What is in and what is out this year speaks of the Top Food Trends in 2006. A review of the trends in the food world shows that certain trends are a follow-up of the experiments in the food world in the end of bygone 2005 and some are modeled to suit the platter this New Year. The trends are based on the consumer choices and culinary preferences. I will let the trends speak for you as they are studied and presented by various food writers and experts.
So the Top11 Food Trends this year are as follows:
1. A Pie from Home – Comfort foods or convenient foods is in this year and their comeback this time is not only with hearty soups, mashed potatoes, meat chops and steaks. This time comfort food has created room for more culinary comfort by developing the concept of assembly kitchen, where an assembly of home cooks will prepare meal for a whole week. Apart from that you can sit at home and do online food shopping, which makes making comfort foods more comfortable.
2. K.I.S.S (kut it short stupid) – It is not about eating large quantities, but tasting tapas. The super sized portions are over, it is about eating a series of small platters, comprising of mini-snacks, mezes, and healthy finger foods as these portions not only stick to the healthy guidelines, but also give room for socializing and more creativity.
3. Go Grains – The whole grains craze started way back in 2005, but as the demand for whole grains is increasing, the supply is decreasing. But there is another side to it, the darker whole grains are seldom in demand. Therefore, Wonder Bread and King Arthur Flour Company have started using white whole wheat flour, for fluffier dough. Well, whatever, may be the market condition, the bottom line is it is a health food and USDA’s new Food Pyramid recommends having 3 ounces of it a day.
4. Pork Fat – The pedigreed pigs, kurobuta give away their bellies, great bacon, and pancetta. The consumers are ready to pay for it but only if the meat is cured and unsmoked. Now that is what I call as posh.
5. A mouthful of flavors – Herbs to spices, the flavor of spices rule the season. It is about cardamoms, used mostly in Indian dishes, Italian stews and cakes. But it is a bit new to the American tastes.
6. Fresh Foods – Homegrown foods are the freshest. There is an insistence on cooking locally grown, rather than packaged and frozen goods. Bistro Sauce in Shelburne and Waterbury’s Hen of the Wood is made from locally grown stuff. The kitchen gardens and herb pots are always there to provide you with fresh veggies and bunch of herbs.
7. Choco-Chic – The health benefits of dark cocoa were discovered last year. This discovery is now sourced into the gourmet chocolate creations. Hershey, Joseph Schmidt, Scharffen Berger and other chocolate boutiques throughout the country are infusing the healthy dark chocolates with various complex flavors.
8. Breaking Fast – Breakfast is made central to the meals of the day. With parents pushing in hard, breakfast would now include whole-grain cereals, healthy breakfast beverages like milk and yogurt, artisanal bacon and salad bars.
9. Health Foods – Low carb is out, the concentration is now having food with very low glycemic index, which means that food with low glycemic index are digested slowly, thus giving long-term energy and a fuller feeling. The foods which are low in GI (glycemic index) are yogurt, beans and whole grains.
10. Hot and Sweet – A boost in Sauerkraut sales since last year was on account of its power to ward off avian flu and cancer. Apart from it salsas like grapefruit and pomelo, pickled shallot sorbet atop Cape Cod are hip this year.
11. Cock’s Tail – No it is not another weirdo I am speaking about. Cocktails are now available with a dash of herbs. Aloha to the mixologists for blending sorbets and vodkas with thyme and basil.
So this is the trend that has begun how long this is going to take to settle down, whether it will be replaced by any other trends, well there is a whole year for you to experiment and set the trends as per the fixity of “convenience foods”. However, these trends can be used as a yardstick if you are indecisive about what to eat and not to eat this year and vice-versa.
Top trends at: Cincypost
