A small amount of food that is eaten between meals, or a very small meal. By the 1950s, snacking had become an all-American pastime, becoming an internationally recognized emblem of middle American life. Snacks come in a variety of forms including packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at home. With the spread of convenience stores, packaged snack foods became a significant business. Processed snack foods, as one form of convenience food, are designed to be less perishable, more durable, and more portable than prepared foods. They often contain substantial amounts of sweeteners, preservatives, and appealing ingredients such as chocolate, peanuts, and specially-designed flavors. Between school, homework, sports, your after-school job, and hanging out with friends, it may feel like there’s no time for healthy eating. When you do stop to eat, it’s probably tempting to go the quick and easy route by grabbing a burger and fries, potato chips, or candy. But it is possible to treat yourself to a healthy snack. Snacking on nutritious food can keep your energy level high and your mind alert without taking up a lot of your time. You may have noticed that you feel hungry a lot. This is natural during adolescence, the body needs more nutrients to grow as it should. Snacks are a terrific way to satisfy that hunger and get all the vitamins and nutrients your body needs. Look for foods that contain fiber like whole-grain breads, cereals, fruit, and vegetables and combine them with protein-rich snacks such as peanut butter or low-fat yogurt or cheese.
1.Vada Pav(India)
Vada Pav is a vegetarian fast food dish native to the state of Maharashtra. Ashok Vaidya of Dadar is often credited with starting the first vada pav stall outside Dadar railway station in 1966. It is also called Bombay burger. Vada Pav, also known as poor man’s burger is a vegetarian Indian street food. When you bite into a Vada Pav, you experience the flavor of boiled and seasoned potatoes, Garlic paste, tempering of mustard and curry leaves. Then there’s some gram flour, mint sauce with white bread. The oil or fat content of a Vada Pav is higher than idli which is a healthy substitute. The dish consists of a deep fried potato dumpling placed inside a bread bun (pav) sliced almost in half through the middle. Boiled potato is mashed and mixed with chopped green chilly and garlic, mustard seeds, and spices. The mass is then shaped into a ball, dipped into gram flour batter and deep fried. The resultant fritter is served by placing inside a bread bun, accompanied with one or more chutneys and fried green chilly.
Vada Pav is generally accompanied with one or more chutneys and a green chilly pepper. Although it originated as cheap street food in Mumbai, it is now served in food stalls and restaurants across India. Large fast food restaurant chains such as Kunjvihar Jumbo King in Mulund and Goli Vada Pav also primarily serve Vada pav. Outside of Mumbai, a variant of Vada Pav is Pav Vada which is famous in Nashik. Vada Pav witnessed a dramatic rise. It began to be recognized as a go to snack for the working class. It was easy to make, cheap and convenient to eat. These factors led to a boom in its popularity among those who had no time or luxury to eat amidst their long commuting hours in overcrowded local trains. Almost all the sellers boast of a secret recipe and ingredient that make their Vada Pav different. From film stars to cricketers to industrialists to daily wage labourers, all are fans of Vada Pav and many more are yet to come who will be left spellbound the moment they taste it.
2.Chuanr(China)
Chuan originated in the Xinjiang region of China. It all started with the Xinjiang lamb skewer vendors on the streets. It is a product of the Chinese Islamic cuisine of the Uyghur people and other Chinese Muslims. It can be roughly translated to Chinese barbecue, often involving meat on skewers. Chuan’r is a skewer of grilled meat, usually lamb, typically cooked over an open flame and seasoned with liberal helpings of cumin and chili peppers. They are a relative newcomer to the food scene in Beijing, a city filled with dishes and delicacies dating back centuries. Especially in the north-east of China referred to as chuan’r, are small pieces of meat roasted. It is also sometimes cooked by deep frying in oil. It can be classified as a type of kebab. Chuan was traditionally made from lamb, which is still the most common kind, but now, chicken, pork, beef and various types of seafood can also be used. Especially in tourist areas, chuan can be found made with various insects, bugs, birds and other exotic animals.
