Some say that when traveling, one of the best ways that you can get to know the place better is by enjoying the city’s street food. Some of my best memories of my travels have been eating the often affordable and always interesting street cuisine of whatever place I’m visiting. But there are people who might not be that comfortable with the hygiene of street vendors, especially in the advent of COVID-19. A designer has come up with a possible solution to help both the vendors and to make people more secure about consuming street food.
Designer: Stalin Jr
Street food is of course famous for its “cuisine” and culture but not so much for its hygiene. Having a small cart or place on the street doesn’t really give much space for cleaning and disinfecting as thoroughly as we would expect from an actual restaurant. The AAVI is a design concept that aims to make it easier for street food vendors to disinfect their plates and maybe even other utensils by utilizing the power of steam.
At first glance, it actually looks like a lamp or a decorative device. But the design and functionality of the AAVI is actually based on the steamers that are used in dumplings and rice cakes. In fact, the designer says since it’s based on that, it can also be used in preparing dishes that need to be steamed. So it’s both a disinfecting and a cooking device, at least on paper. I’m not really sure if people would be comfortable seeing a device that does both.
The AAVI has a rotating base that will spread the disinfecting steam to all the plates stored. There is a jar in the middle where the water is stored and where the steam will be coming from and will come out of the head which will disinfect the plates that are placed in the container. There is also a water outlet faucet to remove the water because of course stagnant water is not good for hygiene and for the food being served as well.
This seems to be a pretty interesting and useful device to have on a street food cart. I haven’t eaten at one lately but pre-covid, hygiene wasn’t really an issue. Now though, it would put me more at ease if I knew there was better disinfection happening.
