Photo: Heather Shouse, Ten Speed Press (*see below)

Food trucks are not a new phenomenon. In Boston, though, they are just gaining momentum. I don’t remember seeing many last fall, but maybe I wasn’t looking hard enough, or in the right places. Regardless, they are beginning to emerge for the season.

Other cities have had food truck cultures for years. Take Los Angeles, for example. There, taco trucks have been around for decades. Most recently, young food entrepreneurs from greater L.A. and with multicultural backgrounds are striving to reach new experimental heights in the food they’re serving from their wheels.

Heather Shouse, author of a new book, Food Trucks: Dispatches and Recipes from the Best Kitchens on Wheels, points to somewhere between the mid-1970s and 1980s for a dramatic rise in Angelenos selling from mobile vehicles – carts included. She called L.A. “ground zero, the historical entry point for taco trucks on American soil.”

To see how far food trucks have come nationally, turn to Shouse’s book. City by city, across the U.S., Shouse introduces trucks, their owners and their amazing food. She organizes the book regionally – West Coast and Pacific, Pacific Northwest, Midwest, South, East Coast – highlighting a few establishments in each.

Shouse’s writing is fresh. Her book as a whole is beautiful. The photos, taken by Shouse and Leo Gong, are colorful and well composed. Their use of character-driven portraiture is well-done and makes the reader hope each truck is just around the corner.

This is how you know this book is good – it’s like the grocery store. Don’t go when you’re hungry, otherwise you’ll end up filling your cart. In this case, you’ll end up walking to your fridge, the book in your left hand, your right hand shoveling anything in your mouth you can find. Or you’ll end up wandering your city or town searching furiously for a food truck. Bring cash.

If you live in a city that lacks them, Shouse is accommodating. Along with a write-up of each vehicle’s culinary personalities, she occasionally includes a recipe. Try “The Burger” with Bacon Jam from Skillet in Seattle; Beijing Hot Noodles from Yue Kee in Phillie; or Food Chain’s Chimichurri from D.C. (recipe below).

As delicious as it all is, I have one gripe. Where’s Boston in the mix? Shouse stopped in New York, Philadelphia, D.C. and Portsmouth on this coast but missed Beantown. Maybe we’ll see it in a follow-up edition? We might not be “a Shangri-La” of food trucks like Portland, but here’s hoping we’re on our way.

Shouse’s book will be available from Random House/Ten Speed Press April 19th for $20.00.

Food Chain Chimmichurri, Photo: Brian Tropiano

*Food Chain Chimichurri
Makes 1 1/2 cups

1/2 pound ripe tomatillos, husked and chopped
1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley, stemmed
1/4 cup chopped cilantro, stemmed
2 cloves garlic, minced
Juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

In a food processor, pulse the tomatillos, parsley, cilantro, garlic, and lime juice until finely blended. Add the cumin, oregano, and salt. Turn the food processor onto its slowest speed and slowly add the olive oil until the mixture is emulsified and a uniform consistency.

*Recipe and photos reprinted with permission from Food Trucks: Dispatches and Recipes from the Best Kitchens on Wheels by Heather Shouse, copyright © 2011. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House, Inc.