www.PassionforPork.com

Pig on the Street Food Truck

Follow Me Foodie to Pig on the Street!

So it is not exactly a “Bacon Food Truck”, but I know how to get your attention! This truck will turn noses as soon as you walk by and I’m not kidding when I say the aroma of bacon fills the air around it. It will lure you in. Fried onions what?! Actually I love the smell of those too, but the smell of bacon is intoxicating.

I mentioned bacon in my 10 Food Trends I Want to See Die in 2013, but I have the utmost respect for the good quality stuff being sourced and made properly. If used effectively with proper application it is undeniably delicious. And that is exactly what happens at Pig on the Street.

So you think you like bacon?! Well I bet these owners like it more than you. They have turned their love for bacon into a business which operates out of their humble hippy campervan. The owners and operators are husband and wife team Mark and Krissy who are originally from The UK, and they used to camp around BC before calling it their home. I had the pleasure of meeting them and was hosted for lunch during Street Food City 2, which is a food truck festival and special event featured during Dine Out Vancouver.

When I first heard about Pig On the Street I had my biases. “It’s a bacon sandwich. I can do that at home”, but au contraire, this was not just any “bacon sandwich”. This was heaven in a hand crafted flatbread. It was pig in a blanket 4.0.

The inspiration for Pig On the Street came from a desperate need for a bacon sandwich while recovering from a hangover. Their families are made up of fantastic cooks and they grew up on the countryside where fresh local produce was always available. This is what drives their menu and everything is made from scratch, upon order and locally sourced. Even the flatbread is their own recipe and made with flour milled by a flour peddler on the back of his exercise bike… welcome to Austin, Portland, Vancouver!

I’ve never been camping, but I have no idea how they cook out of this cramped up tiny van! It’s so small! And kudos to them for making it work. They have a simple concept and a limited menu of sandwiches which helps them stay consistent while keeping up with demand.

Pig On the Street can be found at the Vancouver Art Gallery (750 Hornby St, Vancouver, BC) Tuesday to Friday and at Vancouver Farmers Markets on Saturdays. Don’t miss Krissy’s Saturday breakfast special with eggs, bacon and avocado which Mark says is perfect for hangovers.

**Recommendations: The Porker and the “Saturday Special Breakfast wrap” featuring eggs, bacon and avocados. The Southern Piggy wrap, No Piggy wrap, and Hair of the Hog for dessert is also well liked.

On the table:

The Porker

• Double smoked bacon, sage and apple sausage stuffing, home made chutney, goat Gouda, house made caramelized onion mayo, and greens all wrapped up in their handmade flatbread. $10 + taxes
• Everything was right about this and it exceeded expectations.
• The flatbread is so unassuming! I saw Krissy make it over a griddle, but I didn’t think it would be as good as it was.
• Again, it is her own recipe and made with flour milled by a flour peddler on the back of his exercise bike.
• She griddles the flatbread in bacon fat and the wrap is served warm.
• Th wrap was almost like an Indian roti without the spices and it was very soft and tender and not chewy.
• It was almost like pie dough, but not flakey and that bacon fat was subtle, but made all the difference in texture and gave it a richer flavour.

• It was a very full wrap with two kinds of pork and it wasn’t greasy truck stop diner food, but made with fresh and real ingredients.
• It was not stingy with the meat or overloaded with it and I could taste every ingredient which is ideal.
• I could tell the bacon was high quality just by looking at it.
• The bacon is from local BC farm Gelderman Farms and their pork products are all natural, hormone free and humanely raised.
• It was thick cut and chewy (in a good way), yet still crisp and moist with a good ratio of fat and meat.

