(JULIE WHITTET / iNFOnews.ca)
August 30, 2013 - 8:30 AM
KELOWNA - Slow cooked brisket, pulled pork sandwiches, mexican tacos and poutine are some of the homestyle street fare locals have been lining up for outside Prospera Place this summer. With the last days of summer approaching, the trucks serving up people's favorite comfort foods are getting ready to hit the road.
Owner of the Ol' Texas Barbeque food bus Terrance Duncan says his next stop could be Naples, Florida or even back to his hometown Dallas, Texas. On the last night of the food truck rally Duncan had plenty of customers at the converted school bus window for his all-american specialty:
“Texas brisket – which is barbequed beef we put in our smoker for 24hrs.”
He buys the meat one hundred pounds at a time from an Alberta supplier, which then goes into the smoker installed at the back of the bus turned kitchen on wheels.
“I flew up to Prince George and built this bus," he says, but admits the Kelowna market has a bigger appetite for brisket.
“I tell them I'm like a dealer – I give you a free sample but when you're hooked then I charge you,” he says. On a good day his mobile kitchen pulls in $1,000.
"I can feed 150 people out of this window in an hour."
Food wasn't always his passion.
“I'm a retired U.S. Coast Guard captain and there are no boats to drive up here so I bought myself a land yacht."
Duncan, or Captain T as he calls himself, was born and raised in Kelowna before moving to Texas for college in 1990. Years later, he's back in town to share his southern-style cuisine.
“We have sodas, ice cream, but mostly it's brisket – one trick pony.”
The rain stopped just in time Thursday evening for hungry visitors to enjoy the last of the street fare. Kris Laliberty came out from Glenrosa with her two kids for a snack.
“It's personal, they know your name, they know your story,” she says. Street food also offers a cultural experience.
“You get to see all the types of foods that are around too,” she says. “I think it just brings people together more.”
The same can be said for the vendors.
“We're like a food truck family,” Duncan says, admitting he's a regular at the taco stand.
“We all end up feeding each other.”
To contact the reporter for this story, email Julie Whittet at jwhittet@infotelnews.ca or call (250)718-0428.
News from © iNFOnews, 2013