SAVE OUR GAZEBOS

If you are an adventurous foodie and love street food, and have tried new cuisines in London,s vibrant markets, You must have by now become aware of a   new phenomenon . The ghastly vehicle conversions called food trucks.They are conversions of mostly old van type vehicles like ambulances, post office vans , any van and sometimes incredibly new makes of vans. These trendied up yuppy type vans will I suppose make your local authority,s health and safety crew  rate your work environment five star . Because you will be cooking and cleaning in a compact environment  with your hand wash sink, easy to clean walls, hot water dispenser, fridge et al.But from an experienced trader point of view,they are responsible for what I call a lack of seniority .Where the Biblical  first has now become the last that  is now blighting the street food trade in London. Let me explain.In the beginning, there were original markets of note, for example Camden ,Borough and so forth.The corporate organizers of these markets built stalls for you. All you needed to do was turn up with your food . Ready prepared or not. When those markets over expanded at the expense of the original traders, the  gazebo style markets emerged whereby individual market  organizers either bought or rented or required traders to bring along their  own gazebos. This method of street trading is slowly becoming anachronistic as mega pop up food markets takeover. London has seen loads of Pop up music events this summer where the organizers and promoters have declared that "LONDON,S BEST STREET FOODS WILL BE ON OFFER"! and yet on application you find that their preferred stalls are truck types. I wager that the best street food you will have tasted or will ever taste will come from either an old style market stall or a gazebo run stall . This is because majority of these stallholders have more delicious original and indigenous recipes they want to share with  adventurous food lovers rather than money to convert a van. That said,  I must admit that I have seen one or two conversions that I have liked but those were the exceptions .I lie. There are some pretty conversions out there. You only have to check out street food traders organization websites to find them but the point is that  we, the gazebo carrying traders need time and equal invitations to compete with the trucks! Gazebo stalls offer real and authentic variety. Glorified jiffy vans offer a zillion other ways to cook a burger.!

IN SEARCH OF THE NEXT BEST FOOD MARKET

Around midday last Sunday,I got a call from the boyfriend . He was running our stall at Chartsworth Road.He sounded exuberant. Whats up? I asked "I may have found us a prime site market  we can  start on Friday and may now not have to come back here",he continued. Easy tiger I said. Prime site and sharp-ish start equal only one thing in street trader land- new and inexperienced market organizer and literally trailer load of us desperate street food traders anxious to be part of the line up. We arranged to meet up with the organizer the next day. I should have known  when as we took a sudden turn on Fulham high road to the right to access the location of this new market a Chelsea tractor bumped our car that this market was a non starter. As we discussed with him,, I saw what other traders must have surely seen in me  as  I tried to organize my own markets  last year, Fear,,trepidation,zeal,nervous energy and  a lot of fast talking and a lot less eye contact. The Site was prime alright as it was near the grounds of Chelsea football club and today the square did look busy-ish. On march days, he told us, we stand to make a killing. Priority to trade on those days will be given to his traders. Become one of his traders we must . And as it turned out, we were not the only ones wanting to identify with him  as he received phone call after phone call of enquiries from traders asking for directions to the site. As we tried to work out where best to place our gazebo on the Friday,we glanced across at North end road market.It seemed fairly busy. Perhaps some regulars to that market might be tempted to visit this new market. Office workers keen to try new food might also come.We hoped and decided to give it a shot.
Come Friday, I cooked and cleaned and the boyfriend went to sell. We prepared for very minimal sales but our prediction was even ambitious for this place. First It confirmed what we knew was going to be a problem from the outset.10 food stalls was way too much  for any new site that has not been heavily advertised.When I hour into lunchtime I rang , the boyfriend used a favourite analogy of his which denotes lack of foot flow or activity. He said all the traders were sat there looking at each other. I laughed nervously. I detected frustration in his voice too . We both knew without speaking it that we will not be going back the next day. You get a feel for a market with potential and I did not feel it with this one.The restaurant will definitely complain when our punters start using their chairs and they also begin to loose trade to the street traders.But how to leave this market without loosing the opportunity to trade during match days or paying heavily for it?
So another market bites the dust for us. In the meantime I  have written the butcher and my grocery suppliers cheques that are due to be cashed on Monday. This is where a miracle would be nice.