• I love sweet and savoury and even better with some tang, and this had all three so it was perfect for me. Heck, it was even smoky from the bacon!
• It was at least three thick slices of salty smoky bacon, sweet apple chutney and goat gouda which was not gamey and tasted like salty cow’s feta.
• The savoury and sweet apple fennel sausage stuffing was shaped like a patty and it was pan fried. It was moist with excellent savoury flavour.
• It wasn’t a traditional meaty sausage, or really even a stuffing, and the meat was puréed until smooth.
• It was very soft and tender and it allowed the crispy bacon to shine.
• There were tender slices of tangy apple and although I wouldn’t have minded a bit more acidity, I’m not complaining.
• Besides the sweet and tangy apple chutney was a caramelised sweet onion mayo with a hint of truffle oil.
• I have my issues with truffle oil, but it didn’t bother me here and it was used sparingly.
• I could taste the sweetness from perhaps maple, but I’m not sure where it was coming from.
• The peppery arugula was a great compliment and it made me think I was eating something healthy.
• With everything wrapped up in a soft and tender bacon fat griddled flatbread, I would not turn this down for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
• This was something I probably should not eat every day, but I wanted to eat every day.
• Since the ingredients were good quality it makes you feel good and it was indulgent without being greasy.
• It is pricier for $10, but it was freaking delicious and satisfying that I would probably pay extra for some added avocado wedges.
• It’s a very dangerously addicting and excellent sandwich!
• Weeks later I am still salivating just thinking about it.
• This is one of my favourite food truck items in Vancouver.

The Breakfast Porker (Saturday Special)

• Double smoked bacon, sage and apple sausage stuffing, home made chutney, goat Gouda, house made caramelized onion mayo, avocado, fried eggs, greens, and Krissy’s house made hot sauce all wrapped up in their handmade flatbread. $10 + taxes
• What the heck?! And it gets even better?!? This sells out fast so get here quick!
• This puts many breakfast wraps to shame and the handcrafted flatbread really helps. It’s so much better than an average tortilla.
• It was pretty much the exact same as The Porker (above), but with added fried eggs and avocado… yeah, I know! Sign me up.
• It was savoury crisp and chewy local Gelderman Farms bacon, sweet and savoury apple pork sausage, salty goat Gouda, and spicy hot sauce.
• The greens were honestly decoration, but appreciated. It made me feel better about inhaling this.
• The fried eggs were cooked so that the yolk would not be runny, but it still wasn’t hard and dry.
• The yolk was creamy and custardy and perfect in a wrap context.
• As soon as I hit the yolk part, I almost cried and it just added extra richness with the creamy buttery avocado.
• The avocado was half smashed and not a smooth guacamole, and I actually liked that better because I like biting into pieces of avocado.
• The hot sauce was home made by Krissy and it was fantastic.
• It was sweet and tangy and then the heat was gradual and it was maybe a medium spicy for me.
• It tasted like it was made with maybe scotch bonnet peppers, chipotle and tomato (?).
• It was a very flavourful hot sauce that had body and thickness.
• I love eggs on pretty much everything, and this had more effort than something most would make at home.
• I couldn’t even make it this good without the wrap though.
• It was an excellent, made from scratch, good quality tasting wrap that was the same price as The Porker, but with more. It was huge and worth it.
• If you come early enough they offer a limited amount of Breakfast Porkers made with Scotch eggs (hard boiled eggs wrapped in sausage, coated in bread crumbs and fried).
• It’s nothing really that fancy here, but they just know how to make good and REAL food.

Chocolate, Bacon & Stout Cupcake

• With Baileys icing and bacon brittle topping $2
• They have a Bacon, Bourbon & Caramel Brownie Bite which I thought was this, but this was another dessert they feature on occasion.
• It was a super tender light and fluffy chocolate cupcake that was not too sweet, but the icing made it much sweeter.
• The bacon bits were folded into the cake batter for a salty contrast, but I could have used more bacon sprinkles/brittle if it was going that route.
• It was a very moist cupcake, and for a non-cupcake place it was a good recipe.
• It had a chocolatey flavour and the icing made it more rich.
• The icing was quite boozy and a bit grainy for my liking, but after meeting Mark it makes sense…
• Knowing the whole “hangover background story” explained why these cupcakes were so Bailey’s forward. It was an adult friendly cupcake.

Raspberry Mint Lemonade – It is about a 4 ounce cup of their house made lemonade which was quite tart and sweet at the same time. It has a zing and it was a wake up call!

These are not made by them, but by another local artisan.