FOOD TREND UPDATE 2011
www.foodchannel.com May 5, 2011
Flavored waters have proliferated on grocery shelves in recent years, and now many of us are taking flavor matters into our own hands. We’re adding a touch of floral or citrus to H2O and (mostly) leaving out the sugar—creating refreshing and light beverages such as watermelon-infused or basil-mint drinks using garden-fresh produce. We’re adding powdered and liquid flavor enhancers, such as Crystal Light powders and Kraft's new MiO liquid. We’re also expanding our coffee palate, using creamers in new flavors like honey-vanilla crème and white chocolate caramel latte (from Nestle Coffee-Mate). The customization craze even extends to vending, where new Coke machines let us hem and haw over a choice of 125 flavor variations.
Consumption of this cold caffeinated beverage in restaurants has heated up to the tune of a 20 percent gain in the last five years. Premium beans and advances in cold brewing technology have upped the flavor quality and fueled the trend—iced, frozen, and slushie coffee drinks are available everywhere from Starbucks to McDonald’s to the local java joint. Now the trend is coming home with the introduction of new single-cup home brewing systems and special blends. Starbucks just launchied its Via Iced Coffee Blend, now in supermarkets nationwide. We’re even starting to see cold-brewed ‘Joe’ in bottles.
We’re still seeing lots of buzz around beverages and kids. Bowing to pressure from parents (and Jamie Oliver), the L.A. school district has banned chocolate and strawberry milk from the cafeteria, and restaurant chains are striving to offer more healthy kid drink options such as 1% milk and fruit juices instead of soda. On the other side of the coin, there are new fun things for kids like Magic Milk Straws that turn plain milk into a chocolate or strawberry treat without adding a lot of calories and sugar. Speaking of buzz…for adults who never outgrew their love of chocolate milk and are looking for something with a kick, there’s new Adult Chocolate Milk, a 40-proof, vodka-spiked beverage that aims to mimic the taste of your favorite elementary school beverage. Gives new meaning to the term "chocoholic."
There’s so much going on in the category of health-related beverages, we could probably do a whole top ten list on that alone. We could start with enhanced waters that continue to flood the market, offering choices with added vitamins and targeted nutrition. We’re seeing fortified waters that make claims for anti-ageing, bone health, cardiovascular health, diabetes, digestion, cognition and mood. In the “energy” category, you can choose a shot that keeps you going for five hours, or one of the new anti-energy drinks that make you mellow and relaxed. Then there’s the “sugar reshuffle” that finds some people switching back to drinks sweetened with pure cane sugar, while others opt for the natural zero-calorie plant-based sweeteners like stevia and agave nectar, both now commonly found in low-calorie drinks like Oogavé. There’s certainly no shortage of ways to “drink to your health.”
We’re Also Keeping an Eye on... • Other flavors to watch include pisco (from South
• New coffee-making equipment such as burr grinders
America), green apple, and honey. Also, fruit and mint combinations.
• Mid-calorie soft drinks, like the upcoming Pepsi Next
• Soy-based beverages, including lattes
• Kitschy new flavored liquors: rose, root beer and bubble gum
In much the same way we’re eating local and choosing foods when they’re in season, we’re making a more conscious effort to drink that way, too. Bartenders pour refreshing summer cocktails made with fresh, locally grown fruit, or ripe and healthy vegetables—and we’re not just talking garnishes anymore. It’s Market Fresh Mixology— to borrow the title of a recently published beverage recipe collection in bookstores now. Seasonal beers are bigger than ever now, too, as are the so-called “session beers,” defined as so drinkable and light, you could quaff them for a good long session. Beer cocktails have become fashionable on both coasts. We’re also finding a return to uncomplicated cocktails made with a minimum number of ingredients, none of them obscure. Back to the land, back to basics.
While fountain drinks will probably always be king in the quickservice restaurant category, there are changes happening here, too, with specialty drinks getting as much play as burgers and fries. McDonald’s touts its new frozen strawberry lemonade while Steak ’n’ Shake and Sonic shout about their “happy hour” deals on milkshakes and frozen drinks, available during the mid-afternoon snack period. Sonic and Burger King are even experimenting with alcoholic beverages, adding beer and wine to the menu in select locations. Will McDonald’s soon be offering a Big Mac & Beer combo? It could happen.
While overall beer sales are flat these days, sales of craft brews are seeing double-digit increases. New breweries and new craft beer festivals are bubbling up around the country. Even a wine-oriented metropolis like Los Angeles is becoming a beer-brewing town, with several new small batch breweries opening up this year. Some 600 craft breweries are expected to open nationwide within the next year. Home brewed beer is enjoying a resurgence as well. Sales of home brewing equipment are up—way up. With unemployment still high, it seems more people have extra time on their hands and are taking up the hobby of brewing beer in the basement.
The retro revival of the classic cocktail, perhaps inspired at least in part by the popular period TV series Mad Men, has hip young consumers bellying up to the bar for whiskey—specifically bourbon whiskey. Small batch premium and super premium bourbons are super trendy among the twenty- and thirty-something crowd, not just in the U.S., but around the world. So much so that Kentucky distilleries, where 95 percent of the world’s bourbon is produced, are scrambling to keep up. Expansion efforts are underway with an estimated $150 million spend on new construction. It’s the biggest bourbon boom since Prohibition, and quite a turnaround for a liquor that was largely disrespected in recent times.
