The Truck Food Cookbook: 150 Recipes and Ramblings from America's Best Restaurants on Wheels [Paperback]

John T Edge (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 8, 2012

It’s the best of street food: bold, delicious, surprising, over-the-top goodness to eat on the run. And the best part is now you can make it at home. Obsessively researched by food authority John T. Edge, The Truck Food Cookbook delivers 150 recipes from America’s best restaurants on wheels, from L.A. and New York to the truck food scenes in Portland, Austin, Minneapolis, and more.

John T. Edge shares the recipes, special tips, and techniques. And what a menu-board: Tamarind-Glazed Fried Chicken Drummettes. Kalbi Beef Sliders. Porchetta. The lily-gilding Grilled Cheese Cheeseburger. A whole chapter’s worth of tacos—Mexican, Korean, Chinese fusion. Plus sweets, from Sweet Potato Cupcakes to an easy-to-make Cheater Soft-Serve Ice Cream. Hundreds of full-color photographs capture the lively street food gestalt and its hip and funky aesthetic, making this both an insider’s cookbook and a document of the hottest trend in American food.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John T. Edge, a five-time James Beard Award nominee, writes the monthly “United Tastes” for The New York Times. His work for Saveur and other magazines has been featured in seven editions of the Best Food Writing compilations. He runs the Southern Foodways Alliance at the University of Mississippi. His last book was Algonquin’s Southern Belly: The Ultimate Food Lover’s Companion to the South. Mr. Edge lives with his wife and son in Oxford, Mississippi.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Workman Publishing Company (May 8, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076115616X
• ISBN-13: 978-0761156161
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 0.7 x 8.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #12,904 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #85 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Regional & International > U.S. Regional

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 37 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Lively Meals on Wheels May 11, 2012

By Margaret Martindale

Format:Paperback

The Truck Food Cookbook:
150 Recipes and Ramblings from America's
Best Restaurants on Wheels

By John T. Edge
Recipes and photography by Angie Mosier
A review by Marty Martindale, Editor, Food site Magazine

This is a very interesting food book on many levels. It is a cookbook, but more, because it demonstrates the many cultural approaches to foods and spices there are. This is also an idea and inspirational book for budding entrepreneurial cook/chef. There is also a lot of good humor, light-hearted philosophies and thoughtful, meaty insertions. We like the "Last seen" squibs. The book also gives a good idea as to how much work owning a food truck takes and glimpses the nitty-gritty of it all, besides the $s, praise and glory.

There are many ways to ride the cilantro and cumin express these days from fries and pies, waffles, sandwiches, tacos, Asian, Mexican, Caribbean, Hawaiian and European. Edge and his staff have done a great job of it....

Here's a summary of a few recipes, which interested us:

FROM A JAPANESE FOOD CART - ONIGIRI
Calls for canned white tuna, mayonnaise, soy sauce, chili powder, sushi rice and nori

MEXICO'S ELOTES
Fresh corn in husks, mayonnaise, Cotija anejo or shredded queso fresco, chili powder and wedge of lime

SOUTHWESTERN TORITOS
Simply green chile peppers, stuffed with melting cheese and wrapped in bacon

WEST COAST FENNEL SLAW
Cider vinegar, sugar, olive oil, thinly sliced fennel and thinly sliced onion

NEW YORK WASABI PEA DUSTED ICE CREAM
Simply pulverize wasabi peas and sprinkle over ice cream

OREGON'S GRILLED CHEESE CHEESEBURGER
Ground beef, canola oil, Texas toast, American cheese, lettuce, tomato and yellow mustard

WASHINGTON STATE NOPALITOS AND EGGS TACOS
Flour tortillas, butter, onion, nopalitos, eggs and cilantro

ALSO FROM OREGON, GRAPEFRUIT FIZZ
Grapefruit, basil leaves agave nectar, ice and soda water

TEXAS' MOROCCAN CHICKEN CREPES
Olive oil, bell pepper, carrots, garlic, butter, onions, sugar, crepes, roasted chicken chunks, Buttermilk-Feta Dressing and Harissa - FLIPHAPPY HARISSA: Red pepper flakes, garlic, smoked paprika, vinegar, sugar and olive oil. Read more ›

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars the 99% of the recipes here are "inspired by " November 16, 2012

By Rafael Alvarez

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

The book is great, a lot of info and stories but most of the recipes are "inspire by" .. they are not the real recipes from the truckfood chefs. Thats not what I was hoping for.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Good taste on wheels June 11, 2012

By Mike Grant

Format:Paperback

Fans of food cart cuisine have a lot to discover in this book. Other books have toured the various food carts around the country. And some focus on the recipes of a particular cart's chef. But here's a book that brings some very tasty and very different recipes together under one cover.

So, what's the advantage to a street cart cook book, when the food is so easily accessible anyway? Well, one, if you don't live in a big city, your food cart options are pretty small anyway. So this gives you a chance to "sample" food you might otherwise not be able to. Two, this book provides a useful record for an emerging eclectic tradition.

While making the food at home may not be as magical or even as tasty as having it handed to you through a cart window, you certainly get a worthy culinary glimpse. Highly recommended for fans of street cuisine.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Not ready for Kindle December 26, 2012

By Donald W. Hughes

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Recipes in the Kindle version refer to other recipes in the book by page number. The locations in the book are not converted to page numbers and what appear to be links to those recipes don't work. The content of the book is ok but I wouldn't buy it for a Kindle.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed with vendors picked January 12, 2013

By E. Anderson

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I love the food trucks that roam Durham and Raleigh area in North Carolina so when I saw this book I thought I would check it out. The book's quality of paper is good. Recipes are big and the photos of the food are great looking. The vendors showcased were very disappointing. I think the book showcases odd food and typical food, but not the tasty and delicious vendors I have experienced. Selling this book for certain.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome book October 4, 2012

By swaddledpickle

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

We have cooked multiple recipes and all have been worthwhile and doable. Good mix of anecdotes about the trucks too.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars fun stuff April 5, 2013

By Deborah

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I like being able to look at the recipes that the food carts make, What is more fun is that alot of them are from my home town of Portland Oregon. Yeah!!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good food but poor amounts December 29, 2012

By mister

Format:Paperback

Just made the high noon quesadillas from this book(on cover page). The portion of food this makes is absurd. Im giving this book 3 stars because the food turned out good but you can't really follow the instructions for a regular meal, which also in turn makes it more difficult to adjust for spicyness/etc. My son was not able to eat it. If you are making this specific dish cut the recipe in half or less, hard to understand why this wasn't done to begin with. I don't run a food truck I just wanted to try out some of the dishes for home. Doubtful I will try another recipe from this book without altering it significantly. I was expecting more guidance from this book but perhaps I am not the target audience. I am not an expert chef and was able to complete the recipe, but not without frustration and disappointment. At the end I wondered if the writer had even tried to make the recipe.