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

by John T. Edge

The James Beard Award winner dives into the food truck scene with "recipes for all kinds of dishes you had no idea were tragically missing from your life" (Eater).

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 LA 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.

"Writing with his usual panache, John T. Edge gives us great insight into the ever exploding food truck scene. Ten pages in, I was licking my lips in anticipation of my next street taco, which I can now make at home using one of the many fine recipes in this book. Serious Eaters everywhere will devour Truck Food." --Ed Levine, founder, Serious Eats

"Despite their fleeting nature, these creations endure in a winning combination of graphic design, cross-cultural flair and writing on one of the staples of the urban food landscape." --Kirkus Reviews

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Ebooks, Reference, Adult

294 pages, Paperback

First published May 8, 2012

About the author

John T. Edge writes and hosts the Emmy Award–winning television show TrueSouth on the SEC Network, ESPN, Disney, and Hulu. Edge also writes a restaurant column for Garden & Gun. His 2017 book, The Potlikker Papers: A Food History of the Modern South, was named one of the best books of the year by NPR and Publishers Weekly. Edge serves the University of Mississippi as a teacher, writer-in-residence, and director of the Mississippi Lab. And he serves the University of Georgia as a mentor in their low-residency MFA program in narrative nonfiction. He lives in Oxford, Mississippi, with his wife, the artist Blair Hobbs.

Reviews

[Lynda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Heavy on fusion recipes.

[Marathon County Public Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't let the title of this book fool you; yes, it is a cookbook but it is also a book about food trucks in major cities across the country and where to find them. All the food looks and sounds delicious! Good thing I live close to two of the cities highlighted here in the Midwest; Minneapolis and Madison. Not only does this book give you an inside look and background on various food trucks, but it also provides recipes for some of the best dishes those trucks serve. Looking to travel? This book may give you some ideas of where to dine. If you love a great street taco you will love this cookbook and appreciate its maps on where to find them. Personally, I have my eyes on a Chicken Cheddar Bacon Pasty in Madison sometime soon!

Ashley C. / Marathon County Public Library
Find this book in our library catalog.

[Milton Public Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't let the title of this book fool you; yes, it is a cookbook but it is also a book about food trucks in major cities across the country and where to find them. All the food looks and sounds delicious! Good thing I live close to two of the cities highlighted here in the Midwest; Minneapolis and Madison. Not only does this book give you an inside look and background on various food trucks, but it also provides recipes for some of the best dishes those trucks serve. Looking to travel? This book may give you some ideas of where to dine. If you love a great street taco you will love this cookbook and appreciate its maps on where to find them. Personally, I have my eyes on a Chicken Cheddar Bacon Pasty in Madison sometime soon!

Find it today: https://ent.sharelibraries.info/clien...

Ashley C. / Milton Public Library #CheckOutMPL

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recipes range from decent to overly easy to overly complicated. The author's voice is weirdly pretentious, considering street food is meant for the masses.

[Stephanie Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Generally speaking some of these recipes are great. Majority are fried which states the success of the food trucks. They are indeed a source of pleasure a way to try new treasures of mixing cultures. But this book seemed rushed because some recipes completely useless, like the Roast Duck Tacos, buy a roast duck, buy taco shell and make this mango salsa. That is not a recipe. And I question why the author added that to the book. If you want to open a food truck this might push you in that direction but I think this book falls short on those desires. What I wanted to learn about was how they advertise, how they design their kitchen, their menu. How do they keep their customers. I wanted to know the success, falls and difficulties of working on the street which this book did not do.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know I can't, but I WANT a food truck.
This is the next best thing.
Basically, I drooled all over the pages of this interesting and well-written cook book.
(Surely the librarians won't charge me for damage....you think??)

[T · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting peek into the world of food trucks. How the trend started, what’s popular now, and potential future trends. A couple of good recipes included. However, the overall formatting of the kindle version was a disaster and made for a disjointed reading experience.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing!

The wealth and variety of these recipes are incredible, and I loved the stories. These are such interesting vendors and trucks and they each have their own story with inspiration.

[Aleksandar · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first food truck cookbook. This reads more like the author's memoir of his travels around America (literally 'ramblings'). While it does put spotlight on a few good spots, the books seems scrambled and lacks connection. Almost reads like a travel guide from the early 90s.

[Yvonne O'Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a comprehensive book - not just recipes. But stories about locations and the tricks and food trucks in general. All entertaining and all well-organised by category of food! And the key in the back gave me a guide to what temperature each number on a stove range translates to!

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot. If you are a fan of this type of cooking you should get this book. It also talks about the history of the food.

[Jen CE · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decent book, just too many fried recipes.

[Ryan Juno · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not well organized. Not recipes you really want to try.