While the food generally takes center stage in restaurant exhibitionism, beverages are being offered more starring roles. The American Bounty restaurant at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., does tableside prep with fresh-squeezed lemonade in summer, blending in a guest’s choice of pureés such as white peach, blackberry or strawberry. A similar offering is made with apple cider in autumn. On the other end of the “dinner theater” spectrum is the kitschy tiki trend with its retro Polynesian-style drinks loaded with fruit juice and rum, garnished with flowers and those cute little umbrellas— the difference is today you’re more likely to encounter fresh, locallygrown fruit than during the 70’s heyday of Trader Vic. Fancy glassware has a role in this trend, too, with vessels like the hand-blown gallone and lovely drinkware fashioned from recycled glass helping drinks to look their best.
Many consumers, especially women, want to enjoy all of the above without drinking in extra calories. Syrup providers and beverage developers are responding with no- or low-cal versions of bestselling drinks, from Applebee’s Skinnybee Mojitos to the ‘Northern Lites’ coffee drinks at Caribou Coffee and “38 Smoothies Under 300 Calories” at Smoothie King. For the craft-minded mixologists who want to avoid bottled syrups or sugar substitutes, better sweeteners, like agave, honey and maple help add sweetness from more natural sources. In retail, light beers have reached record-low calorie counts and low-cal mixers are crowding shelves.
Hot dogs go from humble to high-end Chefs are fancying franks with high-quality meats and inventive toppings www.nrn.com August 2, 2011 by Nancy Kruse
Some analysts credit chef Daniel Boulud with kicking off the current hot dog revival, citing sausages like the all-beef DB’s Dog on the menu of his casual New York City restaurant DBGB Kitchen & Bar. Others point to the strong influence of local market specialists, like Doug Sohn, owner of the seminal Hot Doug’s in Chicago, as prime movers behind the trend.
venison. At Social Eatz in New York, celebrity chef Angelo Sosa tops organic chicken dogs with a sake-spiked cheese sauce.
It’s also possible that hot dogs are benefiting from strong tailwinds provided by the runaway success of better burger purveyors, who have breathed new life into another long-running sandwich standard. No matter what the driving force, the result is a rediscovery of an enduring classic that’s moved the hot dog out of the ballpark and into the limelight.
An entire sub-category of hot dogs offers them as conveyors of incendiary spices. Among those is the Hot Bollywood with spicy chutney at Dirty Frank’s in Columbus, Ohio, and the Chili-Slaw Dog at Gus’s in Birmingham, Ala.
Wieners with humbler aspirations include Sonic Drive-In’s New York dog with sauerkraut and the mini chili-cheese dogs at Buffalo Wild Wings.
A hot dog’s even on the menu at Los Angeles’s famous Kogi BBQ taco truck. It offers a hot dog topped with its signature spicy pork.
They include high-end offerings, like Kobe beef dogs at JapaDog in Vancouver, Canada, or Hot Doug’s franks made with duck and
Steak ’n Shake’s regional Steak Franks highlight differences in regional culinary styles (left.) Longtime hot dog stalwart Wienerschnitzel is running a summertime special of chili dogs in a pretzel bun. Shari’s Restaurants encourages sharing and sampling with its Overtime Slider Combo of burgers and dogs. Sonic Drive-In has seen sales spike with its new line of hot dogs that includes this Bold & Spicy Baja Dog (above right.)
NPD: consumers want smaller portions www.nrn.com July 27, 2011
by Lisa Jennings
Restaurants have long used an overflowing plate to convey value, but a report indicates that portion control is growing in importance among American diners. In its “Healthy Eating Strategies by Generation” report, market research firm The NPD Group surveyed more than 5,000 adults and found that 43 percent said they ate smaller portions always or most of the time in the past year. But 57 percent of those surveyed said they want to eat smaller portions in the coming year, indicating that serving sizes will increasingly influence the choices consumers make, said Dori Hickey, NPD’s director of product management and author of the report. “We were trying to understand what constitutes healthy eating or a healthy lifestyle in consumers’ minds,” Hickey said. “What we saw was a difference in where they’ve been and where they aspire to be.” The report considered certain attributes associated with healthy eating and their importance to different age groups. Out of 30 attributes, eating smaller portions ranked 11th in importance among adult consumers overall. Adults ranked the top five characteristics of healthful eating and lifestyle as exercising regularly; eating well-balanced meals; eating all things in moderation; limiting or avoiding foods with saturated fat, cholesterol or trans fats; and drinking at least eight glasses of water per day. Among Generation X consumers ages 35 to 45, however, eating smaller portions was seen as more important, ranking seventh among healthful characteristics.
Hickey said that’s no surprise, as many people start packing on the pounds in that age range. “As people age, they become more mindful” of healthful eating, Hickey said. For Gen Y diners ages 21 to 34, smaller portions ranked eighth in importance; for older boomers ages 46 to 54, it ranked twelfth. Diners 55 years and older considered smaller portions less important than younger diners. Hickey speculated that may be because many older people have smaller appetites and tend to eat less than younger people anyway. For restaurants, the increased interest in portion control offers an opportunity, she said. A menu-labeling mandate on the horizon is forcing chain restaurants to think about downsizing portions to make calorie counts more reasonable. With consumers aspiring to eat smaller servings, restaurants can “reset the consumer vision of what a real portion is,” she said. She mentioned chains like McDonald’s, which on Tuesday announced changes to its Happy Meals that include a smaller portion of fries. In the casual dining segment, restaurants like The Cheesecake Factory and California Pizza Kitchen have had success with smaller-plate menus as an alternative to the heaping portions typically served. Others, like Maggiano’s Little Italy, are giving consumers more options, such as splitting a dish so diners can eat half in the restaurant and take the rest home for another meal.
