By Evan Osnos July 29, 2009 A couple of hundred metres from my front door in Beijing, at the small, congested intersection of Mianhua Hutong and Huguosi Street ("Defend the Nation Temple Street," named for a temple that was knocked down years ago), past the steamed-bun vendor on the corner, and across from a newsstand covered with fashion magazines, there is an unmarked door.
The woman vendor split the bun, dabbed on pate, added bits of charcuterie, marinated carrot, jicama strips, cucumber slices, cilantro, a cloud of pepper and thin chile sauce.
Carolina Awuor's electric maize mill rented for 15,000 shillings ($175) a month runs nonstop to make flour for ugali buns.When the vendors eventually close down around eight o'clock they deliver their cash receipts to nearby mobile-phone stores.
The startup currently partners with over 200 of London's leading street food vendors and restaurants including Patty & Bun, The Breakfast Club, Dirty Burger, Blu Top Ice Cream, Hummus Bros, Bubbledogs and The Cheese Truck.
Nancy Rodriguez captivates as the histrionic street vendor Polly, who has always got a bun in the oven and nothing to put on the dinner table.
The corner vendor knows that, too, and pulls out a bun when he sees my friend approaching his cart.
A vendor was cooking a dish that fused two local favorites: bun rieu, noodle soup with tomatoes and crab paste, and bun cha, noodles with grilled pork in a sweet-and-sour fish sauce.
I can almost hear a recession-slammed fan calling out to a stadium vendor: "Give me a wad of twenties with on a bun with mustard!" More fiber than a hot dog, and it's always good to "go green".
Just because a street vendor uses his hands to put dirty water dogs on a cold, packaged bun doesn't make it "handcrafted".
The hot dog vendor's cart was smashed beyond recognition, and dozens of hot dog buns scattered in the street.
Harry M. Stevens, a vendor at the old Polo Grounds in New York, is widely credited with marrying the dog, the bun and baseball when, in 1901, he started serving "dachshund sausages" on rolls.
