Tired trends

[Keith Talent]

I just finished reading Alan Richmans collection of recycled columns "Fork It Over : The Intrepid Adventures of a Professional Eater", which in retrospect seemed to be an exercise in mediocrity, but that isn't the point of this post. The book was somewhat dated, cullinary fads were reviewed in the heat of the moment, not with the clarity of hindsight. That made things seem funnier. Edible flowers. Tuna Tartare. Calling sauvignion blanc fume blanc. It occured to me that we must be living in the middle of an age full of cliches, as vibrant cross pollunating restaurant scenes would seem to encourage this. My question is this, what are the current standards dining that will seem cluelessly quiant or overly trendy in ten years?

Small plates get my vote. I'm close to longing for a full proper meal. Appetizer, entree and desert. I don't want thirty seven plates shared, amongst my greedy germ ridden friends of which i only get one tiny bite, because the stupid waiter put the truffled chicken liver in port demiglace in front of me. (Damn it. I tried to concoct something that sounded vile. the truffled chicken liver with port demi sounds quite good actually.)

I'd also think the organic/local movement will seem self evident in ten years and kind of a flase conceit. I coundn't care less if my tomato took the red eye in from Napoli and is still feeling jet lagged, if it's the best available, within reason, it's what I want. It is just that local food often tastes better therefore is also the best.

Anyone else spy a fad out there that is clearly part of a bubble and not a long term change in habit?

(Editted to change book title from excellent Steingarten one to mediocre Richman one. Thank you to the observant members that pointed out my mistake. Also removed reference to Vancouver, as that now seems out of place. And also edited to add that I wished I'd thought of the molten cake reference. That stuff is the equivelent of a harvest gold fridge. )

Edited May 27, 2005 by Keith Talent (log)

[afn33282]

Molten chocolate cake..... Seared ahi tuna. I mean it's good, but it's on every freaking restaurant menu in the US, regardless of cuisine (okay, maybe I exaggerate). Spinach and artichoke dip.

[annanstee]

I agree on the spinach and artichoke- tomorrows spinach and chestnuts in a sourdough.

Yam fries and shortribs are everywhere. Be-foamed food. Mojitos. Small plates. Fusion spring rolls, ie tuna wrapped in a wonton, etc. Seared ahi. Green tea infused dessert. Raw food.

I love all of the above (except, of course, for the raw food), but their ubiquitous nature leads me suspect that they will soon be snickered at by those food cognosceti who actually care about whether something is au courant. The rest of us will still be happily chowing down on those short ribs : )

[Mooshmouse]

Much as I love this particular dessert, I'd say multi-flavoured or infused creme brulee. Particularly served in trios.

And fauxtinis. Just call them something else, damnit.

[FabulousFoodBabe]

I'd also think the organic/local movement will seem self evident in ten years and kind of a flase conceit. I coundn't care less if my tomato took the red eye in from Napoli and is still feeling jet lagged, if it's the best available, within reason, it's what I want. It is just that local food often tastes better therefore is also the best.

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I completely disagree with this. I think it's a forward-moving trend that has always appealed to a certain type of person/eater/whatever. You can never convince me that a hydroponic tomato can taste as naturally good as something that's drawn its food and energy from the soil and the sun. (Yes, this is something near and dear to me, for lots of reasons!)

I'm still waiting for the overwrought menu descriptions to go away. And, the little foamy bubbly sauces look like spit or soap bubbles to me, and I really hope the end of their time has come.

[chef koo]

calling appetizers tapas. doesn't matter if it's tapas or not. if it'll sell, it'll be called tapas.

fruit salsa and fish.

ditto on the creme brulee. we have one at work and it's a bitch to make.

fusion cuisine as a whole (fusion cuisine is my nemesis)

the way menus are written. now a days instead of having appetizers, entrees and desserts, we have sharing, "palate wetter", "to begin". in stead of entrees we have "from the land", "from the sea", or protiens. and if it's really trendy than you'll also have carbs.

restaurants that have meshed fine dining with casual hi volume dining. honestly every restaurant is like this now. fancy pants menu, 200 covers a night, and a kitchen crew of 5, and prep done up to the point of simply reheating, pretty faced hostess, nicley dressed waiters/waitress who multi tasks as a wanna be sommelier.

wine bars.

wierd shaped plates

[adegiulio]

I wish restaurants would stop listing the origin of each ingredient. I don't need to know the coordinates of the plant my jerusalem artichoke came from. I really don't need to know the ranch my beef came from. I'm not going to order something just because the scallop came from the Bay of Fundy. And I think almost all the domestic foie gras in the country comes from the Hudson Valley, no need to call it "Hudson Valley Foie Gras". I saw a restaurant serve California spinach. California spinach?? Isn't all the non-local spinach grown in CA? Heck, I would see CA spinach as non-artisinal as you can get...

