Move over, foie gras. The culinary spotlight is shifting to food trucks, corner grills, and bustling township pop-ups – where chef whites meet street corners and every dish is plated like art.
As part of its Future Menus 2025 report, Unilever Food Solutions has declared what many in the food world have suspected: street food has gone couture. Think: smoky mielies with whipped feta, tacos folded with surgical precision, and yes… shisa nyama sosaties served with a fine-dining flourish.
Street Food Couture is one of four global megatrends outlined in this year’s report, based on insights from over 250 chefs across 75 countries, online behaviour analysis, and the growing demand for flavour that’s fast, affordable, and wildly creative. And while the roots may be humble, the impact is anything but.
“This trend isn’t about taking the soul out of street food,” says Chef Mary from Unilever Food Solutions. “It’s about respecting where the flavour lives – on the streets – and giving it the stage it deserves. We’re just dressing it up a bit.”
And dress it up, they have.
Around the world, and even right here at home in South Africa, chefs are reimagining roadside classics for the spotlight. From Cape Town’s bao buns filled with Cape Malay chicken curry, to Joburg pop-ups serving vetkoek sliders with truffle cheese, Street Food Couture is challenging what elegance on a plate really means.
It’s also highly visual, endlessly adaptable, and deeply personal, making it perfect for diners who value culture, creativity, and experience.
“Street food is rooted in emotion, in memory,” adds Yonela Motloung, Marketing Director for Unilever Food Solutions South Africa. “When chefs elevate it with modern techniques or ingredients, it becomes something new without losing its identity. That’s what makes it so powerful on today’s menus.”
Why Street Food Couture Works
According to Motloung, this trend has gained momentum because it’s:
- Low-cost, high-flavour: Ideal for both diners and operators.
- Storytelling on a plate: Every dish tells a cultural story (chefs just make it pop!)
- Social media magic: It’s beautiful, bold, and made to be shared.
While street food might have stepped onto the culinary runway, discovering its true essence means understanding what makes Street Food Couture distinctive – what it embraces and what doesn’t align with its core:
What Street Food Couture Is…
- Bold, unapologetic flavour
- Familiar favourites, elevated
- A fusion of authenticity and innovation
- Plated with flair (but without the fluff)
- Affordable luxury
- Rooted in culture, memory, and place
- Social media gold – colourful, craveable, clickable
- Made for chefs who want to impress and connect
What Street Food Couture Is Not…
- Just food on a stick
- Trendy for the sake of being trendy
- Stripped of its origins or cultural meaning
- Over-complicated fine dining
- Exclusively for high-end restaurants
- A one-size-fits-all approach
- Trying to “fix” street food…it’s celebrating it
“In South Africa, we’ve long understood that the most memorable flavours often come from the most humble settings. We’re taking what generations before us perfected on street corners and breathing creative life into these traditions,” Motloung elaborates. “Street Food Couture is amplifying it, honouring it, and sharing it with the world in ways that respect its origins while exciting the next generation of food lovers. When you experience Street Food Couture, you’re tasting our history and our future on the same plate,” she concludes.
FEATURED RECIPE: South African Lamb and Apricot Sosaties
Bring a beloved local street food dish into the spotlight with this elevated take on a braai classic.
Ingredients
For the marinade:
- 125 ml plain yoghurt
- 100 g apricot chutney
- 5 g Robertsons Turmeric
- 5 g Rajah Medium Curry Powder
- 15 ml Knorr Professional Concentrated Beef Flavour Stock
- 15 ml lemon juice
- 1 onion, grated
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
For the sosaties:
- 1 kg lamb leg, cubed
- 100 g dried apricots
- 1 red onion, cut into chunks
- Skewers (soaked if wooden)
Method
1. Prepare the marinade: In a large bowl, combine the yoghurt, chutney, turmeric, curry powder, beef stock, lemon juice, grated onion and garlic. Mix until smooth.
2. Marinate the lamb: Add the lamb cubes to the marinade and mix well to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.
3. Assemble the sosaties: Thread the marinated lamb cubes onto skewers, alternating with dried apricots and red onion chunks.
4. Grill: Braai over medium-hot coals or grill under a hot oven grill until nicely charred and cooked through, turning regularly (around 10–12 minutes total).
5. Serve: Plate with warm flatbreads, herbed yoghurt, or a fresh tomato salsa for a Street Food Couture finish.
Pro tip: For added luxury, brush with melted apricot glaze before serving and garnish with microgreens or edible petals.
The full Future Menus 2025 report can be downloaded for free at https://www.