Consumers craving more ethnic cuisine www.nrn.com Feb 17, 2011
by Bret Thorn
Adventurous consumers are searching farther afield for exotic food experiences, according to recent studies published by two research firms. Mintel, citing data from its “Global New Products Database,” said consumers appeared to be stretching beyond the relative comfort zones of the “big three” ethnic cuisines — Italian, Mexican and Chinese — to sample new tastes. As a result, the number of retail items that contained the words “Caribbean,” “Japanese” or “Thai” in their description grew rapidly between 2009 and 2010. “Thai” was used 68 percent more often during that period, “Caribbean” was mentioned 150 percent more, and “Japanese” saw a jump of more than 230 percent, the Chicago-based research company found. And while the foodservice industry has been a little slower to tap into those expanding ethnic culinary areas, a growing number of restaurateurs are beginning to broaden their culinary horizons as well.
For example, the 514-unit Boston Market introduced a Caribbeaninspired Island Mojo sauce and a Sweet Thai Chile Garlic sauce last spring. T.G.I. Friday’s featured Caribbean-style ribs, steak and chicken during a promotion last summer. And one of the new items added to the menu at the 145-unit Mimi’s Café last fall was a Thai Chicken Noodle Bowl. In a recently released survey, Port Washington, N.Y.-based consumer research group NPD asked consumers what ethnic or regional flavors were present in lunch or dinner menu items they ordered, and found a 3-percent jump in the mention of “Japanese,” the largest increase in percentage terms of any ethnic category. Mintel asked consumers where they learned about new “ethnic” foods, and 26 percent cited television programs, newspapers or magazines that featured cuisines from other countries. Cookbooks were the source for 23 percent of respondents, while 25 percent said they learned about new cuisines because they live in ethnically diverse neighborhoods, and 18 percent learned by traveling abroad.
Top Trends from Aspen’s Food & Wine Classic www.yumsugar.com June 24, 2011 What happens as a result of four days of nonstop eating and drinking? Well, in the case of Aspen's Food & Wine Classic, the answer isn't just limited to food comas and stomachaches (although we endured a few of those, too). After multiple meals and trips to the tasting tents, it became clear that there were themes among the many dishes we tasted. Here's what was hot at the Classic, and what you'll likely be seeing more of in the coming months.
1 1. Piggy Desserts Pork: it's what's for dessert. At the festival's premiere pig event, Grand Cochon, we eyed everything from pig liver crème caramel with roasted grapes and crispy bacon (shown here by Public chef Brad Farmerie) to bacon toffee topped with chocolate.
2. Frozen Drinks Piña coladas and strawberry daiquiris may be passé, but frozen drinks are back in a different way. Case in point: the pineapple slushies served up at DonQ's happening rum party, and the bourbon slushies (yes, you heard that right!) at the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival booth.
3. Fruity-Spicy Drinks
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Just because it's spicy doesn't mean it's a Bloody Mary! Everywhere we looked, barkeeps were serving up fruity, girly-looking drinks that had a serious kick. Case in point: Jim Meehan and Kate Krader served up a deceptively pink Porch Cobbler, and this Thatcher's Tres Chiles artisan liqueur with strawberries.
4. Chicharrones Say it with gusto: ¡Chicharrrrrrones! At the Best New Chefs dinner, these were on a third of the plates, from bacon-wrapped pork and meatloaf to porchetta crostini.
5. Skewered Meats Everything tastes better on a stick, and chefs have finally caught on to this, serving beef heart, coconut chicken, and grilled shrimp satays.
6. Breakfast Tacos 4
Beer with tacos. Top wines with tacos. Goat tacos. Beef tacos topped with potato and manchego crisps. The list goes on! The approachability, affordability, and portability of tacos made them irresistible Classic fare.
7. Goat Anything We first saw goat at the Classic three years ago, but this time around, it was abundant in everything. Andrew Zimmern hosted a "Goat Is Great" seminar, in which he famously remarked, "Goat is like soccer. It plays well with everywhere else in the world except here." We saw it in Stephanie Izard's award-winning goat sausage in XO broth, as well as shredded on tacos.
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8. Raw Tuna
11. Bone marrow
For the world being amidst such a huge tuna crisis, we sure did eat a lot of tuna. Raw tuna crudo and tuna tartare preparations abounded.
Nothing could be more the rage than beef bone marrow, served at Richard Blais's lunch topped with clams and sprigs of parsley.
12. Terrines 9. Uni Sea urchin has finally hit the mainstream. Although this briny, slivering sea creature's eggs are definitely an acquired taste, we learned to appreciate uni in everything from Richard Blais's uni- and crab-studded black garlic spaghetti with horseradish to Carlo Mirarchi's sea urchin straciatella.
10. Grilled cheese Grilled cheese is so hot right now! Laura Werlin gave a grilled cheese and wine pairing seminar. Richard Blais served up white cheddar and chutney sandwich squares, and zucchini, fontina, and pickle triangles made an appearance at a poolside Belvedere brunch.
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When it comes to pig parts, chefs and consumers alike had no fear. House-made country pâtés and terrines of all kinds were spotted in the tents, at the Best New Chefs dinner, and at Grand Cochon.
13. Croquettes Croquettes — known as croquetas in Spain and korokke in Japan — were ubiquitous in the tents. The one pictured here was filled with béchamel and ham, then served with an aioli. Others we spotted were filled with mashed potatoes or salt cod.
14. Whole shrimp Oxymoronic as they may sound, giant shrimp made a frequent appearance. We scored prawns with their heads and shells still on, whole shrimp satays, and bites of Portuguese shrimp alhinho.
