Street Meat: Friend or Foe?

If you've ever been to New York, you know what "Street Meat" is - whether you realize it, or not. Street Meat is the concession sold out of vendor carts on virtually every corner in New York City. The term "Street Meat" is a vague term on purpose, as I'm not sure if anyone - including the people cooking it - knows what kind of meat it actually is. Most often, I'd guess its chicken - but then again, doesn't everything taste like chicken? In any case, these vendors are impossible to miss - and just in case you do - they're impossible not to smell.

The phenomenon with Street Meat, as far as I'm concerned, is the smell. All Street Meat, no matter where or what it is, has an intoxicating scent that tickles the senses of any red-blooded carnivore. It smells addictive in the way that baking brownies do...mouth-watering, crazy addiction...like you never want to stop tasting it.

And herein lies my problem: I think Street Meat is visually repugnant. Repulsive, in fact. A lot of it comes on a sick (meat on a stick seems so wrong to me on so many levels), and its cooked right there - on the street - so often times, there's raw meat next to the cooked, in the sun, etc. I don't know. I can't really look at it without a gag. But then -- it smells so damn good. What's a girl to do?

I tried to take advice on the matter, and ask around. Turns out my sources are dodgy, at best. Gertie loves Street Meat, but she also licks her butt. Chris swears by it, but this is a guy who thinks Pop Tarts are a culinary masterpiece. I have a sneaking suspicion that Robin came to visit purely for the sweet nectar of Street Meat, but I've seen her eat the green stuff that comes out of a lobster. These are not credible taste buds.

To make matters worse, I am confronted by this conundrum on a daily basis, as there is a Street Meat cart right next to my fruit guy. This vendor cooks up the usual Street Meat go-tos: Falafel, Kabobs, Gyros, etc. The smell eminating from his cart is enough to make me abondon fruit forever. Not to mention the fact that every day at lunch, he's got a line around the block that rivals the line at Chipotle. And if you're reading this from California, and you just gagged at the idea of a line at Chiptole - let me tell you that that's another phenominon about New York: New Yorkers think Chipotle is the shit. And, well, its not as if I've got my nose in the air whilst saying that - its a guilty pleasure of mine, too. I hang my head.

But anyway, to have a line like that, means that the Financial District thinks this guy - and his Street Meat - is the shit, too.

And although I pride myself on being a pretty adventurous eater (I was once duped into sampling sea urchin and cow tounge - all in one sitting), I can't shake my trip to the Statue of Libery when I was 13, when I bit into my hotdog - and then into what seemed like a HUMAN BONE (I've had, like, 3 hotdogs since). Also, in my older age, I'm not keen on taking the 50/50 chance on food poisoning that Street Meat seems to offer. Though, on the other hand, that might be the kick-off that I'm looking for to the old 'summer diet'.

Eh. Still not worth it.

So, dear Readers - if you have a Street Meat success story, and wish to be on the 'pro' side of my list of pros and cons, do share. And if you have a con, you'd better tell me - because its only a matter of time before my will fails and I Street Meat the Hell out of my lunch someday - and then immediately regret my decision.