Question for Cooks in the U.S.

Fala

I’m totally late for this but, I’d like to see more people go for “wild” foods that are harvested by those in the know who will not do damage to the enironment they’ve harvested from.

I think a lot more people will continue to eat seasonally and organically, however I hope that this trend encompasses eating locally. Eating organically only goes so far when you ship it from Chile to NYC…

I’m adding to the “home grown” trend, maybe more community gardens too…

miser

The return of the pressure cooker!

Same results as a slow cooker, but within 15 minutes. What’s not to love? And safety features have made them idiot proof, no more explosions. (I can attest to that.)

This would make total sense–it makes cheaper cuts of meat magically tender and delicious within minutes. Can your slow cooker do that? Also, I would think energy-wise, isn’t it preferable to make a lamb stew in 15 minutes in a pressure cooker rather than over 8 hours in a slow cooker?

Suz

Imported trends: Arepas and other street foods from South America, Asia, mid-East, etc., Greek yogurt

Coming back: eggs of all kinds in all ways; real sugar in boutique processed foods; unusual sugars.

Moving up: Mixology at home with homemade mixers & bitters, tonic water, fresh mix-ins

Movements: Locavore, CSAs, eating lower on the food chain (cows! methane! global warming!, preserving

Robyn

From Asia:

-seaweed (dressed as a salad) – already appearing in some US restos
-Philippine artisan vinegars made from coconut palm sap, sugar cane, and nipa palm sap
-small-batch palm sugars from Malaysia and Indonesia (darker, smokier, more complex than Thai)
-a wild variety of dried wild mushrooms from China’s Yunnan province

Regional Asian cuisines: southern Thai, northern Thai, Yunnanese, Xinjiang, central Vietnamese (Hue)

boob

I have three words:

Artisinal Processed Cheese
(patent pending!)

Chris66

-Heirloom beans
-More personal gardens, and more gardeners growing heirloom varieties
-Butter
-Lard
-Artisanal honeys and maple syrups
-Foraging
-Homemade preserves
-Homemade sausage

Joel Wittenmyer

I believe that some Americans are beginning to understand the difference between ‘food’ and something truly great that is prepared with love and attention to detail by someone that knows what they are doing. We are already seeing the return of classical french cuisine in New York. I hope that it will be a success and that Americans will learn to eat again. This, I believe, may be the next trend (If we are very lucky!)

Dana McCauley

Michael,

I write a quarterly ezine called Topline Trends and appear regularly on Canada AM and other television shows as a food trend expert.

I hope that you and any of your readers who are interested will stop by and read the latest issue and back issues. Subscription is free for anyone who wants to receive a quarterly notice when each newsletter goes live.

At the foodservice level I think you’ll see more restaurants attempting portion control menus, more bold flavoured/umami driven menu items, and the wider spread use of dukkah and sumac on restaurant menus. Of course sustainability and onsite purified water will continue to gain momentum as well.

Claudia

OOooo – I HOPE you’re right about chilies and fruit, John. I think it can co-exist happily with pork belly (I hope so, at least!)

Veronica

I think the next big thing on cooking will be southamerican food, especially Peruvian. People don’t know too much about it, but little by little it’s making it’s way to the eyes of the world. A lot of renowned chefs are going to Peru to see what’s cooking there, like Daniel Boulud, Eric Ripert, Arzak, Andoni, you name it. So i suggest you all take a time and check it out, or if you can go there, you won’t be disappointed.

brad

Also, I forgot to mention something.

Here is what is on the “Dead and Dying List”

Anything molecularily gastronomic. There’s one true practitioner in the world and we all know who he is. The rest jumped the bandwagon. I hope MG dies,(not in Roses of Course).

Natty

I think a big upcoming trend is a rejection of the idea of “professional” in the world of home cooks and a new trend towards making foods that are best made in the home with techniques and equipment better suited to the home cook. Additionally, home cooks will take pride in growing their own herbs, tomatoes and other foods. Victory gardens in ‘08!

I agree with folks who have discussed cheap cuts of meat coming back in a big way and believe meats like venison and rabbit will begin to be available more (especially in areas where deer are overpopulated.) Curing your own bacon and making your own cheese may be on the horizon as well.

My hope is that HFCS will be vilified and chased out of the food world with pitchforks and torches.