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Top 10 Dessert Trends www.foodchannel.com May 5, 2011
In our Dessert Trends survey, Food Channel readers let us know they do enjoy their sweets. More than 80% have dessert at least once a week, while more than a quarter enjoy it every day. We were somewhat surprised that more than 50% of respondents said they usually make desserts from scratch, with more than 60% saying they make desserts the same way their grandmother did, agreeing it’s all about taste, no compromising. Only 26% said they use “light,” low-fat or fat-free ingredients when preparing desserts. Looks like when it comes to making desserts in their own kitchens, our readers are a bit “old school.” But we’re sure they all want to know what’s next in dessert trends. So here goes…
3. Wedding Cake Off the Guest List The three-tiered cake is starting to get eighty-sixed. It may seem like a sacrilege, but for a growing number of brides and grooms, creativity now trumps tradition. It's becoming another way for the young couple to show their personality by replacing the old-fashioned cake with a cheesecake bar, strawberry shortcakes, or a table full of pies or gourmet doughnuts. Among the most popular new choices today are macaroons, cake pops, and ice cream floats. It’s part of an overall trend toward a more casual—and less stuffy—lifestyle. Everyone wants to identify the “next cupcake” (NC) and to dethrone the mighty cupcake as the trend du jour – it’s become a love/hate relationship seasoned with a dash of backlash. Whoopie pies, macarons, small pies have all been contenders to become the NC, to the point where the cupcake has become almost a running joke. What’s relevant here is that people are looking for what’s fresh, exciting and…next. Well, it’s time to accept that the cupcake has gone from fad to trend to icon… and the movement now is more around its evolution than its dissolution. Today we’re seeing cupcake fondue, un-iced versions, savory varieties, flaming cupcakes, and shapes that are fat, skinny and mini—even cupcakes on a stick. It seems a new cupcake boutique bakery opens up every time you turn around. They’ve become almost as ubiquitous as ice cream parlors. On the home front, there are fancy new cupcake pans and cute little cupcake pedestals. In short, the next cupcake…is still a cupcake.
America’s taste for dessert is evolving. It doesn’t always have to be sugary sweet. High-end chocolate candies have led the way here with ingredients like bacon, soy, and jalapenos. Now we’re seeing lots of sweets packing heat from peppers and fiery spices. Salty-sweet continues to be a popular flavor combination with candy playing a role here, too, most conspicuously with the launch of M&M'S pretzel. We suspect people who are trying to cut back on sodium may be satisfying their craving for that salty taste by getting just a little touch of it with salty-sweet candies and desserts—whether consciously or unconsciously. Lots of us are also trying to curb our sugar intake, and opting for fruit-based desserts that are as tart as they are sweet.
People are looking for more than a sugar buzz from desserts today. They’re craving a protein boost, whether it’s from a fortified smoothie or a sweet cheese nibble from Laughing Cow. We’ve read about the protein punch we can get from nuts—two handfuls are better for us than one!—so let’s top that dessert with some walnuts or pecans. Responding to European influences, even some midscale restaurants are starting to offer up cheese trays as part of the dessert course. Sometimes paired with fresh fruit or a bite of chocolate, there’s nothing quite like ending your meal with an assertive cheese. It requires a sophisticated palate, or at least an open mind. We see protein-rich Greek yogurt used as a topping with fresh fruit, and now that eggs have been upgraded on the health scale by the USDA, look for things like egg custard to get more play.
Call this trend the maturing of America’s sweet tooth. We’re seeing milkshakes with a splash of rum, wine paired up with gelato, and beer partnered with donuts (okay that one’s maybe more adolescent than grown up). Restaurants are also using liquor add-ons to chocolate desserts as a way to boost check averages and offer the guest a little something extra. Want a shot of Bailey’s in that hot fudge sundae— it’s just an extra $2.50.
This is a food trend that’s all about health. Whole grains are huge. If you can treat yourself to a satisfying dessert and also get a few g’s of fiber, well, that’s a win-win. We’re seeing brown rice puddings, oatmeal crisp dessert toppings, and pies made with whole grain crust. On the flip side, there are those who—due to restricted diets— need to avoid grains all together. More and more restaurants are accommodating those needs, including on the dessert menu. Gluten free is found on nearly every menu now--or will be soon. It’s become trendy, even for those with no need to go gluten-free. For years, we couldn’t in good conscious put gluten free on any top ten list because the quality just wasn’t there, unless you count flourless chocolate cake (and if you do, then you could say we’ve been eating gluten free for years!) Now it’s a trendy call-out, and the dessert selection goes way beyond one cake.
Yes, the Raw Foods Movement has entered the dessert realm. Don’t know if the act of biting into a fresh crisp apple could be considered trendy, but how about if it was a raw (uncooked) cupcake? Today you can find raw and vegan versions of cupcakes, cheesecake, ice cream cakes, moon pies, tiramisu and many more. Sure, it’s a bit on the fringe side, but it’s getting bigger all the time. Today you can find appliances like Yonanas (pictured) that can turn raw fruit into an ice cream- or sorbet-like dessert. Perhaps the bigger picture here is a demand for foods—desserts included—that are far less processed. Fewer ingredients, cleaner labels, and please, no high fructose corn syrup.
8. A Touch of Sweetness All Day Long This trend is about frequency, not quantity. In tough economic times, we seek to soothe ourselves with small rewards and little luxuries. So it is with desserts. Maybe it’s a slice of pastry at breakfast, or fresh organic strawberries added to the oatmeal. At lunch time, we might order the Cinnamon Twists at Taco Bell to cap off our cheesy double decker taco meal. Perhaps we swing by Starbucks for a cake pop afternoon snack. After dinner at home, it might be just a piece of good quality chocolate from Dove or Ghiradelli. Dessert is no longer about death-by-chocolate over indulgence, it’s now about sweet little rewards that help get us through the day.
