It’s easy to overlook the rich global history of street food. For centuries, street food has long played an exciting role in cuisines around the world.

Turkey has its doner kebabs; there’s no denying the appeal of a good taco in Mexico; and who wouldn’t indulge in a hot dog and pretzel from a New York street vendor; when in Paris, France, there’s nothing like a filled crepe from a crepe stand; falafel, hummus and shawarma are the order of the day and Middle Eastern staples. Closer to home in the Caribbean region Jamaican jerk and patties rule; bake and shark is the famous seafood sandwich in Trinidad and doubles is the cheap fast food popular for breakfast; and on the home front conch salad, conch fritters and fried fish rule, especially at festivals.

Street food has a long of history in The Bahamas, especially at regattas and festivals to which Bahamians flocked to enjoy hot fried fish and fritters straight out of the cast iron skilled cooked over coals on a car tire rim. Stuffed to the gill, they could not resist purchasing a cup of conch salad that came out of the mayonnaise jar, but that had been pickled and seasoned to a point where maybe it wasn’t the best conch salad, but which could be purchased for $1 a cup or $5 a bowl. And of course the day could not end without purchasing a penny chunk of benny cake or peanut cake for a sweet treat ending to the day.

With street food served up this way, there were always stories that came with them that looking back a local chef says he can appreciate and would like to see return, but with 21st century concepts.

Chef Simeon Hall is on a mission to bring back the appreciation of street food culture and what Bahamians used to do, but with an infusion of ingredients and flavors from around the world, with a street truck that will showcase takes on classics, which he hopes would parlay into a street festival at which only street vans and trucks can set up. Hall’s street festival idea would be a no-tent zone and appeal to locals and visitors, as the popularity of trendy food trucks in American cities is currently all the rage.

Hall who describes himself as a locavore cook who sources local ingredients and applies global techniques to them, says he is looking to have people experience the food cultures of others intertwined with their own. It’s a food he calls global, but considers street food and cuisine that everyone should enjoy. In his case, conch fritters would become salt fish fritters; he would infuse ribs with the sweet and salty Asian flavors; and a classic funnel cake would be infused with Andros honey.

“I will always be influenced by the ingredients and seasons around me, so yes I may make a funnel cake, but I guarantee you it will have some Bahamian nuances to it, because I don’t have a problem with global cuisine,” says Hall. “There is always fusions … using local ingredients, but my style is using local ingredients in the season with global techniques. I believe if we can get fun foods on the street corners and different varieties of foods, that we would be able to have a rebirth of the culture. I’m not saying we should stick to hardcore and that it has to be peas and rice and cracked conch on every street corner, I’m saying the culture behind it — the fun, the atmosphere that it creates, I want it to be global cuisine because I will always be influenced by the ingredients and seasons around me. So yes, I may make a funnel cake, but I guarantee it will have some Bahamian nuances to it.”

To the chef, street food is unedited which he said makes it the most alluring part of street food globally. And that today many people don’t understand and appreciate the flavor profile that was the local street food of the past.

“Conch salad would have been pickled because it was cured and seasoned and the lime and peppers and the salt did what it did to the conch and made it a pickled salad and not the fresh salad that it is now. But that was a part of eating it. That was a part of the experience. That was what we knew,” he said.

Hall says the most important part in telling the story of culture is food.

He shared his recipes for his Orange and Andros Honey Funnel Cake, Sticky Korean-style Ribs, and Salt Fish Fritters that would make an appearance in his street food truck. They appeal as street food as they’re simple recipes, easy to make, create a different flavor profile that people may not get on a daily basis, and he says broadens people’s spectrum.

“Street food is a global thing. If we need to adapt recipes, change them up a little, make them more present-day I have no problem with that. My main objective is to get the food culture that is so rich in The Bahamas onto the plates of everybody, locals and visitors alike,” he said.

Orange and Andros Honey Funnel Cake

Makes: 6 to 8 servings depending on the size

Juice from 2 large oranges

Zest from 1 large orange

1 cup of whole milk,

1 whole egg

2 cups All-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon of kosher or fine Inagua salt

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoons Andros honey

Vegetable oil for frying.

In a large bowl mix all the wet ingredients well, except the honey. Sift the dry together and add to the wet. Combine the two and mix until the consistency of pancake mix. Add to a squeeze bottle and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat the oil to about 325 degrees and fry in a spiral pattern. Cook until golden brown. Drain on paper towel and drizzle with honey immediately after frying and serve.

Sticky Korean-style Ribs

Serves: 6 appetizer portions

3 pounds Flanken-style cut beef short ribs, (flanken cut are beef ribs cut across the bone lengthwise)

4 peeled fresh garlic

1 tablespoon unpeeled ginger

½ cup teriyaki sauce

1 cup light sodium soy sauce

1 bunch chopped green onion

¾ cup brown sugar, dark (add or subtract to your taste)

Using a meat tenderizer, tenderize each piece on both sides be careful not to tear the meat.

Combine all the ingredients in a blender and marinate beef for at least 12 hours. Cook on your favorite grill following the manufactures directions.

On the stovetop: Heat a cast iron skillet until smoking hot, (do not add any oil) and sear until the desired temperature. Cook until medium rear which when ready to serve will be a perfect medium rare. Slice and top with crushed peanuts and sliced green onions

Salt Fish Fritters

Serves: 6 to 8 depending on the size

1 pound salt fish, (available in most local markets)

2 cups all purpose flour

¼ cup small-diced onion

¼ cup bell pepper, small diced

1 teaspoon picked fresh thyme leaves

½ goat pepper minced

1 garlic clove, minced

1 cup cold distilled water

Vegetable oil for frying

Unlike Bahamian style fritters, these West Indian inspired fritters are unleavened.

To prepare the salt fish wash thoroughly first then cover with cold water and refrigerate overnight. When ready to prepare poach the salt fish in water changing out the water just once. Salt fish should taste like salt fish and not be bland. Do not remove all the salt.

Add all the ingredients in a large bowl and combine without over mixing. (That will make them chewy.)

In a large cast iron pan add the oil just enough to cover the bottom. (Do not deep-fry like traditional Bahamian fritters). Press and fry until golden on each side. Serve immediately.