Meals on Wheels - Trailer Made

Once upon a time a little family was driving along a drab and dreary section of Lygon Street on their way to buy groceries. Suddenly, amid the gloom of traffic and medium-rise building construction and set against the backdrop of a new and used tyre warehouse, they caught a glimpse of the shiny new Trailer Made food truck. So we parked the car and decamped for a mid-afternoon lunch.

One of Melbourne's newest food trucks, Trailer Made doesn't stick to just one style of food or any particular region, instead serving up food inspired by the owners' travels throughout Europe, China and Korea, visiting street vendors and hawkers' markets.

Case in point: on the menu today were latkes (a kind of potato cake normally enjoyed during Hanukkah) served up with smoked salt and slaw; spiced chickpeas with Turkish yoghurt and cucumber salad; Israeli chicken skewers with corn sauce and cous cous; and a beef bun that had sold out by the time we got there.

We found a grubby little park not far away, complete with a teeny-tiny playground that made my little girl very happy indeed, and turned the afternoon into a last-minute picnic.

I invite you to admire Mr B's order of Israeli chicken, smothered in a homemade chilli sauce and definitely admired by Madeleine (who later helped herself to fistfuls of corn and giant couscous). The salad was amazing too.

My potato cakes were full of crispy goodness and I had to share more than I would have liked to with a hungry and adventurous little toddler. Thanks to Baby B2 growing happily in my belly I skipped the aioli, but I'm thinking the bed of slaw under the latkes may have been even better without it. Have you ever had salty slaw? Holy moly!

And also, this was THE BEST iced tea I've ever tasted. Even including all those iced teas I downed on my road-trip through the southern states of the USA. Rose water and pomegranate were in there, I don't know what else. I'm going to start experimenting at home because I can't wait for Trailer Made to roll back my way before I have more.

Trailer Made is all about being responsible and inclusive. “Amy and I have put our heads together to come up with ideas for what we think is important for a business today," Chef Casey Norman says on the Trailer Made website.

"Biodegradable packaging, locally-sourced menu and catering for vegans, vegos, meat eaters, coeliacs and the diversity of food lovers.”

And the sprinkles on top of our impromptu foodie afternoon? My old friend the Brûlée Cart was parked right next to Trailer Made! Behold, once again, the perfect toffee-crack (and behold, one greedy baby trying to steal ALL THE BRÛLÉE from her father).

I love living in the "food truck heartland" of the Inner North. Food trucks make me so happy. Here are some more I've been sampling, if you're interested.

ps. Sorry about the slightly dodgy iPhone photography. I hadn't thought to bring my camera with me on what was meant to be a quick shopping trip to Safeway.