Danny Malin: 'I’ve been crowned Britain’s best digital creator - and I couldn't be prouder'
‘The recognition means the world’
Street food spread across the UK during the Industrial Revolution to provide something cheap and filling for workers.
With rising overheads for restaurateurs, street food has become big business, providing an income to some of the world’s best chefs as well as a platform for those starting out.
I’ve loved witnessing the evolution of the street food industry in the UK. Over the past five years, I’ve been honoured to showcase some of the best street food vendors on my YouTube channels, such as Danny Vs Food, and across my social media platforms.
I was chuffed to be crowned the best digital creator last weekend at The British Street Food Awards (BSFA).
What I admire most about street food is that you often get the boss not only running the business but working in it. More often than not, they will be the one serving and/or cooking the food on their truck at events. You get to see and taste the passion behind what they do.
It’s similar to how social media has switched up the media industry. We’re not a faceless restaurant chain or a large media outlet; more often than not, we make the food or create the content ourselves, meaning that it’s our heart and soul on the line.
These awards have been going for 17 years and have become the Oscars of the street food world. Such recognition means a lot, as you often only hear the complaints, but awards like this are reminders of why you do what you do.
While I love a good food festival or street food market - where organisers curate whopping line-ups of hawker stalls - street food isn’t confined to these events alone. You can also stumble upon amazing vendors at local fairs and fetes.
Recently, I went along to the free Yorkshire Rose Holidays fun day. Here, they had a few local lads selling their produce, including Chilli Charva, who makes artisan batch chilli sauces and Propig Kitchen - a hog roast catering company.
I’ve had a fair few pork sandwiches in my time and it’s amazing how much the taste and quality can vary. Mark Beevers, from Pennistone, who runs the truck asked me to try his sarnies. I got a plate full including a sandwich, crackling and roast potatoes. The crackling was crunchy which is how I like it.
The owner Mark Beevers who was serving it up was worried it was overdone but for me it was spot on. It came in a large white breadcake (or tea cake as we say in Barnsley) with stuffing. The pork was succulent and moist served with home made coleslaw with dill and garlic. I’d go as far as saying this is the best hog roast I’ve ever had.
Watch the video by subscribing to @mrandmrsyorkshire on Youtube and mrandmrsyorkshire.com