Subtle hints of floral have begun to sprout up in the dessert category. We’re seeing lavender, especially, with little touches of it in baked goods such as cupcakes and macarons. You can find lavender syrups, and lavender-infused sugars in teas and yogurts served in some restaurants. Even a chain as mainstream as Ruby Tuesday has introduced a new lavender lemon drop cocktail. Edible flowers, always popular as a garnish, are coming back in vogue as part of the aromatic and flavor experience.
We all enjoy a little tableside theater when we’re enjoying a nice restaurant dinner. We’ve had the tableside prep of the Caesar salad and the fresh guacamole. It’s only natural that this has started to creep across the menu. It began with tableside s’mores, and Brennan's in New Orleans is renowned for its tableside Bananas Foster. Now we’re seeing egg creams prepared tableside at Eleven Madison Park in New York. Alinea in Chicago does some amazing things, not just tableside, but table top, arranging an array of dessert ingredients on the table in front of the guests, who then can complete and customize the assembly of the dish. It’s dessert theater at its best.
Bonus: Have you noticed people aren’t sharing desserts as much? Maybe it’s our germophobic tendency, but going in with the same spoon for bite after bite has gotten old. Keep your germs, and your desire for bread pudding, to yourself. Not only that, sharing a dessert is often a compromise. You want this, he wants that, so one of you doesn't get what you want. When you're sharing with a bigger group it gets worse. You may only get one bite. When the dessert gets passed around, what goes around may not come back around. Today, more diners are saying, I want apple pie, with a big scoop of ice cream. Get your own! For more details on these trends, and the full text of this article filled with many supporting web links, visit www.foodchannel.com
Smoke, duck fat and other 2011 trends www.nrn.com March 3, 2011
Article by Ron Ruggless
Smoke, paprika, fine flours, ricotta and specialty fats are among the 2011 food trends that are heating up as restaurateurs head toward the second quarter of the year, a Seattle research firm said Thursday. “Chefs are infusing everything from cocktails to duck fat to shrimp with aromatic smoke,” said Melissa Abbot, director of culinary insights at Hartman Group Inc. in Seattle, who provided an overview of the hottest themes on menus during a webinar entitled “Progressive Food Trends” “We’ve been tracking key elements in the food world that go way beyond what we have come to know as trends and making note of products and behaviors through the lens of food culture,” Abbot said. “This helps differentiate between what’s a fad and what’s likely to be a long-term food behavior.” Among the long-term palate-changers: • Smoke has wafted into all nooks and crannies of the menu as consumers become more conscious about their meat consumption. “Boosting the flavor of non-meat dishes becomes really paramount,” Abbot said. “The primal flavor of smoking delivers a taste that meat eaters and meat-reducers often miss,” she said. “Smoked ingredients are showing up as smoked bread, of all things, at San Francisco’s Commonwealth restaurant to cold smoked grapes at Compose in New York City.” She also mentioned Spur in Seattle, a gastropub where a smoked yogurt is the base for a panna cotta. • Paprika, especially the smoked Spanish pimenton de la vera, is threatening to dethrone chipotle as the smoky spice of choice, Abbot said. “It’s natural, earthy, smoky, fruity and it’s described by people as being like vegetarian bacon,” she said. • Finer flours are becoming popular. Double-zero flour is especially sought after on forward-leaning menus. Abbot said double-zero “is the finest grind of flour you can get in Italy. Traditionally, it’s used in making everything from pizza to panettone.” It’s in such dishes as fettuccine with chanterelles at Table Six in Denver, she added. “It’s an indication of specialty flours and grains being on the rise,” she said. “Look for greater focus on how all types of grains are being milled.” Chefs can look at locally stone-ground wheat, finely ground flours of rye and buckwheat and corn meals.
Ricotta is becoming the hot dairy product, Abbot said. “It’s become the go-to ingredient for elevated comfort food,” she noted. “It’s really honest and super versatile.” Ricottas range from the hand-dipped version made with Hudson Valley milk at Salvatore Brooklyn in New York to sheep’s milk ricotta at Wayfare Tavern in San Francisco, she said. And interesting preparations include the ricotta pancake with orange syrup at The Breslin in New York City. • Duck fat is this year’s bacon, Abbot added. “From a culinary perspective, duck fat is pure magic,” she said. “From a health perspective … it contains a high percentage of mono-unsaturated fat and it’s actually closer in composition to olive oil than butter or even lard.” The high smoking point provides cooking at higher temperatures without burning. Lush Wine Bar in Chicago creates its bar popcorn in duck fat. And Michael Mina at Bourbon Steak in the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess in Arizona does a trio of individually spiced fries cooked in duck fat. “Beyond duck fat, expect to see more novel fats on menus,” such as lard and beef tallow, Abbot said. “As long as the fat is well-sourced it’s all good. And in small doses, it can actually be really good for you.” Among individual menu items, Abbot explained that menus are highlighting more “down-scale progressive” dishes. Some examples: • Basque small-plate pintxos. “Pintxos have a really strong socializing component,” she said. “It’s not just about the snack and the food; it’s about being together.” • Takoyaki, a hand-held dumpling wrapped around octopus from Japan. • Meatballs, the red-sauce “Italian joint staple” is being presented with higher quality ingredients, such as those at The Meatball Shop in New York City and a high-end version at A16 in San Francisco. • Oysters, which are becoming even more popular for being lower in calories and capitalize on the source of the shellfish, Abbot said. “Look for more ingredients that foster the sense of terroir, from local watersheds and chefs that skillfully highlight their subtle flavors,” she added. • Low-brow chicken, whether it is found in a Vietnamese version at Pok Pok Pu in Portland, Ore., a buttermilk-saltine crust at Hill Country Chicken in New York City or fried with spiced honey at Resurrection Ale House in Philadelphia. “Occasional fried food does feed the soul,” Abbot said. • Pop-up restaurants will extend to pop-up menu items, Abbot said. The popularity of guerrilla-style restaurants like chef Ludo Lefebvre’s LudoBites in Los Angeles are leading non-moving restaurants to offer limited-time items within an evening, such as the special burgers after 10 p.m. at Holeman & Finch in Atlanta. “Pop-ups create the notion of a fleeting food experience via culinary hunt, encouraging the consumer to shift the desire to the top of their to-do list,” Abbot said. • Nordic foods, which have been a beacon at Noma in Copenhagen, will show up more American menus, Abbot said. She suggested looking at Ikea’s food section, which has such items as lingonberries and elderberries, as well as open-face rye sandwiches with “funky” cheese and piquant mustard.