This of course doesn't apply to items with a legitimate geographical benefit or name. Bresse Chicken. PEI mussels. San Marzano tomatoes.

[transfattyacid]

hope fully food allergies.

aslo

food placed strategical. or food that requires a safety harness to reach the table with out compromising its art......zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz BORING

your spot on about the small plates Mr talent . i always thought they were concieved for the hard of thinking .

oh and ice cream with your fish

[transfattyacid]

I wish restaurants would stop listing the origin of each ingredient. I don't need to know the coordinates of the plant my jerusalem artichoke came from. I really don't need to know the ranch my beef came from. I'm not going to order something just because the scallop came from the Bay of Fundy. And I think almost all the domestic foie gras in the country comes from the Hudson Valley, no need to call it "Hudson Valley Foie Gras". I saw a restaurant serve California spinach. California spinach?? Isn't all the non-local spinach grown in CA? Heck, I would see CA spinach as non-artisinal as you can get...

This of course doesn't apply to items with a legitimate geographical benefit or name. Bresse Chicken. PEI mussels. San Marzano tomatoes.

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yeah but there will come a time when food is sent back to the kitchen because the post code of the product stated on the menu is incorrect .

[Busboy]

fusion cuisine as a whole (fusion cuisine is my nemesis)

I'll wager you're incorrect on this, though I suspect people will stop being so high and mighty about it. Fusion cuisine has been going on since the Italians stole psaghetti from the Chinese and brought tomatoes in from the New World. With ingredients and techniques flying around the world with the speed of jet planes and the Internet, and good chefs genetically programmed to experiment and play around, I think fusion's a given, though in a less "look at me" way.

[srhcb]

Food/cooking/eating as a metaphor for sex is overwrought.

SB (although a seperate entities they're still fine by me)

[Juanito]

Balsamic vinegar on EVERYTHING, and sun dried tomatoes.

Please, make it stop.

[Megan Blocker]

Balsamic vinegar on EVERYTHING, and sun dried tomatoes.

Please, make it stop.

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I think the sundried tomatoes, at least, ended in the '90's. As for balsamic vinegar, I'm a huge fan, but only when used correctly. Smothering everything in it is just not the way to go. There's a gorgeous passage in Ruth Reichl's book "Comfort Me With Apples" where she discovers balsamic aceto. Of course, she's a fabulous writer, and the way she describes the viscosity and taste of truly excellent balsamic is almost sexual (she's dipping asparagus spears into it). I wish we could go back to a time when balsamic vinegar was so rare that only the good stuff was served, and every experience was like that one.

As for my most-hated food trend: cilantro. On everything. And in places where cilantro had always been (most notably salsas), people just started adding MORE. I hate cilantro, and am SO glad this trend seems to be dissipating.

[shelora]

Spinach and artichoke dip.

Yes, indeed. And served in a hollowed out round bread. A mullet if ever there was.

[TongoRad]

Fish (salmon or tuna, usually) Tartare, or is that passe already? Either way, the last couple of times I had it the sesame oil dominated the taste of the fish so I'm just not interested anymore.

I think the seared tuna thing has been around for a while now (15 years from when I first had it) and may be here to stay as a perfectly reasonable way to prepare certain cuts. I still enjoy the preparation.

I agree with the good riddance to sun dried tomatoes, but I only see them in neighborhood joints nowadays.

And I'm not willing to say goodbye to balsamic vinegar either.

[Daddy-A]

Isn't it nice that we're able to become bored with food so easily? This thread sounds too much like the country-club set getting bored with last years "Bimmer."

Having said that ... as much as I love "steak frites" ... fer crissake people it's steak and fries not the frickin' second coming! Enough already!

A.

[rancho_gordo]

I'd also think the organic/local movement will seem self evident in ten years and kind of a flase conceit. I coundn't care less if my tomato took the red eye in from Napoli and is still feeling jet lagged, if it's the best available, within reason, it's what I want. It is just that local food often tastes better therefore is also the best.

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I'm confused. Are you saying growing local food in a concious manner is a false conceit and yet it tastes better? If the organic/local movement is creating better food, what is the problem? I'm missing your point, I think.

[bavila]

On a regional level, I hope that crap dip goes the way of spinach and artichoke dip in the Chesapeake Bay area. Sure, it can be tasty, but every single restaurant in Annapolis (at least downtown) does crab dip. Boring.

I also don't think locally grown produce is a fad, but that the cache surrounding it will die down and come into proper perspective. For several reasons local is better, but that's not everything.

