The Food Truck Revolution

At festivals, fairs and farmers’ markets, beauty spots and beaches you’ll find a fleet of horseboxes, caravans and old Land Rovers converted into hip mobile kitchens and offering a gallop around the globe from Italy to India, Mexico to the Middle East.

In Edinburgh, Sicilian street food from cannolo to caponata di melanzane is dished up by Mizzica Sicilian Deli. Shrimpwreck’s van hands out shrimp sarnies, their signature King prawns in a light batter with bacon jam, pickles, red onion and Marie rose sauce at locations such as West Sands beach in St Andrews (their permanent pitch is the seafood shack on Portobello prom). Or head to Leith Market (19 July and 16 August) and the Fringe by the Sea (1-10 August) for a plate of sauteed truffle gnocchi, mushroom ragout, parsley cream, crispy onions and rocket courtesy of award-winning vegan van Planet G.

Up in Inverness the Highland Food and Drink Trail is a dedicated street food zone on the banks of the River Ness in front of the cathedral with a revolving line-up bringing a new style of food experience to the city. Tuck into tasty Spanish tapas (@nadasbravas) oak-smoked brisket, pork infused with hickory in tacos, toasties and buns (@smokyness_catering) wrapping up with a portion of sticky-fingered, honey-sweet baclava (@thefalafelshop24).

Keep your eyes peeled too for The Angry Seagull the winner of Scotland’s best mobile fish and chips in 2024. Their traditional haddock and chips with a slice of lemon and homemade tartare sauce is the go-to, of course, but weekly changing specials include a ‘Posh Kebab’: spiced lamb kofta, gull mint and garlic yogurt, flatbread and spicy tomato sauce along with the ‘Venimoo Burger’ an Ardgay Game venison pattie, Ardgay beef pattie, smoked cheese, homemade bacon jam and Dijonnaise sauce in a brioche bun.

Or how about a handmade, wood-fired pizza - out of the back of an old Land Rover Defender? “We’re all about using the best ingredients we can get our hands on — and keeping things as local as possible,” Auld Smokey’s Lewis Lilburn explains. The bestsellers are ‘Something Scottish’, that’s venison salami, Stornoway black pudding, pickled onion, rocket, grated parmesan and a touch of whisky honey and ‘Feelin’ Peachy’ with grilled peaches, prosciutto, rocket and a balsamic glaze. “People go mad for them.” They work closely with local suppliers such as Great Glen Charcuterie to “help us keep our flavours rooted in the Highlands.” They’ve a full summer ahead, down by the river in Inverness and at Aboyne Highland Games so keep an eye on their socials to find out where they’ll be next (@auldsmokeypizza).

And then there’s the legendary Dores Inn (@thedoresinn.scot) perched above the pebbled beach on Loch Ness and now part of the Wildland stable. It might be closed for renovations but they’ve put a couple of sleek burgundy shepherds hut-style Wild Food Trucks in the grounds, a giant stretch tent for shade and sturdy wooden potted herb-peppered tables. On the menu, celebrating Scotland’s culinary landscape and artisan producers, there’s Wildland flatbreads filled with venison salami, pickles and smoked Dunlop cheese, and crispy cod, tartare sauce and crushed pea salad. You can quench your thirst at the separate drinks and dessert truck with fresh garden juices, organic ice cream and strawberry sorbet, then wander down to the beach. Because with food-to-go this good you want to hang around.

Lucy Gillmore is a freelance journalist who left a newspaper travel desk for the Highlands’ hills. Dipping into Scotland’s ever-evolving food and drink scene she will be bringing us the latest news stories, dates for the diary and shining a light on local food heroes in a regular column. You can follow her on @lucygillmore