The street food revolution - Telegraph Everywhere you look people are selling food out of vans, off market stalls or from their own kitchens. Of course, street food isn't new. In the 12th century William Fitzstephen, one of Thomas Becket's clerks, described a 'cookshop" (stalls offering hot food) in London selling 'meat, roast, fried and boiled, great and small fish, coarser meats for the poor, more delicate for the rich, of game, fowls and small birds." But the food writer Richard Johnson, 49, remembers that only three years ago there was a dearth of edible fast food on British streets. It struck me after I had been out with Marco Pierre White in New York one evening," he said. The next morning we were hungover and ended up having the best burgers and hot dogs - in a park. I remember thinking, why can't we do this at home? Three schoolfriends - Michael Quinn, 32, Adam Bernstein, 33, and Dominic Rose, 32, - run What the Dickens. Johnson wanted to promote good street vendors, so in 2010 he set up the Street Food Awards. The first year there were 300 entries competing for the prize of a food mixer. 'But a lot of those weren't good enough - they were man with a van and a frozen burger," he says. 'We were ahead of the curve - the revolution hadn't actually begun. This year they have had 3,000 entries. The winner of the 'best of the best" category, to be announced tomorrow, will receive a business consultation with Marks & Spencer and the restaurant chain Wahaca. Catherine Kilgour, 30, is the joint owner of Wild Rover, one of the 16 shortlisted companies. Along with her boyfriend Rob Wright, 36, she cooks seasonal dishes, including game from local farms, which they supplement with foraged food. 'Foraging is definitely a trend in street food - and flies in the face of what you'd expect," Johnson said. The duo cook everything fresh in their ex-Army field kitchen towed by a 1961 Land Rover, restored by Wright. I grew up eating game," Kilgour said. 'We didn't have lots of money when I was young, and eating game was cheaper than going to the supermarket. Dishes include an organic pigeon and bacon wrap, wild foraged berry porridge, Scottish blue cheese soup and sloe truffle torte. Another trend, Johnson says, is the element of theatricality. The three schoolfriends Michael Quinn, 32, Adam Bernstein, 33, and Dominic Rose, 32, who run What the Dickens, are also on the shortlist. They dress up in Victorian outfits and ride a vintage tricycle as they sell dishes popular in the 19th century, including kedgeree and devilled kidneys, for £5 each. Quinn said that their outfits were 'important for attention-grabbing; we wanted to make ourselves stand out. They have a regular pitch at Chatsworth Road market in Hackney, where on a good day they will sell 60-70 portions (totalling £300-350 in sales), and sell at pop-ups and markets around London. 'There is lots of interesting new talent coming up through street food, because it's an affordable way to start your business," Johnson said. I think the new Jamies, Gordons, Marcos will be as likely to come from street food as from a traditional restaurant. In the midst of a recession, for not very much, you can get something delicious to eat and we are coming together as part of a community - street food has the capacity to make the world a nicer, more relaxed place. Tickets for the 2012 British Street Food Awards (15-16 September) are available from fifteenstreet.co.uk