Peruvian rice, steaming Greek falafels, satay dripping with peanut sauce, doughy Salvadoran pupusas, slippery Thai noodles. In much of the world, they are just on-the-go eats for the masses.

But in the U.S., a growing cadre of chefs and foodies are savoring these so-called street foods, elevating them beyond their humble origins, and weaving the tastes and ingredients into their own menus and homes.

"We've been reclaiming flavors," said Rick Bayless, winner of Bravo TV's "Top Chef Masters," fresh off the opening of his new Chicago restaurant XOCO, based on Mexican street staples such as churros, empanadas and tortas.

"After we went through the '50s, in America, when food got so processed and bland, there's been a backlash over the past 10 to 15 years," Bayless said. "A lot of the 20- to 35-year-olds are into this big, bold flavor. It's the antithesis of what you get in processed food, that balance of fat, sugar and salt. Street food has a tanginess to it. You get this thing that's so incredibly exciting to eat."

Ubiquitous across Latin America, Southeast Asia and the Mediterranean, street food is becoming increasingly common in the U.S., thanks partly to chefs like Bayless and Zakary Pelaccio, whose Malaysian-inspired Fatty Crab in New York gives steamed pork and veggie buns serious treatment.

Credit also is due to the growing army of food trucks and carts from coast to coast. As in Los Angeles, where the roving Kogi BBQ truck and its Korean-Mexican fusion has amassed thousands of fans through Twitter.

The trend is being taken seriously. Street food is regular fodder for bloggers and glossy magazines alike.

John Willoughby, executive editor at Gourmet magazine, said he expects cross-fertilization between street food and restaurants to continue for years. He called a May 2005 issue on street food the magazine's favorite travel issue.

"Here, street food has traditionally meant hot dogs, except in L.A. and New York," Willoughby said. "People thought of it as unhealthy, and sort of lowbrow. It wasn't something you thought about and looked forward to. That's totally changed in the last five years. Street food has become a lot more interesting."

According to Jackie Terrebonne, Gourmet's special projects editor, a wide variety of street food recipes have cropped up in new cookbooks by noted chefs, including John Besh's "My New Orleans: The Cookbook" and David Chang's "Momofuku," named after his New York restaurant chain featuring ramen and ssam, a type of Asian burrito.

The Culinary Institute of America, one of the nation's premier cooking schools, is even hosting a conference — "Frontiers of Flavor: World Street Food, World Comfort Food" — in California next month.

"If you told someone 15 years ago the Culinary Institute would organize a national conference on street food, you would have been laughed out of the room. The concept of food is changing," said Greg Drescher, the conference's organizer.

American food up until the mid '90s revolved around dishes from Europe, Drescher said, with notions of culinary excellence tied to schooling in France, then Italy. Foods considered "ethnic" were on the periphery.

Then chefs and food writers and enthusiasts started traveling beyond those European borders.

"A lot of people went to South Asia and discovered this incredible world of outdoor street food. Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, India. It's as though you've been watching color television for the first time," Drescher said. "A street food vendor has one shot at impressing the customer. It's often quite creative and complex. Those people are doing one or two dishes for 20 to 30 years. They've gotten really good at what they're doing."

The nation's immigrant communities also have helped make street food more commonplace. In Los Angeles County alone, several thousand food trucks and carts — many run by immigrants — operate around the city.

In New York, Middle Eastern food stands are staples, as are carts selling arepas, South American corn meal patties. In Chicago, said Bayless, the spicier the street food the better, from regional Mexican fare to Puerto Rican.

Guatemala native Irma Alvarado, 51, moved to Los Angeles in 1986 and started selling her pupusas at farmers markets two years ago. She learned to cook the thick meat, cheese and vegetable-filled breads while helping to care for her 11 brothers, and began working as a food vendor at age 15. Sales at her roving L.A. stand have increased four to five times since last year.

"People go to a restaurant, and they have to sit down, wait. Here, you can see your food made, and it's faster and cheaper, fresh," Alvarado said.

For Susan Feniger, a trip to India 30 years ago jump-started her shift away from French-style cooking. At her new Hollywood-casual restaurant STREET, squares of toasted bread with sweet coconut jam, a Singapore treat called kaya toast, come with soft-fried egg drizzled with soy sauce. Small collard leaves serve as taco shells for Thai bites, a dish seasoned with toasted coconut, crushed peanuts, dried shrimp, ginger, chilies and chopped lime.