Oooh, and fruit salsa with fish? Pass yours down to me, thanks. Yummy.

[melkor]

I'd also think the organic/local movement will seem self evident in ten years and kind of a flase conceit. I coundn't care less if my tomato took the red eye in from Napoli and is still feeling jet lagged, if it's the best available, within reason, it's what I want. It is just that local food often tastes better therefore is also the best.

←

I'm confused. Are you saying growing local food in a concious manner is a false conceit and yet it tastes better? If the organic/local movement is creating better food, what is the problem? I'm missing your point, I think.

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I would assume his comments mirror my take on the subject; the overwhelming majority of the restaurants I enjoy eating at serve local produce, organic/biodynamic/sustainable whatever – in the future I’d expect that it will be a forgone conclusion that restaurants are all doing so.

There will always be the local restaurants that are little more than Sysco outlet in one form or another, but the restaurants serving quality food now are working with raw ingredients rather than frozen packets and jars of things and for them to continue to be competitive in the future they will need to be buying whatever ingredients taste best. The best argument from a restaurant perspective for serving local ingredients is that most of the time they taste better. Good food brings customers in the door; pink mealy tomatoes in February are not longer acceptable because consumers are learning what food should taste like.

[Keith Talent]

[i'm confused. Are you saying growing local food in a concious manner is a false conceit and yet it tastes better? If the organic/local movement is creating better food, what is the problem? I'm missing your point, I think.

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I think making a big deal about the method of production is a trend that will look somewhat dated in the future. Agreed that organic/local/blah/blah is the way the generally get the best, but it's not the best in and of itself. We should trust our restauranteurs to procure ingredients in an ethical sustainable manner, and not have to be constantly reminded that the food we're eating makes us morally superior to the slobs buying hydroponic yams imported from Sweden.

[Keith Talent]

And if I was more eloquent, I would have said exactly what bavila did, it's kinda pathetic to have to rely on strangers to clarify your thoughts.

I also don't think locally grown produce is a fad, but that the cache surrounding it will die down and come into proper perspective.  For several reasons local is better, but that's not everything.

Thanks.

[albiston]

I'll wager you're incorrect on this, though I suspect people will stop being so high and mighty about it.  Fusion cuisine has been going on since the Italians stole psaghetti from the Chinese and brought tomatoes in from the New World.  With ingredients and techniques flying around the world with the speed of jet planes and the Internet, and good chefs genetically programmed to experiment and play around, I think fusion's a given, though in a less "look at me" way.

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Definitely agree. "Fusion" was always there and always will be: just read a history of ancient Roman cuisine to see how far back that can go (and it probably goes even further back than that). On the other hand, do whatever you like just as long as it isn't forced and done just for the sake of showing how wildly creative a chef can be. If it works tastewise, it's fine by me.

Psss... BTW the Chinese have nothing to do with spaghetti: fresh pasta was known since the Roman times and it's the Arabs that imported dried pasta to Sicily

[Ducky]

Psss... BTW the Chinese have nothing to do with spaghetti: fresh pasta was known since the Roman times and it's the Arabs that imported dried pasta to Sicily

Since this was raised here as an aside....My understanding has always been that pasta was introduced to China by Marco Polo. Some however insist that Marco Polo brought it back to Italy from China.

Does anyone have a definitive answer to this burning question? Millions of Italians and billions of Chinese are potentially interested.

[slkinsey]

Alberto beat me to it on the pasta thing.

I agree that "fusion cooking" as the natural evolution of a cuisine as different cultures and culinary approaches influence one another and combine to create new culinary approaches will never end. This is how we got Italian-American cooking and Cajun cooking and much of the cuisine of the American South (etc.). Even things like Keller's "procession of small dishes using seasonal ingredients" is a fusion cuisine, having its roots in kaiseki.

I do think, however, that the current fondness for not-organic, deliberate, precious and self-conscious fusions of culinary traditions (i.e., "chicken fried steak bibimbap alfredo") is already becoming tired.

[slkinsey]

Psss... BTW the Chinese have nothing to do with spaghetti: fresh pasta was known since the Roman times and it's the Arabs that imported dried pasta to Sicily

Since this was raised here as an aside....My understanding has always been that pasta was introduced to China by Marco Polo. Some however insist that Marco Polo brought it back to Italy from China.

Pasta was developed independently by a number of cultures (the earliest known record of pasta in what is now Italy dates to something like the 4th century BC, so it's a sure thing that they didn't get the idea from China). Think about it: mixing flour with liquid, possibly drying it, and then boiling it in water isn't exactly a revolutionary concept. The argument could be made that pasta cookery was most elevated in Italy and China.