Will Banh MI Be The New Take Out

 Vietnamese food is fasting becoming an integral part of American cuisine. Now it may become part of American fast food thanks to the creativity of Vietnamese American entrepreneurs. Will it replace burger and fries? Possibly. 

Regular contributor, chef and cookbook author Priya Krishna wrote about this phenomena in today's New York Times Food section. It's starting in Texas where there is has always been a huge Vietnamese population.Paul Pham is leading the way with this, starting a chain called Hughie's.It's much more than a McDonald's or Burger King with offerings of wine to accompany the food. One of his in an old Dairy Queen and he does make that chain's famed chicken tenders., complete with their buttermilk brine and thick crust. The menu features such Vietnamese classics as pho soup along with shaken beef - a quick savory and sweet wok fried meat dish and banh mi - the famed sandwich using baguettes, meat and pickled veggies. In recent years several Vietnamese eateries have opened with that same intent - take out. They all have drive throughs which helped a lot during the pandemic. They hope to expand beyond their community and reach other Americans who love the cuisine.

Fast food and the drive through is a great way to introduce a particular cuisine to Americans. The drive through emerged in the mid Twentieth Century  and flourished in the Seventies. It started with burgers and fries thanks to Mc Donald's and Burger King. Mexican fast food chains like Taco Bell and Taco Cabana have also widely accepted it. The pandemic only emphasized the need for it, with no contact for food pick up. Vietnamese dishes such as banh mi and spring rolls are portable and easy to package. However for Kenny To, co owner with Hien Nguyen , owners of To me Vietnamese Sub, the food is much more labor intensive than just the average taco or burger. He bakes the subs himself and creates the marinades for the meat. These can be limited too. A condiment like Golden Mountain Seasoning Sauce can be hard to find in non Asian American communities. At least one Vietnamese fast food has already figured out how to deal with a national audience. One of the oldest,Lee's Sandwiches started in 1983 by Ban Le and Hanh Nguyen expanded into Vietnamese neighborhoods across California and eight more states.

Vietnamese fast food will be as ubiquitou as other fast food cuisines. The food is tasty and filling, a level above the usual drive through fare. It will be a refreshing change from the usual.

The Twisted Side Of Cooking

Cooking has a fun and creative side. It's whipping up  new dishes or taking everyday ingredients and twisting them into something delicious  and different. There's a new cookbook out there that puts cooking on its' ear and excitement in the tummy. It's a roller coaster of  a culinary adventure.

Twisted The Cookbook (Ryland, Peters and Small  2016) is a neat little cookbook is based on the You Tube cooking show. Both are the creation of Tom Jackson, Harry Bamber, Jamie Bolding and Paul Bieboer.Tom is the one who is the cook and creative force behind these recipes. The book is the perfect gift for the hipsters and young chefs. They will love the oddball recipes.They're easy to create and don't require too many ingredients. The cookbook is divided into four sections , breakfast, party, next level and sweets. The food could be considered a bit hipster, thanks to wild spins on fajitas and ban h mi but some are improvements on traditional dishes The techniques are also tried snd true. There's no need to go out and buy fancy gadgets.You just need the usual kitchen gear. .Another neat aspect is that it combines and marries diffrent cuisines like Indian and Italian or twisting ordinary foods into something extraordinary. These are recipes such as baked mac that have been zinged up with sausage , ice cream made with avocado (!) or peanut butter cups with the surprise layer of grape jelly inside.

I love the recipes in this book.The breakfast section has Eggs Benedetto, eggs Benedict spiced up with chorizo instead of Canadian bacon.The sauce is not Hollandaise but plain Greek yogurt zested with chipotle chili and lime. There is a play on the traditional breakfast sandich , made double and twisted with the addition of baby plum tomatoes. The Twisted crew also has breakfast nachos and a breakfast banh mi. The party dishes are the bomb! There are buffalo chicken party buns. These are peppery hot chicken pieces layered with cheddar cheese and bacon on brioche buns. The pizza donuts are savory little fried dough balls bursting with  tomato sauce and mozzarella. Make the fajita cake for a fun dinner centerpiece. The "cake" is a layering of tortillas , cheese. chicken, salsa and cheese.It's then "frosted" with sour cream and decorated with cilantro leaves. This is from the Next level section along with whole Tikka cauliflower, a neat recipe guaranteed to make kids eat this veggie. The sweets are cool. There is a Snickers salami that actully looks like the real thing. It's a mix of the popular candy bar mixed with graham crackers, dried cranberries and choolate. Another yummy treat is the s'mores cheesecakes. a perfect end to any dinner.

Twisted is a great book for young hipsters and beginner chefs. It takes the ordinary and spins them around to create a new delicious dish. It's so much fun like a wild ride through the kitchen,