Clifford Replogle

I always get a certain amount of pleasure, if not down right joy, by reading through everyone’s comments on a good blog topic, which in cyclical fashion keeps kind of repeating the same thing over and over and can be divided into a number of columns of similarity. I know that is the point of a comment section for a blog, to blurt then discuss while adding maybe a new blurt to the discussion of the previous blurt, etc, etc. so that the author of the topic can sieve through this sand and retain the larger nuggets. Some of the nuggets that I got out of the previous posts are;

“Do It Yourself acronym (DIY), local, whole, sous vide, bad economy, Applebees, dried urine(WTF?), seasonal, sustainable, home grown, my favorite organic ( Organic, Organic, Organic— “He says his name is.Raaaaaaaaalphhhhhh” What a croc of crap that industry is. No chemicals, but soaps are OK, and I can pay three times normal market value) Indian cuisine (which is one of my presumptive winners of a prediction), wild game, and cocktails with fresh herbs –Now your talking!!

I also really like the “animals that are treated more humanely” column. So does veal taste better if you name it and give prayer for it?

I think these are all legitimate answers to the original question which was—What are the predictions on the horizon for the “home kitchen?.” But in a home kitchen wouldn’t that involve some kind of “Family Style Meal.” In restaurants this concept does work – big dishes of good homemade food served in proper course. As an owner and operator of a restaurant in an extremely small town in Santa Barbra wine country I am always striving for consistent, diverse yet simple, real, and uniquely Californian. What brings people into our place is my wife and I do it ourselves. Great steaks grilled over a redo oak fire, fresh local seafood, creativity, and audacity. Is this a trend? No –not where we come from. Local, that’s kind of a given isn’t it? Same with fresh —- I mean DUH! Can I have my produce out of a can please?

Aren’t we all going to be drinking our meals soon enough considering the depressive direction the last 40 years of conservatism has brought to us? My meals will be the olives in my moonshine martini’s. But if I am forced to predict what trend I see as popular—I would have to say Flatbread Pizzas is a super hot item now to feed the uber posh wine aficionado’s that all look like they’re from Aspen kind of crowds. And again that whole thing and that organic (raaaaalph) thing and that local thing plays into the part that makes it successful.

I myself like the wild game – forager-hunter thing. I wouldn’t call it so much as a trend as it is human DNA. How long have humans been cooking meat over fire?? Give me a bison ribeye seasoned in a coriander, drycoffee, garlic and olive oil rub with a chimmy churry dip accompanied with miners lettuce salad with chanterelle mushrooms (I just go off the trail a bit in our local park to get that stuff) and some good garlic mashed potatoes. Finish with Santa Maria strawberry and rhubarb ice cream. Stick a fork in me …..I’m done!!

Mom and Pops Kick Ass!!

mike regan

I think you should examine kosher kitchens. The national economics support the idea of someone picking up the banner of kosher. Billions of dollars are spent every year buying kosher food.
For many, just their faith in the kosher process propels them. I would welcome you to spend time in our house preparing kosher food.

Chefregan@gmail.com

Vincent

Diana C said “nut revival”

josh

izakayas in america

Claudia (cook eat FRET)

this has been on my mind
and finally i have one for you

preserved lemons

big deal these days
they’re everywhere

and i love them so…

Dale Cruse

High end Greek goes mainstream.

Amanda

I agree with all the comments about the return of offal and other more “bargain” cuts to daily home cooking, at least among those who love to cook. I think we are also going to see a greater polarization between the people who simply love to cook and work to bring “slow food” magic to the table and those who rely on prepackaged, premade items so they can eat and get on with their lives. Sometimes, when reading comments on various food sites, it doesn’t seem like there’s a real middle ground between the two camps.

One trend I’ve noticed among the food oriented lately is the rise in use of bento style lunches in non-Japanese households. It seems to be very fashionable to send one to school with one’s children.

Miss Needle

Not just a trend with the foodies, I predict a lot more cooking at home due to the economic downturn. While Applebee’s is by no means an expensive restaurant, it is definitely cheaper to make the stuff at home. So I see a proliferation in cooking 101 — eg. how to make a burger (believe me, there are a lot of people who just don’t know), how to roast a chicken, how to make meatloaf, etc. An ex of mine told me he once wanted to go to cooking school so he can make diner food. Though he was extremely ambitious in his career, that didn’t really carry through in the kitchen. But his idea of cooking was throwing a can of Campbell’s condensed cream of chicken soup over a chicken breast. But I feel that’s where the majority of the American population is at.