[Rhonda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. Exactly what it says it is. Lots of extremely high fat & calorie recipes that I’d rather visit a food truck and eat than make. Borrowed it from a “little library” at a local pub.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

lots of good stuff!!!

I love this and I love how this has the history of the recipes too! Lots of good recipes to try,

[Darren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a different kind of book covering a different type of food - food served from a truck! There is a lot more than buyers and ice cream on offer and many of these mobile restaurants serve quirky, different high-quality food from an incredibly small kitchen.

To the uninitiated food served from the roadside or marketplace is just grill food such as hot dogs, burgers and "junk food". Through this book perhaps it will change a few perceptions and maybe encourage you to try some truck food for yourself. For the non-American reader there is the chance to savour a bit of U.S. culture, compare it to what might be available in your own country and, of course, reproduce some of these dishes.

The author has been actively criss-crossing the United States of America, eating a lot of "mobile food" along the way and learning what makes these places tick. Sharing 150 different recipes, countless techniques and many hints, the home cook can create some of their own quirky little dishes in the (perhaps) massive space of their home kitchen.

Split into several sections - fries & pies, waffles and their kin, brunch on wheels, unexpected pleasures, sandwich up!, hot dogs (with a bow to burgers), tacopalooza and rolling in sweets - you can straight away get a bit of an idea about the types of food you will encounter. Yet it is likely that you won't guess it all correctly. This is not a travel guide where you think you will be in City X and look what to eat. Instead the location is mostly irrelevant (and since the restaurants are on four or more wheels they could also have moved...).

The dishes speak for themselves, perhaps with a nod to regional tastes and impressions. Each recipe is relatively clear to follow and you are given a lot of background material at the same time. A labour of love indeed. This is a book for browsing, for dribbling with anticipation and for knowledge immersion. It is written in a very informal style and does inspire you to keep on reading. Despite the food being designed for a more mobile audience, there is nothing to say that you cannot transform this for a more plate-based, sit-down meal if that is what you want. It does not have to be finger food. Part of the delight is the impression and enthusiasm that you can generate. Certainly many of these recipes are different and would be a conversational piece when served to family and friends.

The reviewer must admit that, prior to reading the book, there were some mixed feelings and apprehension after considering its overall description. Yet once it was opened it was a totally different matter and gives credence with a modicum of modification to the saying "don't judge a book by its cover."

The Truck Food Cookbook, written by John T. Edge and published by Workman Publishing. ISBN 9780761156161, 304 pages. Typical price: USD18. YYYY.


// This review appeared in YUM.fi and is reproduced here in full with permission of YUM.fi. YUM.fi celebrates the worldwide diversity of food and drink, as presented through the humble book. Whether you call it a cookery book, cook book, recipe book or something else (in the language of your choice) YUM will provide you with news and reviews of the latest books on the marketplace. //

[Maze Branch Oak Park Public Library · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first glance, the recipes in this book may not scream out "Make me! You're going to love me!" Most of them are fried. Our group leans toward preferring healthy selections.

However...with a little determination and a more open mind, we found some recipes that we really enjoyed.

We tasted the following:

Oatmeal Jammy Cookies - Two attendees made these with slightly different results. One produced a flatter cookie; the other produced a more cake like cookie. The recipe calls for 1 pound of butter (!), so we thought that perhaps the measurements were for a commercial setting rather than a home even though the quantity listed was 30. No one disliked this recipe.

Sweet Potato Wrap - One of the healthier recipe selections in the book. Everyone either really liked this recipe or thought it was just okay.

Cheater Soft Serve Ice Cream with Coconut Curry topping - We really liked the unusual pairing of flavors.

Cheater Horchata - No one was familiar with this drink prior to this exposure. No one disliked it, but we were split as far as how much we liked it.

Lentils and Sweet Potatoes - If you like spicy, this dish is for you. Even though the cook decreased the amount of Berber seasoning by half, it was way too spicy for one taster. The others were split as to how much they liked it.

Huevos con Chorizo - We mostly enjoyed this recipe. We recommend it for someone who is looking to kick up their breakfast/brunch selections.

Cardamom Spiced Doughnuts - Oh...really, really good!

Falafel - Another recipe that we enjoyed...a sauce with it would have been nice.

Tacos Adobado - This recipe was recommended to be prepared at home. We were split on our enjoyment of this recipe. Those who substituted beef for the pork did not like it. Those who used the recommended pork did like it, and one cook found other uses for the pork in chili and sandwiches.

If you are looking for unusual recipes and are not concerned with how healthy they are, we recommend this cookbook. We enjoyed the background stories of the food truck chefs and appreciate the hard work that clearly goes into this livelihood. One attendee expressed an interest in operating a food truck despite Edge's tale of his personal experience with Dunce Dogs.

