Find crusty kavurma rolls and meaty snack packs at Latif’s Street Foods in Melbourne’s northern suburbs.
A Vinnies car park is the site for a Turkish food truck turning out some of the best rolls and snack packs in town. But it’s not just the food: it’s the fact that owner Latif Sahin is there cooking, caring and checking in, putting his whole heart and heritage into the project.
My friends and I are sitting in the blue gleam of the Vinnies sign, at a flimsy metal table on chilly chairs. We’re holding paper-wrapped rolls and getting messy picking chips from cardboard containers. But there’s no overlooking the hospitality as Sahin leans from the van window.
“Do you want tea?” he asks, as trucks plough by. We do. Minutes later, a sturdy brew is handed over in tulip-shaped glasses, a key gesture of Turkish hospitality everywhere from Istanbul to Gaziantep and, apparently, Campbellfield.
Latif’s specialty is braised lamb liver, served in a crusty roll. The way Sahin cooks it can turn offal naysayers into liver lovers, too. In fact, his special dish prompted the whole truck caper. Sahin’s nephew wouldn’t stop telling his uncle that his braised liver was too good to be restricted to family gatherings.
Eventually, Sahin was convinced to pause a career as a builder and launch himself as a food entrepreneur. He hand-chops liver with a special blade then cooks it for hours with lamb tail fat, onions, peppers and spices. It’s soft, almost creamy, meaty but not minerally, piled juicily into a long roll with red onion, tomato and chilli flakes. I could feel my cells soaking up the goodness with every bite.
This is kavurma, a style of Turkish cooking that relies on the simple sauteeing of chopped meats. There’s a beef mix made with topside, cubed and slow-cooked with Sahin’s own bone broth. Chicken is spiced and grilled: it’s the food truck version of the chicken the family makes when they’re camping.
Sucuk (spiced beef sausage) is layered with house chilli sauce and grilled halloumi. Lamb koftes are deftly seasoned and satisfying.
The genius with all Latif’s rolls is the way the fillings soak into the bread but leave the crust shatter-crisp.
You can also have kavurma meats over buttered rice: the liver and beef are best because they’re wetter and it’s hard to overstate the pleasure of salty meat juices soaking into golden rice.
Chip snack packs come with either beef or chicken, striped with sauces. Sahin makes a great garlic yoghurt sauce, letting it sit for 24 hours so allium sharpness softens to sweetness. His tomato-forward chilli sauce is great too. Barbecue sauce isn’t on the menu, and you’ll make Sahin a bit sad if you ask for it, but he still keeps some in the back of the fridge if you can’t come at a snack pack without it.
When Sahin started thinking he might go pro with his cooking, he shopped around for a food truck. Nothing was quite right. They’re set up for kebabs not kavurma. What does a builder do when he can’t find what he wants? Naturally, he gets on the tools himself. Sahin’s truck is taller, longer and better ventilated than many. There’s a spot for teacups and he can brew Turkish coffee.
There’s also a place for a daily soup, maybe chicken or pacha (hoof originally, but shank these days) or a gentle yellow lentil number. The truck first launched down the road a year ago, then Sahin was booted from the site, and the lights have been on at this location for just a few weeks. A warm welcome and good, honest cooking can come at you anywhere: fancy restaurants, cosy cafes and – as Sahin proves – op-shop car parks.
Three other food trucks to try
Dhamaka
This Indian street food park is great for snacking, browsing and casual hangs. Dhamaka covers the Indo-Chinese part of the picture, serving all-veg spicy, cheesy comfort food. Try grilled sandwiches, Amritsar-style chole kulcha (chickpea curry) and frankies (curried potato wraps). If you’re feeling brave, go for the extra-hot triple Schezwan fried rice.
1924 Princes Highway, Clayton, instagram.com/dhamaka_5686
Sellami French Tacos
Keep an eye out for this Algerian food truck. The specialty is French tacos, a loaded wrap that probably sprang from north African communities in Lyon, France. Are they tacos? Not exactly. Are they over-filled wraps with everything from crumbed chicken to falafel to garlic mayo and Doritos? Yep.
Various locations, instagram.com/sellami_frenchtacos
Sushi Brazilia
Brazil has a huge Japanese diaspora and its own styles of sushi, which are represented at this food truck, now permanently stationed in Chelsea but also available for catering. Deep-fried sushi rolls are a specialty: try panko-crumbed salmon or kingfish with cream cheese and the jho rolls where sliced fish is used as a wrapper.
495 Nepean Highway, Chelsea, instagram.com/sushibrazilia
Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.
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