With the foodie circle (which really is a small subset of the entire American population but growing; anybody who says otherwise is living in his or her own little fantasy world), I agree with those who said local movement, sustainable farming practices, aniamals that are raised more humanely, molecular gastronomy, DIY, etc. But that’s been going on for a while now. As much as the idea fascinates me, I don’t think we’re going to be seeing urine in our food anytime soon. Korean cuisine seems to be expanding beyond just Koreans and those with yellow fever. I think we’ll see some Korean-fusion restaurants in the future. Because of people like David Chang (who brought kimchee puree to the forefront), I think we’ll see a lot more Korean-influenced food on menus.

Jose Cisneros

This may may only be a national thing having to do with
the changes that have been taking place in the loosening
up of the federal and state wine and liquor laws.
Michigan has cut the cost of a distiller’s license from
10,000 to 150.00 and there is talk of opening the door even more.
So now the small distillers will join the small beer
brewers, wine makers, cheese makers, organic hog farmers
etc and we will all benefit.
The large distilleries will react to this and attempt to create products that emulate what the small distilleries do.
For want of another word I believe we are on the verge of become Balkanized in the best of all possible ways.

allie

I’m just not sure all the comments about ethical, organic, local, etc., eating is realistic for an overall food trend. even if the majority of the population is interested in those things, it doesn’t mean they’re willing to pay for them… heck, I’m a (sort of) foodie and I can’t afford most of that stuff.

when I consider major food trends, I think of cuisines like thai and japanese that have really exploded in the last 5-10 years. even my little hometown in the middle of nowhere has thai and sushi restaurants now. so my guess for upcoming trends would be middle eastern food, south american, and maybe some of the less-explored asian cuisines like korean. I can totally see americans getting on board with korean barbeque, it’s kind of like asian fajitas.

Francina Sanders

Sliders, and not just burgers. I’ve seen meatball, crab melt, mini brauts-and-kraut, and fried chicken sliders fly out the door.

Avery Yale Kamila

Ethical eating is the big trend just beginning to hit. This will mean different things to different people — for some grass-fed beef and homemade butter for others locally grown food and everything organic. The drive to eat sustainable food also is giving a boost to meat-free meals, with vegan cuisine garnering a growing following (and not just among vegetarians).

drfugawe

An increased emphisis and awareness on any culture that has already faced the necessity of creatively using its “throw-away” foods to feed an increasingly hungry public. This is obviously our future, and even our TV choices for “foodie” programs about the strange eating habits of other cultures is evidence we are next in line!

Ulla

Eggs.
Really nice quality eggs with saffron colored yolks. I think I think this because my chickens are laying them like nuts at the moment, but with food prices so high, i can see a back to basics trend.

sara

I second the microgreens. They throw those things around like candy on iron chef.

also ancho chile, the real stuff, fresh ground.

and cocktails with fresh herbs (or herb infused simple syrups).

I have to say I disagree with the man who said meat would go by the wayside. Meat is in its heyday. Now you don’t just care where the cow came from, you care about what it ate, whether it ran free. You are obsessed with the meat.

acorn fed pigs! Need I say more?

-sara

Jeremy

My job requires me to travel, so as a result I have to eat out for most meals. I *wish* a trend in this country would be that national chain restaurants would serve fresh, simple, healthful meals. Limited selections of good fresh simple meals. I usually end up going to a supermarket rather than to a restaurant while I travel, because where I travel, the choices are usually Chili’s, Friday’s, Applebee’s, etc. How many more of these restaurants does this country need???

TC

Well if Ted Turner is any sort of culinary prognosticator then “Soylent Green” will be a pantry staple in the coming years.

Chris

There are a ton of comments here so I will keep this short.