We found that the pairing of spices, meats and vegetables were unusual and sometimes challenging. However, the recipes encouraged us to explore new grocery stores and to think about using sauces and condiments in other ways.

This is a cookbook whose effects may influence our cooking long after this discussion. We agreed that we probably wouldn't have picked it up on our own.

Each month we'll ask you to make two recipes from a designated cookbook: we'll choose the first recipe and ask you to make it at home; you choose the second and bring it to our discussion to share.We'll meet to discuss both recipes and to sample the one you chose. We'll have a potluck of tasty treats! This month's selection is The Truck Food Cookbook by John T. Edge, and our recipe choice is Tacos Adobado. Copies of the book are available at Maze.
When:
Sunday, November 10, 2013 - 2:00pm to 3:00pm

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

I keep vacillating between "it was OK" and "I liked it" for my rating for this one - this book definitely doesn't contain enough recipes I want to make for it to be worth me buying it, and the writing isn't amazing, but it was fun to read through.

- The first chapter is so full of fries and croquettes and deep-fried savory pies. I have no interest in deep-frying at home, though I'd happily order some of these things from a truck—sweet potato fries with garlic, cilantro, and lime sound great, and so do fried yucca chips with a garlic-cilantro mayo, and so do chickpea-flour fries with lemon aioli.
- But the non-fried pies sound tasty - e.g. chicken/cheddar/bacon pasties or sweet potato and Swiss chard pies. Still probably a bit fussy for me.
- I also have no interest in waffles, which is a lot of chapter two. And while I like crepes, they're another thing I'd prefer to leave to the experts, though coconut veggie chicken crepes sound brilliant.
- There are some good breakfast/brunch things, though more as inspiration than as recipe to strictly follow - like the brilliant idea of scrambled eggs + blanched green beans, which are served in taco form at Taqueria Las Palmitas in Houston, or breakfast sandwiches with eggs, blanched broccoli rabe, and provolone, which are served at MikeyD's Grill in Philadelphia.
- Other good stuff: there are two recipes from a truck in Madison called Buraka that sounded great: one is a chicken peanut stew that sounds wonderfully hearty, with potatoes, chickpeas, chicken, and peanut butter, and another is a vegetarian dish with lentils and sweet potatoes and a North African spice mix that includes paprika, cardamom, and lots of other deliciousness. A vegetarian jambalaya from the Swamp Shack in Portland sounds like a good way to use beets and parsnips, and I also totally want to make toritos (scroll down on that page), which are peppers stuffed with mozzarella and wrapped in bacon.
- There are lots of hot dog/burger/slaw/relish recipes that sound tasty, but not tasty enough that I really am inspired to make them; ditto for the tacos and other Mexican-inspired fare, though I could see myself making kimchi quesadillas.
- The chapter on desserts was also pretty good. I totally want to make these oatmeal/jam cookies and these flourless peanut butter sandwich cookies, both from the Treats Truck. Mmm.

[Wulfwyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I come from Chicago. I bought hot dogs from a cart down the street. People would line up as soon as it parked. Puerto Rican food from a truck in Humbodlt Park. Mexican food, well all over the place. Tamales in the morning and elotes, sandia con chili y limon, mangos, fruit cups during the day ending with, to die for, tacos. All purchased from food carts and trucks. I love these foods. So when I saw this book I knew I had to check it out.

The book opens with a little bit of the author's history with truck food. It was interesting to read his experiences with food trucks, which included his own adventure as a food cart owner/operator. He then goes into the various places in the Untied States he visited. We have photographs of the food, trucks and people and we have recipes. If you have not visited a food truck I think you are going to be pleasantly surprised at what is served. Since I cannot afford to go on a food truck vacation across America, (a dream I now have thanks to this book), I am ecstatic at having the recipes available.

At the end of the book is a recounting of the authors adventure in selling hot dogs in New Orleans. That was some funny reading. Make sure you read that. You will not only laugh but you will come away with a deeper appreciation of food truck vendors. That is a rough job. I think i will stick to being a customer.

I enjoyed this book tremendously. The recipes are easy to follow and well written. None of the ones I made were hard for me to make. The ingredients were fairly easy for me to get and I am in small town Alaska where everything comes in by barge or plane. Trust me we do not have every food ingredient out there and some that we do get the price is so high we need to promise our first born to afford them. That I could find and afford all the ingredients for the recipes I chose to make was a bonus for me. There is much more included in the book. The author has included bits from various food trucks, recounted his adventures travelling around, (he was held hostage and nearly arrested at one place- how much fun can you have?) and photos. The photos are phenomenal. Most were taken by Angie Mosier. Angie also secured most of the recipes or came up with her own that matched the recipe. I really hope you will purchase this book. It really is a lot of fun to read and has great recipes. Just looking at the photos you will be drooling.

