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A new street food concept, championed by Wirral chef Simon Rimmer, will be overtaking boring burgers and chips at this year’s Crabbie’s Grand National.

Aintree racegoers will be able to enjoy gourmet-on-the-go from a dozen cool trailers and vans after course catering bosses decided to back eclectic dishes from some of the country’s top street chefs.

They approached food journalist and founder of the British Street Food Awards Richard Johnson to team up with celebrity chef Simon and come up with a fresh slant to the three-day festival’s food.

Now punters will be able to sample imaginative round-the-world dishes including Belgian waffles, Indian burgers on fresh flatbreads, sushi wraps, vintage ice cream sundaes and traditional English favourites from a Hip Hop Chip Shop.

“We’ve had Richard and the awards on Sunday Brunch for the last two years, so when Aintree decided they wanted to do something with street food they asked me if I’d act as an ambassador,” explains Simon.

“Originally we were going to run it as a competition, but we were overwhelmed by the quality of every person who came in so we thought rather than just have a few stalls, we’d create something which gave people a lot more alternatives.

“What we’ve got is something fantastic which works really well and it’s great that we can raise the profile of all these little businesses.

“Probably a lot of people going to Aintree will be experiencing street food for the first time. In Liverpool I think maybe there hasn’t been a natural location for a street food market on a weekly basis in the city centre but when you do have it you can’t help but feel inspired by it, and it creates a real buzz.”

Simon says the arrival of the top-end fast food dishes is a win-win for customers and businesses.

“If you want to set up an actual restaurant you’re looking at a conservative estimate of a quarter of a million pounds to get it off the ground,” he explains. “The street food idea gives people an opportunity to get a foothold into the food and drink industry and work at the commercial sharp end of the market.

“They’ll get immediate feedback and they’ll see if what they’re doing could be a viable business.

“In many respects it’s actually more exciting that it’s not in a restaurant environment. Some of the guys who are there don’t want to be tied to a restaurant; they like the whole thing of thinking, I’ll do Aintree this weekend, then I’ll do a food festival, and then a music festival. They’re continually on the move and raising standards all the time.”

The rise and rise of street food has come off the back of the growth in farmers’ markets, he adds.

“They became very white middle class, I think, but what street food does is say ‘this is great food, relatively inexpensive, it’s exciting and it’s ever-changing.’ The reason for that is because you can’t just do a burger and hope it sells, you’ve got to be inventive and creative because what is going to make people stop at your stall as opposed to somebody else’s?”

Simon is such an advocate of the concept he says he’d almost certainly have started out that way if it had been around then.

So what would his van man speciality have been?

“Because I invented pulled pork - it originated in my house in 2007 - I would do that because it’s something I became well known for so hopefully people would come to find it,” he says. “I’d be the Godfather of Pulled Pork!”

As for his involvement at Aintree, Simon admits it will be more professional than punter.

“I’ll be doing a Saturday Brunch live from the course on the morning of the National, and then I’m there with the street food vendors, and after that I’m down to London for the Sunday show,” he explains.

“I might have a little flutter in between, but I’m a rubbish better, absolutely rubbish,” he laughs. “I think I’d be better sticking to the cooking.”