Sitting in Shea Stadium yesterday for the Mets’ home opener looking at the gorgeous new stadium being built just beyond the outfield wall, I was struck by the thought that one of the only undiscovered territories in food-dom are Celebrity Chef driven restaurants in our sports stadiums and arenas. Can’t you imagine Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill in the Arizona Diamondbacks stadium, Emeril’s in the New Orleans Superdome, Spago in Dodger Stadium, Alice Waters opening a garden restaurant at AT&T Park in San Francisco (all of the produce would be hydroponically grown in McCovey Cove) and, of course, Chef Michael Symon opening Lola at “The Jake” in Cleveland.

Don’t tell Bourdain, me might lobby for a branch of Grey’s Papaya in the new Yankee Stadium.

On second thought, that wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

Mike

All hotdog gourmet dining.

Anne

First of all, I have to agree with Bob about the quinoa – especially about the taste and texture and total lack of appeal. It tastes like a mistake.

I predict that the trend will focus on locally grown and produced foods (meat and dairy and produce) as well as a decreased reliance on processed foods; more foods, and more complicated foods, will be made from from scratch. Things that sound fancy and foreign on the menu of expensive restaurants will become demystified and join the repertoire of home cooks everywhere. Most peoples’ mothers will be able to casually whip up aioli and Béarnaise and chiffonade basil without blinking an eye.

Bob delGrosso

I’ll have to agree with those of you who have said that quinoa will become popular. And why shouldn’t it?

Like eggs it contains a balanced set of amino acids, and it looks just familiar enough to disarm many of those who might be put off by it’s difficult-to-pronounce name.

That it tastes like dirt and has the texture of beach sand that has gone through a blender with a jelly fish should do nothing to stand in the way of making quinoa just as popular in the homes of middle America as other formerly esoteric foods (for example Balut, and Lutefisk) have become.

Sarah Caron

I think local food – because ultimately food that doesn’t need to travel as far will cost less and in this faltering economy, people are going to need to cut where they can. As a result, I think we could even see a rise in local food production in the next few years.

And chia seeds as an ingredient . . . I think they could be the next pomegranate.

Turtle

I see a trend towards local food – CSAs, farmers markets, dyi gardens – and a greater interest in how food is produced, as well as in what ingredients are used in processed food.

valereee

Foraging. I think we’re already seeing a major upswing in this, based on the number of folks blogging about it.

The Urban Eater

HA! Eat4Fun, you should read this post from Mal Carne:
http://www.culinarysherpas.com/?p=79

He addresses the oxtail/ short rib issue. Very funny.

Kiersten

I think that high-end, gourmet (aka expensive) ingredients are on their way out, simply because we can’t afford them anymore. I think more people will try to come up with exciting ways to cook cheaper cuts of meat and cut back on things like truffles. I think people will cook with more fresh produce and whole grains. Cooking with “natural” foods and ingredients is also popular these days, particularly in the food-blogging world.

Tags

While many folks might start buying cheaper ingredients, it’s possible that sales of gourmet items will also go up.

Why? Because a lot of people “economize” by buying better food rather than traveling or doing other more expensive things.

Nate

Good box wine.

It’s becoming acceptable for “wine drinkers” with “distinguished palates’ to drink wine out of a box. And for ready-to-drink wines there is literally no better, more economical, and even more environmentally friendly packaging. Saves freaking 40% on shipping over bottles.

I’m also going to have to agree with a couple of you and say quinoa. I still haven’t been able to find a way it doesn’t taste good.

I just posted an article about its massive comeback into the food scene.

Sara

I agree with a lot of people here — butter and sugar will make a comeback (thank GOD), and locally-grown and locally-raised food will become increasingly popular.

As a younger person (still kinda in the “fresh out of college” set), I think another trend we’re going to see a lot of, and which builds on some of the trends mentioned above, is cooking communally. As the economy slows down and kids like me can’t get the jobs they want, and we find ourselves paying higher rent and higher food prices, I think we’ll see a resurgance of classic peasant foods cooked and eaten in large quantities with many other people — basically, the same way people used to do 100 years ago. And even people like me, who live without microwaves (damn you, efficiency aparmtnet!), will be able to pop the leftover cassoulet, macaroni and cheese, or giant pot of soup on the stove or in the oven for easy reheating for lunch and dinner days later.

I, for one, am looking forward to that.

Joe

Kimchee is the new Wasabi!

S. Woody

This isn’t really food, but a shopping-related development:

There’s been a real increase at the market where I work where customers are bringing in their own bags, for bagging their purchases.

