The Next Big Food Trend.

[Chris Amirault]

Do some cart-snooping at Whole Foods or Pick 'n' Save.

Listen in as the couple next to you giggles with delight about a menu item.

Ask your foodie friends what they're dying to taste or to make.

Or just make something up!

You're on eGullet, perched on the culinary cutting edge. So beat Faith Popcorn at her own game (with references, if you see fit, to her namesake)!

What big food trend will the mid-2000s bring us? Hmmm???

[EdS]

Carbs.

[hillbill]

The all-carb diet.

Carbo-loading.

Bread.

Pasta.

Okay, really going out on a limb for this one:

The latest fad that will sweep the nation and the mass media will be for balance, moderation, and reasonableness in all things diet-related.

Sorry, I was just daydreaming there for a moment!

[Jensen]

According to the Jan. edition of Bon Appetit, the "hot" Top 10 ingredients for 2005 are:

* pomegranate

* Kurobuta pork

* pea tendrils (I think I'm ahead of the curve on this one, since I've began eating them early in 2004)

* baby beets

* Meyer lemon (oh man, am I ever ahead of the curve on that one!)

* Wagyu beef

* heirloom potatoes

* organic chicken

* Burrata cheese

* black cod

The 5 most overexposed ingredients listed are:

* foie gras

* portobello mushrooms

* ahi tuna

* white truffle oil

* lavendar

The next Top 10 ingredients are:

* kumquats

* American caviar

* Greek yogurt

* smoked paprika

* microgreens

* kaffir lime

* white anchovies

* pink peppercorns

* guanciale

* Old World grains and beans

[Gifted Gourmet]

From off of the top of my head, and after doing some reading on this particular subject recently, I see these food trends developing:

*sustainable seafood development ... there is a very real concern that the world's seafood supplies are running out due to overfishing

*raw organic foods preferred more and more

*low sugar or no sugar products

*more tofu products being developed

*a genetics-influenced future could find consumers much more concerned about the specific health positives of foods, not simply the negatives (cancer, hypertension, etc.)

*much greater emphasis on “real” health benefits, especially fortified waters and energy drinks

*kid-targeted water, juice and milk drinks

*even greater use of liquid meal replacements

*and then I just read this about people's desire for authenticity:

Food lovers have long embraced authentic products-microbrews, homemade salsas and fiery hot sauces, aged olive oil, and sea and kosher salts.... men's lifestyle magazine Details recently recognized the gourmet possibilities of the humble olive. "Microcheeseries" like Beecher's Handmade Cheese in Seattle's Pike Place Market; Bingham Hill Cheese Co. in Fort Collins, Colorado; and Cowgirl Creamery in Point Reyes, California, are riding this niche by creating fresh cheeses for choosy customers.

Why settle for Velveeta?

[MaxH]

*and then I just read this about people desire for authenticity

...

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Bingo

(If I may say so)

[Andrew Fenton]

I have one word: plastic.

[Wine_Dad]

Referencing any "style/trends" magazine while trying to answer this question is offensive. Trend schmend.

When I read that "foie gras" is passer!! According to whom? Some pundit who discovered that they liked it and ate it constantly for 18 months and are now calling it out? What the hell is that? Can we not form our own opinions?

In a recent so called style magazine entitled "Trends", my wife read me the predictions for 2005 - we laughed at how simple and utterly stupid they were but we admitted that we had noticed an increase in the items mentioned and they were indeed popular. They point is that truly adventurous foodies should know what to look for because they live on the edge already.

Rant over.

What I see coming:

Natural, natural, natural

Omega-3 enriched everything

Omega-6 enriched foods

Cross over curry

Quinoa (not revolutionary but I've seen some great avant garde preparations)

New enterpretations of french classics

Juice infusions

All tapas, all the time

CGI friendly meals (without actually advertising it)

Custom/made to order fine dining

Unfortunately the following will likely continue

Heat and serve roasts

Steriod chickens (notice that there are more hairy 7 year olds)

"Insert Cheesy Name Here" Restaurant chains

Deception based nutrition information

Why don't we all get out and try something absolutely new and report back to each other rather than following what some ad selling trends rag is trying to pass off as the cutting edge.

[bilrus]

Referencing any "style/trends" magazine while trying to answer this question is offensive.  Trend schmend.

When I read that "foie gras" is passer!!  According to whom?  Some pundit who discovered that they liked it and ate it constantly for 18 months and are now calling it out?  What the hell is that?  Can we not form our own opinions?

In a recent so called style magazine entitled "Trends", my wife read me the predictions for 2005 - we laughed at how simple and utterly stupid they were but we admitted that we had noticed an increase in the items mentioned and they were indeed popular.  They point is that truly adventurous foodies should know what to look for because they live on the edge already.

Why don't we all get out and try something absolutely new and report back to each other rather than following what some ad selling trends rag is trying to pass off as the cutting edge.

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But isn't the fact that these things are appearing in these lists of trends the evidence that they are trends? In other words is a trend actually a trend if its not popular on the verge of being overexposed.

[bilrus]

brussels sprouts

[=Mark]

Heirloom Twinkies.

[rancho_gordo]

But isn't the fact that these things are appearing in these lists of trends the evidence that they are trends? 

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Or a bored intern at a magazine trying to stir something up.

[Jinmyo]

I have one word: plastic.

←

Ben: Exactly how do you mean?

Mr. McGuire: There's a great future in plastics. Think about it. Will you think about it?

Ben: Yes I will.

Mr. McGuire: Shh! Enough said. That's a deal.

[Jinmyo]

Latvian-Japanese-Navaho fusion drive-throughs.

