📕 Part 1: Street food

Rory, let's talk about street food. Yum, yum, yum. Shall we?

Let's.

Do you like street food?

Not really, I'm afraid. The last time I had some I felt like I might die from dysentery. My stomach complaint was so bad. It's not my thing at all these days.

What kinds of street food do you like?

Well, none now. I used to like the odd thing here and there. But I never really got into it. Well, at least not enough to build up a taste for it or a regular set of things that I'd buy.

How often do you eat street food?

Well, like I said, almost never. I don't think it's good for me. I think I'm not used to the bacteria or whatever it is in it. Even if it was a one-off bad experience, I still wouldn't like to repeat it if I possibly can.

When was the last time you had street food?

I think the last time was almost 11 years ago in New York. I bought a hot dog from a street vendor and I was really unwell. I'm not sure the fine details are fit for public consumption. So let's just say it wasn't the best of times, I really didn't feel well at all.

What street food do people usually eat?

I think it depends on where they are in the world, really. In Thailand, there are markets where you can easily pick up crickets and various styles. Like you can have them sauteed, for example. While in America, I think it's things like hot dogs and burgers. So there's a great variety there. I'm not actually sure what the governing principle behind them is.

Do you like to buy street food when you travel to a new place?

Absolutely not. It seems like a recipe for disaster in my case. It's far better to stick to what I know. And I think at my age, I've earned that right. -

So Rory spends eight or seven years of his life in Russia. And Russia has beautiful street food. Just like think about this juicy shawarma or cheburek, which is this pastry with this funny name cheburek.

You can have that in a restaurant.

Or doughnuts, boiled corn. Pirozhki. Pirozhki. No, blini. No, the beauty of it is just you have it on the streets. In the open. You enjoy food like it's a picnic. You know, it's like an unplanned picnic. Beautiful. I love street food. So everywhere I've been I enjoyed sweet food. Like Italy, South America. Oh, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum. So, Rory gave us negative answers about street food. Unfortunately, however, Rory did eat a dog. Dog.

Hot dog.

It wasn't a dog. It was dog. No, I'm not referring to hot dogs. I am referring to the story when you ate dog.

But that's not street food. That was in a restaurant.

Oh, you went to a restaurant to eat dog. Okay, I see. Yeah, dear listener, for this one, you should know the names of the street food. Or perhaps in your country and the names of your favourite street food. So Rory said that I felt like I might die from what? From what did you say?

From dysentery. It's like a really serious... Well, you can have what's called amoebic dysentery, which is when bacteria grows in your stomach, like completely out of control, and you're very very unwell. Oh, it's not. It grows in your intestine, sorry. But the point is, you're really unwell because of food that you eat.

That's why you eat spicy street food. So spices kill all the bacteria and in South America and perhaps in India too. Dear listener, if you're from India, surely you have spicy street food.

That's not what spices are for. Spices are for covering up the taste of rotting meat. Originally.

Not only, not only.

That it is what they are originally for.  It doesn't have an antibacterial quality.

Yes, spices do. That's why in South America, for example, in southern countries, they eat spicy food. Also to kill the bacteria. It's one of the reasons because like street food is usually spicy.

You're off your head. No, that is not. No.

Like, seriously. So dear listeners, like, really, like I'm telling the truth.

No, you're well, you might be telling the truth. But that's not what that is.

Educate Rory. Send him messages on Instagram. Anyway, anyway. So how do you pronounce this strange word?

Dysentery. Dysentery or dysentery. It doesn't matter because it's still the same horrible feeling.

And then you can say that, okay, I don't enjoy street food because my stomach complains. My stomach complains. Like, actually your stomach complains?

No, you have a stomach complaint. Which just means you're feeling sick.

Or you can say that. I've got a stomach ache every time I eat street food, or I've got an upset stomach. But if you enjoy street food like I do, you can say oh, I'm fond of street food. It's yummy. It's delicious. You can, I don't know, taste the culture, when you eat street food. So you can say I'm into street food. I like it. I enjoy it. I'm a big fan of street food, so all these expressions.

