#hay...

[image credit: Owl Pacino]

Far from being a new concept to the UK, street food has been a part of its culture for hundreds of years, as it has in South America. However, the scene has undergone somewhat of a re-brand in the last few years and everyone from artisan markets to major multiples has been getting more involved.

Throughout this reinvention, questions of credibility have been raised by its critics, such as:

Can you call it street food when it is not served and made on the street?

Why are the portion sizes so large and not in keeping with the idea of sampling many small products?

What are the British people doing thinking they can serve foods from distant locations in rainy places without any provenance?

In HAY… terms, we aim to make sure our offering:

Represents a sample of the products that can be bought from the street vendors in South America, albeit as a British interpretation

Brings a little bit of the street vibe to the UK, engaging with the local community, whether we are located indoors or on an actual street

Isn't hung up on strict rules around what can and cannot be considered authentic

We're proud to have made Yorkshire rhubarb and custard alfajores and we're perfectly happy to serve indoors, as the mood suits. Our products range from being little more than a mouthful to the complete meal that some of our customers want. A small few of our products don't necessarily originate from the streets, but we've eaten them wandering through the alleys and along pavements under southern skies. We're really honoured that some of our regular customers, who originate from Latin America, pop by when Valdes is out and about to get 'a taste of home' (particularly our alfajores!).

[our Peruvian, organic, dark chocolate alfajores with a salted dulce de leche filling]

For us, the scene is about community - whoever wants to get involved - and tasty food in an informal setting. It doesn't matter whether that happens to be near a street or not - on the rare occasions that the sun shines, it is an added bonus!

Over the coming weeks, we'll be sharing snippets of info on some of our core products, where our inspirations have come from and how we've used a little bit of British interpretation. In the meantime...