Street food is being put under the spot light this week.

British Street Food awards were created by Independent Food writer Richard Johnson in 2010.  He was always amazed by the quality and diversity of street food in countries he had visited. Coming back to the UK, he was disappointed with the same old bag of fish and chips, Mr Whippy and some crusty sausage from a rusty handcart.

The awards saw a new generation of street foodies, who are focused on changing our British street food vibe from a monotone to a full concerto of flavours.

Richard Johnson writing in The Independent states:

“Street food, in many ways, is better than restaurant food. For a start, it's cheap and fresh – rather than left standing on a hot plate till a sniffy waiter deigns to pick it up– but it's also all about offering the kind of food we want to eat, not some received notion of "good food"”

We can follow British street food back to the 12^th century where shopkeepers would sell hot sheep’s feet. Street food steadily began to climb the status ladder through the centuries, from just being acceptable for the working class, to the emergence of farmers markets making it acceptable for the middle class. Now, street food is coming back with a premium edge and shows you don’t need to sit in a fancy restaurant trying to decipher what the description of the food is to enjoy the best of what Britain has to offer.

Want a great overview of global street food?  Checkout this tasty info graphic.

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