Takoyaki a Japanese grilled dumpling with octopus filling
• Housemade carbonated beverages are gaining traction with such culinary-inspired flavors as rhubarb-basil, caramel-pineapple and grapefruit-pink peppercorn.
Fruit a new favorite on chain restaurant menus From apple slices to exotic fare like açaí, fruit is multiplying in restaurant dishes www.nationsrestaurantnews.com July 6, 2011 by Nancy Kruse It wasn’t too long ago that the appearance of fresh apples on chain menus caused quite a stir. McDonald’s put them in the Fruit and Walnut Premium Salad and sent the domestic apple industry into overdrive. Burger King slyly added Fresh Apple Fries — peeled apples sliced in the shape of French fries — to the kids’ menu and snagged plenty of grown-up buyers in the process. Fast-casual chains like Panera Bread made varietals like Granny Smith and Fuji key ingredients in their entrée salads. Since that time, corporate chefs’ use of fruits has evolved at warp speed, driven partly by the versatility and accessibility of a wide range of products and partly by consumer receptivity to their flavor, color and healthful image. In a relatively short time, fruit has become a menu workhorse.
Bananas can now be found at Houlihan’s — in the ahi tuna salad with banana-ginger vinaigrette — and in the banana spring rolls at Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant. California Pizza Kitchen is baking a pear and Gorgonzola pizza, and Uno Chicago Grill is serving a D’Anjou pear salad. Mangoes are featured in Applebee’s Mango Limonadoes Cocktail, not to mention the mango pineapple smoothie that debuted at McDonald’s this summer. Strawberries and blueberries are in Wendy’s Berry Almond Chicken salad — also new this summer — as well as in the Blueberry-Blues Spinach salad at Fresh Choice and Shari’s blackberry pie milkshake.
(Clockwise, from top left) Quiznos plugs açaí, a berry from the Amazon lauded for its high antioxidant levels, in a vinaigrette available with its Farmers’ Market salads. A citrus vinaigrette adds to the health appeal of Applebee’s Weight Watchers Chipotle-Lime Chicken. Even Krispy Kreme is getting fruity with its banana doughnuts. Mangoes are sliced into Bahama Breeze’s mango-jícama slaw, which accompanies sea scallops with Peruvian corn cakes and cream lemon sauce.
Lobster-flavored ice cream is the hot scoop at Expo Fois gras, vinegar, bacon get sweet treatment www.nydailynews.com August 16, 2011
Article by Lindsay Goldwert
Arron Liu may have invented the first ice cream to come with a lobster bib. A gourmet ice cream boutique in Hong Kong that sources its cream from France, milk from Australia and vanilla bourbon from Madagascar drew curious crowds with adventurous palates at an international food expo last week. On the menu -- lobster and foie gras flavored desserts. Liu's Ice Cream Gallery was a crowd favorite at this year's edition of the Hong Kong Food Expo for audacious ice cream flavors that aim to elevate "fine ice cream" to fine dining. Since 1994, Liu has developed more than 600 ice cream flavors, some of which are inspired by French haute cuisine -- like the foie gras and salmon varieties -- and regional ingredients like Malaysian durian and Philippine mangoes. Ingredients for their ice creams are all natural. Some of their newest flavors include ginger vinegar and egg ice cream made with Italian black vinegar; French bacon and egg ice cream made with American bacon; and wine ice cream from Canada. Liu's ice cream was showcased at the food expo's Gourmet Zone, a new feature this year. Arron Liu's ice creams are created in four distinct styles: French creme glace, made from full-fat, French cream characterized by its no-holdsbarred richness; traditional Japanese ice cream made with green tea, red beans or sake; Italian gelato made primarily with milk; and frozen
yogurt, a tart, fat- and sugar-free version of their ice cream. Ingredients are sourced from around the world: truffles from Italy, sesame from Greece, nuts from Spain and gold-grade Japanese green tea. While the ice creamery offers classic flavors like chocolate and strawberry, its deluxe range pushes palates into haute cuisine territory with flavors like French rose chocolate made with organic French roses, salmon ice cream made with Norwegian salmon, black truffle ice cream and foie gras in ice cream form. But like any fancy suit-and-tie restaurant, Liu's gourmet flavors don't come cheap. A 16.9 oz tub of foie gras ice cream, for instance, is $800 HKD, or $115. Half-way around the world, Ben & Bill's Chocolate Emporium also sells a lobster-flavored ice cream made with butter and local lobster from Maine. Ice cream has become the newest medium for adventurous chefs looking to push the envelope -- and some buttons. To avenge what was becoming an insect scourge in Columbia, Missouri, a local ice creamery candied cicadas -- a relative of spittlebugs and leafhoppers -- and tossed them in an ice cream base of brown sugar and butter. In London, another high end boutique The Icecreamists snagged headlines for its breast milk ice cream called the "Baby Gaga."