* I received a copy of this title from NetGalley for review purposes. I received no compensation for this review. All opinions are my honest thoughts and feelings.*

[Mark Balson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first experienced truck food when I was in the Marines. The Taco and Burrito trucks would park just outside the camp gates. I was in Camp Pendleton just outside of Oceanside California. There was something that gave me a sense of caution about eating food made in a truck. First, I had no experience with anything approaching Mexican food. There were no Mexican Restaurants in Columbus Ohio in the mid 1960's. But people I served with loved them and even had favorites. One friend would thing the Taco Wagon had the best burritos and someone else swore by "El Taco Trucas". That is where I learned about Mexican food. I had my first Burrito, Soft Taco, Quesadilla, Chili Rellenos at trucks.

Right now I have about four trucks I love. The best BBQ in Columbus Ohio is out of a truck. There is a truck that makes the kind of Tater Tots people dream of. We have a Pho truck which rivals some of the Pho I had in Vietnam. No, it is better because there is no one shooting at me. Finally, one of the local Grocery Stores has a traveling gormet truck and the menu changes but I have never had a bad offering.

I got this book just to see what else is out there. I havn't had a chance to try any of them but I am looking forward to trying as many as possible.

[May · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just picked this up on a whim, and it's a really fun book. Not sure how I feel about some of the recipes (a recipe for tater tots with sumac just called for frozen tater tots, prepared according to package instructions, and sumac--not really that innovative), but there's plenty of variety so I did find things I'd be excited to make at home. There were also a lot of photos, but some of them were repeated multiple times throughout the book, which was a little bit annoying--it's not like I'm not going to notice that I just saw that picture 20 pages ago.
The other fun part of the book, for people that are into more than pure cookbooks, is the stories of different food trucks and their proprietors, little notes on the history of street food, and a few city profiles (just big cities though). A good compendium of food truck lore and recipes as far as I'm concerned--can't wait to make something out of it.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd recommend The Truck Food Cookbook if you are curious about food trucks, enjoy watching celebrity chefs turned travel gurus eating street foods, or are just a fan of oddball cooking. It includes recipes from trucks around the county and some interesting background on the street food scenes in places like Portland, Austin, New York and San Fransisco. Some of these recipes seem a little unlikely for home cooking due to the frequent call for deep frying, but they offer up great inspiration for unexpected pairings and fusions of different ethnic foods.

[Lilah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides recipes for street eats. You get a short bio of food truck operators and a recipe for one of their signature dishes. What I like best about the recipes are the instructions as they read like a narrative like the chef is explaining to you (the book's editor) how they prepare the dish. You may learn a few cooking techniques from this book.

The book covers the the favorite food truck meals such as waffles, fries, sandwiches, hot dogs, tacos and sweets. Lots of yummy treats and little healthy options - which is probably the point of the food truck.

[Kimberly Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

OMG, what wonderful recipes....

Fried Green Tomato Salad, MickeyD's Cheesesteak Sandwich, High Noon Quesadillas, Saudero Tacos, & Grilled Cheese Cheeseburger....

The book also provides the food truck's locations and that is a plus.

However, from experience I know that it is more of a treat for me to actually eat the dishes at the original location. For no matter how faithfully I follow a recipe, it NEVER tastes the same, nor does making it myself accord me the full pleasure I derive from eating out.

[Deidre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely not for healthy eaters! This book is both a cookbook and a guide to some of the top food trucks around the country. Many of the recipes are deep fried or meat-and-cheese centered. The recipes aren't necessarily things you'd make on a daily basis but they are great for special treats and for capturing a little of the food truck magic at home.

[Bach · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, quick read featuring a variety of food trucks throughout the US and some pretty nifty recipes. The book separates itself from others by providing vignettes about the food truck revolution and the many intricacies within it, from the sriracha food fad to the taco craze. Good view inside of the mind of food truck owners across the US.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice truck food porn. The recipes are not very doable for quick and easy chefs such as myself, but I am happy to peruse recipes of food trucks from around the country and plot out visits to the ones in Portland.

[Dori Gehling · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have liked to see more stories/recipes (including the backstory) from some of the less well known food truck chefs. But this book made a nice wedding gift addition for a couple who had a food truck as their wedding reception caterer.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun book full of stories, pictures and recipes. The recipes come from all over and each one is identified by the name of the food truck and the location. Sometimes a bit wordy and hard to follow.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't let the title of this book fool you...yes, it is a cookbook but it is also a book about food trucks in major cities across the country and where to find them. All the food looks and sounds delicious!! Good thing I live close to two of the cities highlighted.