A year ago, I hardly saw any customers bringing in their own bags. Now, it’s not that uncommon. The biggest complaint is “I keep forgetting to bring the bags in with me, they’re either in the car or back at home.” I just laugh with them and say that it’s just a habit that takes time to get into, and a good one.

But think about what this means: if customers are bringing in their own bags, that means they are going green and thinking about the environment, even a little bit more. And if they’re going to take the time to change their habits, even this little bit, maybe they’ll also be receptive to thinking more about the foods they’re eating, along with the bags they’re putting them in.

Those new cases I mentioned in an earlier post, where all the pre-prepared foods are on display? They’re located right next to the produce department. It’s almost like the company running the store is suggesting to the customers “Here’s an easy entree, now help yourself to some fresh veggies!”

The change that is coming isn’t an ingredient – it’s a thought process, an awareness. And, sure, some of the customers aren’t going to be bothered, they’ve got too much else cluttering their minds to think about food when they’re in a supermarket. But I’m seeing plenty of other customers who are starting to think more about what they are doing, and what they are eating.

The question is, will the markets be able to keep up with this change?

Urban Frontier Wife

Community Supported Agriculture is my favorite source of food. Related to this is farmers markets, locally grown ingredients and homegrown vegetables.
It’s getting rare to find popular recipes that are strictly from seasonal ingredients — a seasonal ingredient gets paired with another off-season ingredient. For some unique parts of the country, it’s feasible to get both summer and winter vegetables all year round from locally grown sources. For most others, the best one can hope for is early and late season crossovers.
I hope that preserved vegetables and fruits (pickling, canning, drying or even freezing) will make a comeback. There is an incredible variety in those treatments that can yield some incredible results. My best source of information on these to date has been from older gardeners in my community garden. When these people can no longer garden, the sharing of that knowledge is also gone.

Eilish

My vote goes to the local and seasonal food movement. It plays on many levels. It is healthy, economical and environmentally friendly. Also, it gives people a cultural and historical authenticity at their table that I think more and more people are coming to desire. This mays seem like junk psychology, but I think it plays with the foodies I know.

HappyHoarfrost

Spring houses, root cellars, larders ~ “putting up” cans.
Smokehouses, butter churns.
Pressure Cooking.
Meatloaf.
Venison.
Shortening, pies on kitchen sills.
Coffee cans of bacon grease stowed under the sink.
Trading melons with your neighbor.
Turning into your Depression-era grandmother…

Kitchengeeking: oh, say it’s true! Poached eggs!

robin

ok, like about 100 food blogs ago i mentioned home canning…anyone get it?

luis

A new trend might be the emerging cuisine specific grocery stores. There are scores of these internet based grocery stores dedicated to providing us cuisine specific ingredients.

We all know that the supermarkets provide half a dozen ingredients from a hundred cuisines and you never can find everything you really need to do an authentic dish of any cuisine. So the internet is the grocery of last resort. The place you will find that dry chile pepper or that special spice etc.

ASZ

Real Food! I feel a strong sense of humans taking back control of where their food comes from….the neighbors garden, the small dairy farm, responsibly raised pigs, cows and lambs, bread with less than 7 ingredients……man, can you feel the revolution coming? If you own stock in the big artificial food producers….sell, sell, sell!

Ben Engelsberg

As a number of folks have said, local food will be popularized, in places with a good variety of local foods… and we’ll see large sellers marketting foods to take advantage.

I think that we’ll also see upswings in the following:

Hobbiest farming: Whether it’s raising a couple of heirloom chickens for their eggs, rabbits for their meat, or just a return to having a small herb and vegetable garden, I think that food enthusiasts will compete to show their skill and saavy in raising or growing their own ingredients.

Offal: Organ meat will make a comeback. I forsee a dramatic rise in popularity for beef heart, for instance, as well as possibly tongue and other offal. I don’t expect that the offal that’s always been with us, like livers and tripes, will see much action, though.

Foraging: I think this is the big one. I think that economy and the locavore movement are going to collide in a big rise in hobby foraging for foodstuffs. This is a tremedously fun hobby, with a great deal of potential prestige for successful gourmet foragers. It also brings home some of the elements of hunting, but for folks who like neither guns nor blood (and probably for those who do).