Peanuts showing up on more menus www.nrn.com Feb. 18, 2011
Article by Bret Thorn
When peanuts make the news these days, it usually has something to do with allergies. But even as restaurateurs increasingly attempt to accommodate customers’ special dietary needs, this crunchy legume continues to grow in popularity.
When the vegetables are tender, he purees them and adds tomato juice and peanut butter — and possibly some sugar, depending on how sweet the other ingredients are. At service, the soup is topped with chopped scallions.
Peanuts are showing up across all foodservice sectors. The National Peanut Board cites Technomic’s MenuMonitor showing that the listing of peanuts on menus jumped 44.6 percent from 2006 to 2010.
Peanut soup is a long-standing favorite at the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center in Roanoke, Va. To prepare the dish, celery and onion are first sweated in butter, and then flour is added to make a light roux. Chicken stock is added to the mixture, cooked for half an hour and strained. Then the liquid is returned to the heat, and peanut butter, lemon juice, Kosher salt and celery salt are added. The soup is heated and garnished with ground peanuts.
Recent chain listings include the Manchu duck small plate with hoisin, smoked bacon, Asian cress and honey peanut vinaigrette at P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, peanut-ginger slaw at Houlihan’s, and Thai chicken salad at Panera. On the independent side, Jeremy Sewall, chef of Island Creek Oyster Bar in Boston, offers a peanut butter frozen yogurt topped with toasted peanuts. “We try to stay as seasonal as we can,” Sewall said, but added that can be tough in the winter. Fortunately, peanuts are available throughout the year, and Island Creek Oyster Bar’s customers like the frozen peanut butter dessert, he continued. “We sell a lot of it.” Sewall prepares the dish by combining peanut butter with mascarpone cheese, milk, yogurt and a little sugar, and then freezing it in an ice-cream maker. At 3 Vines Café in Sleepy Hollow, Ill., a South African peanut soup is on the menu. To make the soup, chef Eric Feltman sweats chopped onions in peanut oil. Next, he adds fresh ginger and cayenne pepper, followed by carrots, chopped sweet potatoes and vegetable stock.
Of course, peanuts are required in a number of East Asian dishes, including Pad Thai, Malay satay and Chinese Kung Pao chicken. They’re also part of the jiaozi, or boiled dumplings, at China Poblano in Las Vegas. The dumplings are stuffed with pork, water chestnuts, diced shrimp and peanuts. At BLT Burger, also in Las Vegas, the five-spice chicken salad includes cilantro, Napa cabbage, carrot, peanuts and cucumber. Hatfield’s in Los Angeles makes a chocolate caramel semifreddo with salted peanut crunch and bitter chocolate sorbet. In Atlanta, Canoe features a barbecued quail accompanied by chilled winter greens and boiled peanuts flavored with star anise, while Restaurant Eugene serves butterhead lettuce and shaved radish with smoked peanuts, confit pork belly and peanut flour.
10 Food Trends for 2011 www.foodproductdesign.com April 25, 2011
The past few years of economic turmoil has caused consumers’ food attitudes to shift and shape the Top 10 food trends for 2011, according to a new article published in Institute of Food Technologists’ (IFT) Food Technology magazine. High grocery and gasoline prices, job insecurity and the risk of inflation are limiting what consumers will spend; however, the conservative attitude is leading to more meals prepared and eaten at home, rejuvenating that segment of the industry. The Top 10 food trends for 2011 are:
1. Demographically Directed There is a dramatic difference in food preferences, eating styles and behaviors from the oldest consumers to the youngest.
2. Still Cooking Last year, 55 percent of grocery shoppers prepared more meals at home than in 2009, approaching a 20-year high. The trend is expected to continue, but shoppers want some help in making their meals, such as simple instructions, pop-up timers and serving suggestions.
3. The Appeal of Americana Americana, characterized by factors ranging from local and farmraised foods to American regional cuisines, will be among the most prominent food industry trends over the next decade. Southern, American seaboard and American barbecue lead U.S. cuisines on restaurant menus in 2011, which opens up many possibilities for traditional comfort foods, such as chili, fried chicken, pot roast and macaroni and cheese.
4. Foodie Focused Two-thirds of consumers consider themselves knowledgeable and interested in food, with young adults ages 25-34 most likely to be foodies. Research shows the specialty food market experienced marked success in 2010, with 63 percent of adults buying gourmet foods, up from just 46 percent in 2009.
5. Get Real Consumers are increasingly concerned about contents of the food in their diets. Research finds half of consumers deliberately avoid preservatives, almost half (47 percent) avoid artificial flavors, and 43 percent avoid colors. Natural ingredients rank third on the list of most looked-for items on the ingredient label, after type of fat/oil and sweeteners.
6. The New Nutrients Consumers are shifting away from getting nutrients via fortified foods and turning toward products that are naturally high in vitamins and minerals and those that have been blended with other foods to create even higher nutrient levels. Whole grain was the most sought-after health claim on packages in 2010, followed by high fiber, low sodium, low fat, no trans fat, low sugar, low calorie, no chemical additives, no preservatives and low/lower cholesterol.
7. Specialty Treats Chocolate candy, creamers, cookies and wine are among the fastest-growing categories in food, drug and mass merchandisers. The popularity of baking at home is surging because of the economy and high-end baking shows on television, but with only 41 percent of meal preparers describing themselves as experienced bakers, bread and bakery mixes and decorative toppings are enjoying brisk sales.