"I love street food," Feniger said. "Many chefs do. I'm drawn to it because culturally I don't like going to fancy restaurants."

This summer, about 70,000 people crowded into the Eat Real Festival, a celebration of street food in Oakland that featured dozens of vendors like Joel Baecker, an alumnus of Alice Waters' Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley.

Baecker translated his love of local ingredients into his own Bay Area street food-inspired stand, Pizza Politana.

"We've really gotten the chance to connect to the local communities. When you get into street food, it's almost an extension of a home-cooked meal. It's much more familial," Baecker said.

SPICY GROUND BEEF SATAY

In Indonesia, spicy peanut sauce is the traditional accompaniment to satay. These beef skewers are paired with a sweet and salty tamarind-based glaze. The ingredient list may be long, but nearly all the work is done by the food processor.

Start to finish: 1 hour

1 medium yellow onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2-inch piece fresh ginger, grated

1 anchovy, mashed

1 scallion, roughly chopped

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

1 teaspoon curry powder

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 cup roasted peanuts, roughly chopped

1/2 bunch fresh cilantro

2 eggs

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 pound ground beef

Salt and ground black pepper, to taste

1 teaspoon tamarind concentrate

1 cup water

1/4 cup soy sauce

4 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons sesame oil

In a shallow bowl filled with water, soak 10 bamboo skewers.

In a food processor, pulse the onion, garlic, ginger, anchovy, scallion, cumin, cardamom, curry powder, cloves, chili powder, peanuts, cilantro, eggs and flour until finely chopped. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.

Add the beef, then use your hands to knead the mixture until well combined. Form the mixture into logs roughly 4 inches long and 1 inch round. Gently insert a skewer into each log. Alternatively, the logs can be formed around each skewer. Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the tamarind concentrate and water. Set aside.

In a small saucepan over medium-high, combine the soy sauce and brown sugar. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Add the tamarind mixture and simmer until it thickens. Remove from the heat and stir in the sesame oil. Set aside.

Heat a grill to medium. Brush the grill grates with olive oil.

Grill the skewers until one side is cooked through, about two minutes. Carefully turn the skewers and let cook for another minute, basting with the glaze. Repeat until the beef is cooked fully, about one to two more turns.

Makes five servings.

POTATO AND PEA SAMOSAS

In India, samosas are the quintessential street food. They typically are filled with meat or vegetables or both. A sweet and spicy dipping sauce is the perfect complement to this deep-fried food.

To speed up this recipe, skip the dough and substitute purchased wonton wrappers (available in the produce section at most grocers). Use a large round cookie cutter to trim the wrappers into circles.

Start to finish: 1 hour 15 minutes (45 minutes active)

For the dough

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter), room temperature

1/2 to 1 cup ice water

For the sauce

3 tablespoons garlic jelly

2 tablespoons lime juice

2 tablespoons water

1/2 tablespoon hot sauce

For the filling

1 tablespoon black mustard seeds

1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds

1 tablespoon ghee

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon garam masala

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4-inch piece fresh ginger, grated

6 medium potatoes, boiled, peeled and cut into 1/3-inch cubes

1 cup peas, steamed

Salt, to taste

Vegetable oil, for frying

To make the dough, in a food processor combine the flour and salt. Pulse several times. Add the ghee and pulse until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. With the processor running, drizzle in enough water to form a dough that is soft and elastic.

Transfer the dough to a bowl, cover and let rest for one hour.

Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. In a small bowl, whisk together the jelly, lime juice, water and hot sauce. Set aside. If desired, the sauce can be heated briefly just before serving.

To make the filling, in a large saute pan over low, toast both mustard seeds. Once the seeds begin to pop in the pan, add the ghee, turmeric, garam masala, pepper and ginger. Saute for two minutes, then add the potatoes.

Remove the pan from heat, then stir in the peas and season with salt. Set aside.

When the dough is ready, shape it into a log and cut it into 16 pieces. On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece into a 5-inch circle. Use a finger dipped in water to moisten the edges.

Place 1 to 2 tablespoons of the potato mixture in the center of each circle, then fold the edges together to form a half-circle. Use a fork to crimp and seal the edges.

In a large, heavy saucepan over medium-high, heat 2 inches of oil to 300 degrees. Working in batches, add the samosas and fry until golden, about three to four minutes, using a spoon to turn them as needed in the oil.

Transfer the samosas to paper towels to drain. Serve with the dipping sauce.

Makes four servings.