Generally Chuan may be spiced according to preference, but generally cumin seeds, dried red pepper flakes, salt, black pepper and sesame or sesame oil are sprinkled or brushed onto it. In Tianjin and Jinan, chuan is often served with small round breads, also grilled with the same spices. Xian Bing technically means “pie” or “filled bread”. After cooking the bread and meat, the bread is split open and chuan meat is stuffed inside, then eaten together. It has been spread throughout the rest of the country, most notably in Beijing, Tianjin, Jinan and Jilin, where it is a popular street food. The varieties range from the traditional. The lady outside of the JinQiaoLu subway stop selling lamb chuan’r on a pita bread all the way to the new and innovative Qibao Old Street where you can find sparrow skewers, or Yunnan South Road, where you find all types of vegetables ready to be grilled. It is still a very popular style of food in China that really should be tried.
3.Frites(Belgium)
The Spanish discovered potatoes in the early 15th century and brought them to Europe, and 200 years later the people of Liege and Dinant, which are located in what is now the southern part of Belgium, started to fry them. The fries cannot be frozen or too soft before frying, as they need the perfect balance to ensure that, once fried, they are crispy and delicious. The perfect Belgian frites are also no more than one centimeter (0.4 inches) thick, and the procedure involves frying the potatoes twice. In fact, they are even prepared in special oil made from a mix of horse and cow fat. We have established that fries are treat on their own, but as a side dish, fries are an ever present in Belgium’s other staple dishes, such as moules frites, filet american, or the classic steak and fries combination.
Frites are the supercharged cousin to paltry American style fries made from soft Belgian potatoes called bintjes, they are double-fried. Served in a paper cone with mayo and ketchup. First time at somewhere between 150 – 170C, but at a lower temperature than the 2nd time in any case, which would be around 180 – 190C. The potato mentioned by Saveur is actually a Dutch potato. When visiting Belgium I would suggest trying our fries and judging yourself. I prefer having fries in a “frietzak”, a conic white piece of cardboard with sauce on top, Belgian style, You can also try our famous Moules and Frites and of course you should not forget about our waffles, chocolates.
4.Sai Krog(Thailand)
Sai Krog is a fermented sausage originating in the northeastern provinces of Northeastern Thailand. It is made with pork and rice, and typically eaten as a snack served with bird’s eye chilis, raw cabbage, and sliced ginger. Sai krog are usually served in a plastic bag, perfect for eating on the run. The combination of hot and sour is perfect for a steamy Thai afternoon.
Prepare the sausage casing and clean it with a salt solution. Thread the casings onto a wide funnel and tie a knot in the end. Make a paste of garlic and salt. Add the rice and make a rough mixture, then combine the pork with the mixture and mix well. Fry a spoonful of the mixture until it is cooked. Check whether the fried mixture is under salted or not. Force the mixture through the funnel by hand. Alternatively, you can use a pestle while holding the casings. Do allow some casing to be released at a time. Remove the funnel once all the mixture is stuffed inside the sausages. Evenly distribute the pork in the casings by using your hands.
To make the knotted sausage links, start at the end and after an inch in, squeeze and twist the long part of the sausage twice. Repeat the process move another inch from the first twist and keep the first link still. Tie up the end with another string and join the two strings. Put the sausage in the sunlight for 24-48 hours. To check the sausage, cook one up. If the sausage is sour in taste, that means it’s ready. Separate the sausages from one another and prick each one several times to prevent bursting. Grill it on a barbecue or fry in a pan, with as much oil as you find is needed, for a few minutes. Let it cool down for a few minutes, then serve. This sausage can be eaten with raw vegetables such as lettuces, cabbages, sliced gingers and Bird’s Eye Chili’s. Not only will you find sai krok dangling on display, but there’s another popular type of Isaan sausage, that’s darker in color, known as Mam.
