Anyone who has eaten on the streets in Penang, Singapore, Mexico City, Istanbul, Copenhagen or Naples knows about street food. Sometimes it is poor people selling to poor people - that's certainly how it began long ago. Street food then was the only alternative to home food. But it was also the early version of a restaurant - when restaurants didn't exist but people still needed to be fed. In the eastern and southern Mediterranean, for example, travelers stopped for the night in inns that didn't serve food - and their dinners came from cafes, tapas bars, fry shops and panini bars on the streets near-by.

Throughout the world food is served in the streets - prepared and cooked right in front of you and then consumed seated, standing or walking while you take in the sights, sounds and smells of the city.