 2013 has the potential to be even better.

“It used to be the case that London was the only city where events like this were taking place, but now there is no doubt that other cities are opening their eyes to street food,” he said.

“I think there certainly is an opportunity for a street food revolution to take off in Manchester.”

Mr Fox said it is only a matter of time before councils start to see the benefits of events like these and assist with opening up more public spaces.

“It’s the opportunity to get people to gather together in places they might not usually gather in, and to foster community spirit through events,” he said.

“There’s definitely the opportunity for more entrepreneurs who see potential in the movement to get involved.”

With this weekend’s celebration just the beginning, 2013 will see the Guerrilla Eats gang popping up in basements, backyards, skyscrapers and secret gardens across the city.

Keep your ear to the ground soldier!

For more information go to www.guerrillaeats.co.uk, email guerrillaeats@gmail.com or follow @guerrilla_eats on Twitter.

http://mancunianmatters.co.uk/content/07127218-%E2%80%98not-starched-napkin-or-stiff-upper-lip-sight%E2%80%99-guerrilla-eats-bring-their-street-fo

Guerilla Eats Celebration

GUERILLA EATS is taking place on the 8-9 December in a car park close to Port Street Beer House on Port Street.

It looks good but it’s taking itself very, very seriously.

This is the publicity.

‘Guerrilla Eats is a new foodie collective of passionate street food traders set to shake up Manchester’s street food. (The) traders will initiate Mancunians into their great food movement, bucking the idea that street food means either dirty kebabs or sky high prices and is the preserve of ‘those in the know.’

‘Tired of trekking around poorly planned markets and paying extortionate trader fees (which they have to pass on to the customer), the collective is run by the people for the people who just care and love the food they make.’

‘Guerrilla Eats’ manifesto is simple – create a buzz about great food served by great people at great prices. December’s mission will give street food its chance to shine and convert people to the Guerrilla Eats ideology that great food CAN and IS able to be served on the streets; which hasn’t happened thus far in Manchester.’

Well according to them it hasn’t happened yet.

Really?

Fire and Salt BBQ

The organisers must have forgotten about the Farmer’s Markets and other markets that have been taking place in St Ann’s Square, Piccadilly, Albert Square and elsewhere for ages.

Savin Hill’s superb rare breed burgers at the farmer’s markets are as good as street food gets, meanwhile my kids and I love the hotdogs at the end of Market Street in that stall that looks like a tram. And if they want to nip down to Old Trafford with me I’ll show them a kebab in Ashiana which will make them weep for joy.

The whole tone of the Guerilla Eats publicity for the event is smug; sneering at existing operators, usually small businesses who work week-in, week-out in rain or shine.  They need to cut that tone out with future events.

Nor should they harp on about ‘over-priced’ German markets and the like.

‘So how much will the food be at Guerilla Eats?’ I asked via email.

‘The traders have made an agreement to cap it at £5 with one exception,’ came the reply. ‘The Fire and Salt stall have put on a more expensive dish – but it’s pretty massive, box of pulled pork, mac and cheese, coleslaw and bread for £7.’

£5 is no cheaper than the German markets. More expensive than operators in the Arndale Market. It’s a bit silly to talk about them under-cutting existing operators.

The shame is that Guerilla Eats looks like it could be a very good event -and clearly they are very nice people even if they are giving themselves airs.

Anyway here are the traders, described in their own words.

Fire and Salt BBQ is inspired by the traditional art of BBQ from the southern states of America and smoke whole pigs over hickory smoke to bring you divine pulled pork and sticky ribs all topped with moreish homemade sauces  – http://fireandsaltbbq.co.uk@fireandsaltBBQ

Dirty Dogs like to bust the myth that hotdogs are poor quality, mechanically reclaimed meat sausages in pappy white buns Dirty Dogs teams good quality franks with innovative and creative toppings - @dirtydogsarehot

Ginger’s Comfort Emporium – unusual and sometimes rather adult flavours of luxury ice cream (yes, there’s booze in some of them!). Ginger’s recently won ‘Best of the Best’ and ‘Best Dessert’ at the British Street Food Awards 2012 – www.gingerscomfortemporium.com@gingerscomfort

The BarnHouse Bistro sources the best quality ingredients and makes quality burgers from scratch all served out of a corrugated iron clad trailer - @BistroBarnHouse

Chaat Cart serves traditional Indian street food; no spicy curries here, just simple chaat made from local, organic vegetables (that’s right, this is amazing veggie food) – www.chaatcart.co.uk @ChaatCart

Sugar Bun Sisters use the finest ingredients coupled with their amazing baking skills to create crazy, creative cupcakes that will fill your life full of cake filled happiness – www.sugarbunsisters.co.uk @SugarBunSisters

Las Paelleras cook vibrant Spanish street food from scratch with responsibly sourced ingredients; expect proper paella and tasty tapas, with a twist. http://laspaellerascom @LasPaelleras

Not bad.

Let’s hope Guerilla Eats can live up to its own hype in ‘initiating’ us ignorant Mancs into real street food. As stated above the organisers are clearly good guys, but they need to be careful how they make their boasts.

By the way there’s not only food to eat but entertainment too at Guerilla Eats, such as spice tolerance competitions, man vs food challenges and street performers plus stall holder competitions.

Guerrilla Eats Celebration takes place Sat 8 Dec 4-11pm and Sun 9 Dec 11am-4pm at Port Street Cark park, near Port Street Beer House, Port Street, Northern Quarter, Manchester M1 2EQ. www.guerrillaeats.co.uk

Barn House Bistro

http://www.manchesterconfidential.co.uk/Food-and-Drink/Guerilla-Eats-Celebration-8-9-December