5.Cheese Roll(New Zealand)
Cheese roll grew in appeal because the south of New Zealand is so much colder than the north. The perfect cheese roll will have a gooey, melted cheese inside and a crunchy outside. It’s simple and cheesy, and you’ve probably never heard of it. It’s the perfect thing to have with soup. Though as far as anyone can tell, only in the south of New Zealand do they have a tradition of grilling the whole thing rolled up, sometimes with toothpicks, and to this day the cheese roll is almost unheard of in the North Island. Until recently they were virtually unknown outside New Zealand’s southern regions of Southland and Otago. Cheese rolls are one of only a very small number of recipes which are specific to only one of New Zealand’s two main islands.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a saucepan on low heat, add the cheese, onions, evaporated milk, and onion soup or dip powder. Stirring while allowing the ingredients to melt into a smooth mixture. Once smooth, remove the mixture from heat and allow it to cool for a minute. Spread a heaping spoon of the cheese on the bread and roll the bread into a log. Place on a butter-greased baking tray and generously brush with butter. Bake for 10-15 minutes until the bread turns golden brown. Remove and serve immediately. It’s perfect for afternoon tea. It’s perfect for morning tea. In the days when you might be required to whip out something for visitors, most hospitable Southern housewives had a tray in the freezer, ready to go under the grill at a moment’s notice and so they fed shearing gangs and sports teams alike.
6.Choripan(Argentina)
Choripan vendors can be found outside just about every sporting stadium in the country, as well as near any market or public gathering. One of the most iconic street foods and grilling recipes of Argentina as well as parts of Chile, Brazil, and Uruguay, the simple sandwich. It consists of a split long roll, a grilled or griddled chorizo link, and a slathering of oily, herby chimichurri on the bread. You are mostly likely to run into choripan stands highly foot-trafficked by workers or tourists and near open space, such as parks, football stadiums, outdoor markets, and street fairs.
The smoky, lightly spicy sausage usually consists of pork or pork and beef, and vendors will cook them slowly and until well-seared, sometimes splitting them lengthwise down the center to promote faster, more even cooking and help fill the roll. Although the sandwich is named after the combination of sausage and the French-style bread, one of the most defining and indispensable ingredients is the chimichurri. An ubiquitous condiment in and around Buenos Aires and many parts of Argentina made with dried or finely chopped oregano, sometimes parsley, onion, oil, vinegar, and often chile, chimichurri is used to dress the bread for choripan and give a counter balancing bite of oniony, herby freshness to the sandwich overall. Today, more and more cooks and chefs are experimenting with chimichurri, using more fresh herbs, or playing with vinegar and spices.
7.Pizza(New York)
Both the ancient Greeks and the Egyptians independently created their own form of flatbread covered in oils and herbs. The traditional cheese pizza that we recognize today began to take shape in Naples in the 16th and 17th centuries, and by the mid-1800s, pizzerias began sprouting up all over central and southern Italy. The first American pizzeria made its triumphant debut at the onset of the 20th century, when Italian immigrant Gennaro Lombardi and his employee Antonio Totonno Pero began selling pizzas in their small grocery store in Little Italy. Nowadays, Lombardi’s continues serving its Neapolitan slices just down the block from its original location on Spring Street, and is widely considered to be one of the best pizzerias in the five boroughs. Nonetheless, this historical restaurant is not without its fair share of competition, as Grimaldi’s Pizzeria in Brooklyn and John’s of Bleeker Street are frequently cited as its main challengers. This style evolved in the U.S. from the pizza that originated in New York City in the early 1900s. Today it is the dominant style eaten in the New York Metropolitan Area states of New York, and New Jersey and variously popular throughout the United States.
New York style pizza is pizza made with a characteristically large hand-tossed thin crust, often sold in wide slices to go. The crust is thick and crisp only along its edge, yet soft, thin, and pliable enough beneath its toppings to be folded in half to eat. Traditional toppings are simply tomato sauce and shredded mozzarella cheese. The original pizzerias in New York used coal-fired ovens and baked their pizza with the cheese on the bottom and sauce on top. By 2010, over 400 pizza restaurants existed in New York City, with hundreds more of varied cuisine also offering the dish. The heavily-seasoned cooked tomato sauce is typically made of olive oil, canned tomatoes, garlic, sugar, salt, and herbs like oregano, basil, and crushed red pepper, as opposed to the simple Neapolitan sauce, made from uncooked crushed tomatoes and salt. New York-style pizzas can have additional toppings like any number of vegetables, meats such as pepperoni and sausage, or other kinds of cheese on top of the mozzarella. Common condiments to put on top of a slice after it comes out of the oven include garlic powder, crushed red pepper, dried oregano, and grated Parmesan cheese.