But this a good time to highlight ways of talking about things you don't know much about. Or don't like.

I never really got into it. And yeah, you can say, I never really got into it.

And it's like, ah, not really, I'm afraid. It's not my thing these days. I never got into it. I'm not used to it.

I haven't built up a taste for it. Build up a taste for it. That's a nice one. So if you don't like something, then you say, I don't know, I never really got into it enough to build up a taste for it. For it, for it, for it. And then the examiner continues asking you these crazy questions about street food. It doesn't matter. You like it or no, the examiner will keep going. Yeah, it's like, do you like street food? No. Oh, what kind of street food do you like?

Oh, what a shame. Because we're gonna keep talking about it.

Yeah.

But you can refer back to your previous answers. It's just like, like I said, I'm not interested.

And how often do you eat street food? If you like sweet food, you can say oh, pretty often or once a week, or quite regularly, to be honest with you. Quite often. Rory talked about a one-off experience. So he just ate it once. And it was a one-off experience. And then when was the last time you had street food? Can I say like I ate street food? Or I should say I had street food? Which verb should I use?

I ate or I had it last week. I enjoyed it last week.

So street food like a hot dog, and you buy street food from a street vendor. So who is this vendor?

Well, it's like the people you see selling food on the street. So a vendor is someone who sells things and street vendor is someone who sells things on the street.

So a vendor is a person, right? So from a street vendor, and what do you call this thing where they cook the street food? So this kind of trolley might be true?

I think it is a trolley, isn't it?

Trolley, right?

Oh, cart, maybe.

Cart. And usually, you eat with plastic cutlery, plastic spoons or forks.

Or you could just eat it with your hands.

Usually, yeah, because it's street food. And then what street food do people usually eat? Again, yeah, Rory said that it depends on where you are in the world. So... And in Thailand. Hello, if you are a listener from Thailand. Rory said that people eat crickets, crickets.

Well, it's not just crickets. There are different insects and I imagine Thai people would probably want to point out that you can have like chicken or other meat products as well.

Yeah, but also you can say something about hamburgers or fried corn. Right? So sandwiches, baked potato, different potatoes or something like fried, fried vegetables. Oh, pizza. Yeah, there we go. Pizza. Yeah, so Rory thinks that eating street food is a recipe for disaster. I disagree.

With me?

With you. With you. Yes. Yeah, with you.

We aren't talking about other people. They can do what they like, they can have a recipe for success.

True, true. But again, it's it's a sin. It's a sin, dear listener, to go to Italy and not to try street Italian food. So it's a sin. It's a sin. It's really bad to go there and not to try Italian street pizza. But if you're not into street food, you can say it's far better to stick to what I already know. Like McDonald's, for example. It's the same everywhere. So they guarantee quality and you know what you're going to be eating. So instead of trying out some wicked local street food, I prefer to stick to something I know. Yess, Rory? Is this the case? Oh, what about Scotland? Do you have any special street food in Scotland?

Not that I can think of. There's probably things that you can get on the street. I remember we went to a fair ones. And they had like pancakes. That was fun.

Oh, there we go. Shrimp wreck.

What?

Or seafood something. Oh, the humble burger. I'm googling street food in Scotland.

Is there anything uniquely Scottish?

Smoke and soul food. Aberdeen locations.

Yes. But Aberdeen is like an isolated city in the north.

Yeah, they have their local street food. Can we say that fish and chips? Is it street food?

If you buy it from a street vendor, then it's street food. If you buy it from a fish and chips shop, then it's just fish and chips.

Now we should all go and have some food. Maybe fast food. Oh, yum, yum, yum. Thank you very much for listening! We love you! We hug you! Bye! Say goodbye to the world!

I don't like street food, but I do love the world!

Bye!

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