trader | eggs

Ben the fearless omelette maverick

Ben Aitken is a man after my own heart. He wrote to me last May telling me of his mission to sell great 'oms' around Britain from his trusted steed Roger, a Nissan Campervan 'with a clutch like bronchitis'.

He spoke of his lament at British omelettes only ever having limited expression: cheese & tomato, cheese & ham, cheese & mushroom or just cheese. 'The omelette, thus shackled, is a wasted goddess', he wrote, before heading off on his journey.

As Ben travelled he called in on campsites and Tesco carparks, festivals and random village park-ups - cracking eggs and creating oms stuffed with asparagus, chorizo, strawberries, goats cheese (not all at the same time).

eat.st. loves his spirit. He wanted to see Britain and knew that those hot, soft swathes of cooked egg would help him. It's a tenacity that is crucial to successful mobile food trading.

Ben is in Manchester at the moment - more news of his eggsploits to be found on our News page as they come in.

09/04/2010 06:14 PM San Francisco Streed Food Festival I heard about the 2nd Annual San Francisco Street Food Festival some weeks ago. Amazing, I thought. Then it nudged up against me again – probably in the form of a Tweet or some other such fleeting message. Then came the news that it would be followed by an entire two day conference on the [...]

07/12/2010 06:17 PM Whitecross Street Market Street Fair It’s all happpening in EC1 – there’s a street party going down! Whitecross Street, home of one of the most thriving and progressive food markets in London, is once again getting ready to show us what it’s about on a weekend. If you are a trader then get in touch with them now! It’ll be [...]

06/02/2010 05:56 PM eat.st traders in Delicious Magazine this month. A few months ago I was visited by the deputy editor of food magazine Delicious. Over some high-energy truffles we fell into a deep and meaningful conversation about street food in Britain and where things are headed. Fast forward to now and a wonderful feature has been written on the subject – and using myself, [...]

05/17/2010 04:03 PM So many variables… The other day I was pulled up at the carwash on Brixton Road. As my van was taken over by a small army of ardent cleaners (brilliant if you’re after the full works – just outside Jamm at the Loughborough Road turning), my attention was suddenly caught by a jaunty little set-up in the back… [...]

05/12/2010 05:35 PM Richard Johnson drops in. Here’s a little vid that I shot with British street food champion Richard Johnson a while ago. Food journalist, Johnson, set up the Awards last year and has been visiting traders across the land to better get to know this world of flogging good food on the street. If you have a favourite trader who [...]