KIRU

MY LATENESS GETS ME A WRITTEN WARNING FROM THE COUNCIL

On Friday, I got a written warning from the Council market manager at Hoxton. I was not surprised. It had been a long time coming. I am a habitual late comer. In fact from the inception of this new market in May,I have arrived late. No not myself physically, I mean my stall as represented by my boyfriend who has kindly run it on my behalf.
I shall tell you a little bit about my boyfriend. He is one of those people who has an unsmiling face. That is sometimes called a stony demeanour, or a Military looking face or a very serious face- you get the gist.I suppose you could call him a miserable angel.Whereas if I arrived late at a market I will quickly flash my 1 million watts smile at the ego tripping manager and apologise plus find a suitably fitting tale to tell( My all time favourite excuse  is   the chock-a-block that is the A40). The boyfriend will be confrontational.He was unacceptably late last Sunday bless him because he had to drop me and my wares off at the disastrous Upmarket  (see my first post) I insisted we both did Upmarket but he very knowledgeably declined and muttered something about  not putting all our eggs in one basket. I knew that business wise that was a sound decision on his part but for once I also felt that even a major incidence on the A40 could not explain this mother of all lateness to the long suffering manager at this market!.He was told we would get a written warning .It is customary for him to reply with a scowl  and a very economic "sorry we are late". So we waited for the letter. And  it came. Henceforth ,the letter commanded ,we must arrive promptly at the stated set up times or be dismissed from the market.
The boyfriend would love not to go back. But it will take more than a few thinly veiled  threats to get me to stop trading at a low rent  promising local authority run market . So it happened yesterday morning,that  I  surpassed my own expectation when I woke up before the alarm did and prepared all food and got him to leave for the market in ample time to be one of the first to arrive. Okay he was not one of the first to arrive but he arrived early enough  and was able to set  up well in advance of the allowed time !

Upmarket

On Sunday, in the sweltering humid heat of upmarket Bricklane Market London, I decided  that my love affair with street trading will certainly soon come to an end.Do not get me wrong ,Street trading has paid the bills, enabled me to meet many interesting people from all walks of life and from every corner of the globe for the past 12 years but right now as a virgin trader at Sunday upmarket, all I can think of is "How have I ended up here"? The food hall at this market is a medley and fusions of  cuisines and of most cultures and peoples of the world so I should feel at home .This is my natural habitat but alas!I did not belong. I am still trying to put my finger on what prompted this change of heart . Top on the list could be the fact that as a former queen bee of Camden and Greenwich markets , I felt humiliated at starting out in another established market where some of the very busy and established stallholders had worked for me or asked me for a job in the past.! On Sunday, I  felt like asking them for a job! It was envious really. The other reason could be the fact that so many young girls were prancing about nearly naked in hot pants that left the cheeks of their buttocks  straining out. Now, I may be in my early forties but believe me,I am very young at heart - my own 22 year old and her friends will attest to this I swear. And unlike the previous point, I am definitely not envious of their cellulite free and firmer thighs! Its just that there is just so much nether flesh on show and ogling Men  not able to concentrate on the menu to order food and make me some sales! I felt like screaming "Does your mother know"? at these girls.
 The last straw happened when at the end of business , one of the established traders  pre-empted that I must not have made any profits because the meat and chicken chunks in my dishes were cut  too big for me to have made any money. In other words, What ever portions I had managed to sell should have been enough to triple my sales. I mumbled thanks without really meaning it. Rule no 1 of market rivalry which all street food traders harbour; give unsolicited patronizing advice to your next big  competition when they are at the bottom for when they are up there with the biggest queue of customers and you go to complain to the market organizers that they are taking all your trade, you can then mention that it is not borne out of jealousy because you had previously advised them on how to increase their trade!
I was out of practise without  knowing it.I had taken two years out to start a family and so have lost my other markets(of which more in later postings.). I had no coriander or chopped fresh tomatoes to continuously garnish my  curries. Eventually most curries sold in any given market resemble the same except the very distinct and I do try to avoid this but had to give in today when I  saw that the two stalls flanking mine looked similar but were distinct menu wise and the green leaves of coriander dancing atop of their stews  gave them a fresh allure. I quickly borrowed a bunch of coriander , chopped it up and garnished and garnished.
Let,s be honest, I would not normally under any circumstance, want to trade at upmarket. It has far too much food on offer.Exactly the reason I left Camden(of which more later postings.) but there is a recession going on and I  have two toddlers to feed! So it was that I left Upmarket on Sunday with the proverbial wiping of the feet knowing come Tuesday when I receive the customary email "upmarket confirmation needed", that I shall not be returning!