Food from a truck recipe for great success
Munching on freshly cooked food served from the side of a truck has become the latest trend in eating habits.
For the thousands of people, like Midhirst couple Amy Graham and Herbert Van Veen, who wandered into the Great New Zealand Food Truck Festival at East End Reserve in New Plymouth during the weekend, few went home disappointed.
‘‘We came for a swim and thought we would get some lunch at the same time,’’ Graham said.
‘‘The event looked like a good place to grab a bite to eat.’’
From gluten free falafel and spicy hot chorizo burgers to Texasstyle BBQ pork belly, puffed bread, and hangi cooked, all washed down with a glass of frozen rose, the range of food and drink dished up at the inaugural three day festival proved a huge success.
The demand for puffed bread at Kirsten Anderson’s Langoes stall was three times as much she anticipated.
‘‘We’ve cooked around 600 breads this weekend, far more than we expected,’’ she said.
A day before the festival was due to start on Friday night the venue, near East End Beach, had been hammered by a tropical cyclone. Organiser Brent Taylor was unsure if the event would go ahead as planned.
Taylor was less apprehensive as the clouds cleared by midday Friday and the queues began to form up outside the food stalls for the next three days.
‘‘We’ve had way more people than I expected to get, it’s been a real success,’’ he said.
A total of 20 trucks formed a wagon ring around the reserve as many people sat on the grass eating and listening to live music.
Taylor was confident the festival had the potential to get bigger.
‘‘It’s a risk for them to travel down from where they are when they don’t know the area.
‘‘After the success of this weekend, the owners will go home and tell their colleagues and word will spread that Taranaki people support these sorts of events.’’