8.Takoyaki(Japan)
“Octopus balls” is a ball-shaped Japanese snack made of a wheat flour-based batter and cooked in a special molded pan. It is typically filled with minced or diced octopus, tempura scraps, pickled ginger, and green onion. The balls are brushed with takoyaki sauce (similar to Worcestershire sauce) and mayonnaise, and then sprinkled with green laver and shavings of dried bonito. Takoyaki was first popularized in Osaka, where a street vendor named Tomekichi Endo is credited with its invention in 1935. Takoyaki was inspired by akashiyaki, a small round dumpling from the city of Akashi in Hyogo Prefecture made of an egg-rich batter and octopus. Takoyaki was initially popular in the Kansai region, and later spread to the Kanto region and other areas of Japan.
Takoyaki is associated with yatai street food stalls, and there are many well-established takoyaki specialty restaurants, particularly in the Kansai region. Takoyaki is now sold at commercial outlets, such as supermarkets and 24-hour convenience stores. The first takoyaki included beef and konjac, but later Endo switched to using the now traditional octopus and added flavor to the batter. The takoyaki are then eaten with brown sauce, similar to Worcestershire sauce. The food, known as “octopus balls”, quickly became popular throughout Japan. It is found especially at summer festivals in Japan.
9.Suppli(Italy)
While Rome is bursting at the seams with great food, it has surprisingly few street snacks in the early 19th century. The name originally comes from the French word for surprise. Fortunately, it’s suppli to the rescue. Suppli, like its southern cousin the arancini, is a deep-fried ball of risotto. Supplì are Italian snacks consisting of a ball of rice with tomato sauce, typical of Roman cuisine. Originally, they were filled with chicken giblets, mincemeat or provatura now also with a piece of mozzarella; the whole morsel is soaked in egg, coated with bread crumbs and then fried. They are closely related to Sicilian arancini and croquettes. Supplì were originally sold at friggitorie, typical Roman shops where fried food was sold. Now they are commonly served in most pizzerias all around Italy as an antipasto.
The most common embellishment is to prepare them al telefono, literally “telephone-style.” A small knob of mozzarella is enclosed in the rice before the little football is breaded and fried. The heat partially melts the mozzarella, so that when you crack open the supplÌ and pull the two halves apart, a wire of stretchy cheese connects them, like an old-fashioned telephone. More baroque combos do exist, and many restaurants will have a “special” supplì in addition to the classic al telefono. You may have heard about the famous Italian Suppli as a Roman food classic commonly found in the region of Lazio, but also found elsewhere in Italy.
10.Saltenas(Bolivia)
When hunger hits on the streets of La Paz, there’s only one place you want to be going is the nearest purveyor of Saltenas. A saltena is a type of baked empanada from Bolivia. Saltenas are savory pastries filled with beef, pork or chicken mixed in a sweet, slightly spicy sauce containing olives, raisins and potatoes. Vegetarian saltenas are sometimes available at certain restaurants. In La Paz, it is a tradition to enjoy saltenas as a mid-morning snack, although vendors often start selling saltenas very early in the morning. The pastries are sold anywhere from 7am to noon. Historian Antonio Paredes Candia states that during the early 19th century, Juana Manuela Gorriti was the first person to create the current version of this dish. This lady later married President Manuel Isidoro Belzu.
Gorriti was born in Salta, Argentina and was exiled to Potosí, Bolivia during the Juan Manuel de Rosas dictatorship. The Gorriti family endured extreme poverty, and they came up with the recipe in the early 19th century in order to make a living. A variation of these pastries was known at the time throughout most of Europe. Saltenas are juicy, like a stew in a pastry. The juiciness is achieved by making a stew out of all the ingredients and adding gelatin, so that the stew hardens in the refrigerator, and then slowly melts when they are baked. This ensures that the dough does not get soggy even while providing a very juicy filling.