[johnnyd]

Latvian-Japanese-Navaho fusion drive-throughs.

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"Would you like Piragis with your Napolitas Donburi?"

[Daniel]

I dont often go to Suburbia, but one thing i was shocked to see what the amount of thai restaurants that have sprung up everywhere.. Is saying that thai food will have 5-10 years in the lime light very obvious.

[Chris Amirault]

Thanks, everyone, for your posts. Most are focusing on higher-end fare; what do you notice among more common fare?

I agree that "thai food" seems to be exploding in the burbs -- by which I mean "pad thai," judging from the folks I know.

And then there's the higher-end/common hybrids like heirloom twinkies, which I'd consider a joke if not for the machinations of the folks who make Chips Ahoy these days.

Hard to imagine a Latvian-Japanese-Navaho fusion drive-throughs, though....

[FistFullaRoux]

I think we are about to go through a return to comfort food. Well, modern comfort food. Organic chicken and dumplings. Heirloom tomato soup. Macaroni and microcheese.

Carbs will be less of an issue, but the lesson will be learned, and many will at least reduce their intake (especially since restaurants will start reducing carb portion sizes).

The heat and serve segment is not going anywhere. It will get better, but it will still have too much salt and too many additives to make it an everyday item. Every once in a while, maybe. More "gourmet" frozen foods, and even more kits like Gordon Ramsey is putting out, where you basically buy a box with the sauces made and frozen, meat either fully cooked or ready to throw in a pot, and veggies either ready to quickly cook, or ready to eat.

The cheesecake backlash is due any day now. I like cheesecake, don't get me wrong, but the extent of most restaurant's desert menu is cheesecake with a variety of canned toppings. I see the return of the pastry chef, or at least the return of the chef to sweets.

I think overall, we will see a move back to the artisinal, or at least small shops for a number of things. But I don't see butchers returning to their full glory. Bakers, green grocers/farmer's markets, yes. I still see meat being bought in grocery stores, where the meat market will simply unpack the cryovac bags and repack the items.

And as a result of the heat-and-serve/frozen food kits, people will spend more time in the kitchen. The value of Bed Bath and Beyond and Williams Sonoma go through the roof...

[Jinmyo]

Hard to imagine a Latvian-Japanese-Navaho fusion drive-throughs, though....

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You're either on The Bus or off The Bus.

Further, dude.

[Toliver]

I just wanted to comment that having just done the January digest of Bon Appetít magazine, eGullet had been discussing a large majority of the editors' "What's Hot" and "What Next's" picks over the last year or more. eGullet is far ahead of the curve when it comes to the Next Big Thing. Quite an interesting phenomenon...

[Wolfert]

Beginning in late eighties, editors from newspaper or magazines would call me and ask for my suggestions for the next 'hot thing.' I would always respond "nettles" and "milt," because I actually like both of these foods and rarely find them in the market. Let's say it was my selfish attempt to start a craze.

Editors never included my suggestions in their roundups. Perhpas they thought I was being 'snotty.' Eventually, the word got out that I always said the same thing and I was no longer asked.

Edited December 16, 2004 by Wolfert (log)

[jgarner53]

Further dumbing down of pre-made, pre-packaged food. For example, the cookie blobs that you now have to take out of the package and place on a cookie sheet and bake will now come on their own cookie sheet (disposable, of course) and kid-friendly heat source, or else they'll be microwaveable.

So you can create lasting memories of happy nanoseconds spent with your kids before shuttling them off the soccer practice, the piano lesson, and the weekly scheduled playdate.

[Jensen]

Referencing any "style/trends" magazine while trying to answer this question is offensive.  Trend schmend.

[...]

Why don't we all get out and try something absolutely new and report back to each other rather than following what some ad selling trends rag is trying to pass off as the cutting edge.

←

And why do that when someone from the centre of the universe will declare us "offensive"?

The trends in my kitchen will likely all focus around creating great meals with economy of cost and with health in mind. I think these will be more of an adaptation on "comfort food" rather than comfort food itself. We'll be revisiting traditional recipes and maybe updating them for the modern kitchen but not making any inherent changes to them.

At risk of further offending the TO PTB, my kitchen trends will include pea shoots (they taste good and are inexpensive from the Asian market) and Meyer lemons (since my tree has a rather large crop again this year).

Edited December 16, 2004 by Jensen (log)

[Chris Amirault]

Supermarkets around here (including mid-range and high-end places) seem to be selling more and more food prepared in the store. Whole Foods has two stores here in Providence, and the second one has a massive salad bar, sushi, soup, sandwich, roast chicken, etc. etc. etc. area, far bigger than the store built a decade ago. Is store-made take home still booming where you live?

edited to clarify clunky verbiage

Edited December 16, 2004 by chrisamirault (log)

[MaxH]

I think we are about to go through a return to comfort food. Well, modern comfort food. Organic chicken and dumplings. ...

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Interesting! The first serious mention that I saw that helped to popularize the phrase "comfort food" in the US (1986?) was in an article that then illustrated the concept with a recipe for chicken and dumplings. Still got it on file somewhere.

Referencing any "style/trends" magazine while trying to answer this question is offensive.  Trend schmend.

[...]

Why don't we all get out and try something absolutely new and report back ...

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And why do that when someone from the centre of the universe will declare us "offensive"?

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Hey, relax folks. (Those who don't learn from RFC1855 are condemned to repeat it. Over and over.)

-- MaxH

[Trivia for the day: RFC1855 is one of the oldest public documents on the Internet. Originally circulated in 1982 and re-posted periodically, codified to a formal Internet RFC in 1995, it has become one of the most widely read.]