This Week on Good Food: The Legality of Street Food, Vegan Twinkies, History of the Date

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Luis sells freshly squeezed orange juice in L.A.’s MacArthur Park neighborhood. He says he’s been fined multiple times for street vending and always keeps an eye peeled for police and city inspectors. (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

When was the last time you ordered a taco or a pupusa from a sidewalk stand? Did you know that that cart is illegal? KCRW’s Saul Gonzalez reports on why Los Angeles is the only large metropolitan city in the US to ban sidewalk vending. Hostess Brands announced last week that the company is going out of business, but Twinkie fans don’t despair, blogger Jennifer McCann says you can make Twinkies at home (and they are vegan too!). Iraqi native Nawal Nasrallah guides us through the history of the date and Dave Ritchie educates us on the Parker House Roll. Portland Chef Greg Higgins shares his experience making sausage in Mongolia where per capita meat consumption is a whopping 200 pounds per year. Noted cookbook author and pastry chef Alice Medrich has some sweet ideas for homemade ice cream toppings. Plus, Jonathan Gold discovers the a Chinese restaurant menu that is as massive and impressive as the September issue of Vogue. At the market Laura Avery talks to Chef Evan Funke and farmer Laura Ramirez about persimmons.