8. Three Squares Research shows the number of adults eating three meals a day increased 6 percent during the past two years, with breakfast being the biggest beneficiary of that trend. In 2010, consumers ate breakfast 5.3 days per week, and 55 percent never skipped the morning meal. Three-quarters of breakfast eaters ate at home, up 8 percent from two years ago. More than half of full-time workers brought a lunch from home in 2010, up from 28 percent in 2007.
9. Prescriptive Eating Consumers are turning to functional foods to aid in their health goals. Research finds 68 percent of baby boomers were concerned about cholesterol and 66 percent were concerned about blood pressure; among Gen Y consumers, 40 percent were concerned about cholesterol and blood pressure. Weight control and cholesterollowering lead the list of most desired functional food benefits, followed by digestion and immunity.
10. Home Rituals The difficult economy forced consumers to alter their everyday eating practices, and many of those changes remain in place three years later. For example, 71 percent of consumers have brought snacks from home to movies and sporting events, and 78 percent of all snacking now takes place in the home. Sixty-seven percent of consumers are spending more time at home with their family, and 44 percent entertaining family/friends at home instead of going out in 2010. For the full text of this article, please visit http://www.ift.org
Top 10 Trend Setters The Food Channel crew has roamed the aisles of the National Restaurant Show, attended session after session, and talked with company after company checking out the food trends at the Show. We’ve tasted and tested and, in some cases, gone back for second tastings or to ask more questions. And, we’ve narrowed it down to our favorite “things seen at the Show.” So, if you weren’t able to attend, take a walk with us down the aisles as we bring you our Top Ten. www.foodchannel.com
May 15, 2011 by Kay Logsdon
1. Groupon
3. Pizza Truck
It just has to be said: Groupon was a class act at the show. They had a large display area, too big to be called a booth, and they used it to show people exactly what Groupon does. With so many others in the “deal” space online, Groupon is smart to try to make its mark, especially in its home city of Chicago. Their trend setting presence was the tipping point that proved social media is dramatically impacting the restaurant world.
It had to come. Food trucks actually built as food trucks, not just renovated delivery vans. The latest comes out of a catering company in Connecticut, and this model was literally finished just hours before heading to the Show. It offers “Pizza Napolitana made fresh at your event!” The food truck trend continues unabated, and this model takes our top honors for its innovation and sheer beauty. This particular truck is being marketed by The Pizza Truck Co., but we also saw enhancements in food trucks of every kind.
2. Some Cool Equipment
4. Tenerissimo
What else do you call the Coke Freestyle, or the collaboration of Yelp and Anheuser-Busch that created the Kegmate? The Coke Freestyle isn’t exactly new—it’s been talked about at least since 2008, but it’s now in full bloom, offering 125 flavor combinations in one vending machine. The trend-setting machine even has the ability to recognize you as a customer, through a computer chip in your cup. If you like that, you’ll love the Kegmate, which is essentially a beer keg with an iPad attached, giving you multiple technological features (some call it “your new bartender.")
It's a cross between soft serve ice cream and a smoothie, and, paired with various liquids, it is our top food pick. We tried all four varieties at the show, all featuring this new product meant for foodservice (meaning you may be able to order a dessert made with it soon enough at a restaurant near you). Mango, coffee, espresso with mascarpone, and—the winner—a berry/grapefruit that was just perfect. It was a smooth frozen treat, layered with the tang of grapefruit, with a beautiful berry color, made by PreGel.
5. SmartCellar
8. ProStart
They get kudos for the name, and for being right in the middle of the latest technology & food trend combination. This is a tech tool meant to facilitate the discussion between the restaurant customer and the sommelier. In other words, it’s your wine list on an Apple iPad tablet, complete with a way to ask questions of the wine steward. So, instead of getting a huge paper wine list, you get a digital notebook—and a fun way to encourage discussion about wines at the table. There were a lot of different uses of notebook technology on display at the Show, but we liked this one because it isn’t just technology for technology’s sake; SmartCellar has a purpose of educating and providing interaction in a non-threatening manner.
There were some hard-working young people with a prime demonstration spot at the Show, and they had earned it. First, a big hats off to Janet Dukes, the Culinary Education teacher at Newport Harbor High School in Newport Beach, Calif., whose students took first place in the competition across both culinary and management. Students from the finalist schools showed off their skills and proved they have what it takes to work in this industry... and the smart restaurants will grab them up for jobs soon enough. ProStart is a program of the National Restaurant Association, and we commend them, too, for creating this type of opportunity in education.
9. “It’s About Time” Equipment 6. Get Back to Scratch We like this one for two reasons: 1) It’s all about cooking; and, 2) their spokesman at the Show, Buddy Valastro, from TLC’s “The Cake Boss,” was simply charming. He won us over when he said, “I do this because of people like the mom who came up to me and said, ‘Thank you. Because of you, my 14-year-old daughter wanted a cake decorating kit for her birthday. There are a lot worse things a 14-year-old could be into, and it means a lot to me.” The Get Back to Scratch trend is just what it sounds like—baking from scratch, without using mixes. There is a contest for restaurants, too, and everyone can vote for their favorite from the signature items submitted.
No, that’s not a company. Those are just the words we used when hearing about a couple of trend-setting innovations in equipment. First, the new Fire Deck Stone Hearth Ovens from WoodStone. Finally, a way to safely bring wood-fired heat to an indoor oven. Then, on a much smaller scale (and, yet, more likely to be seen by consumers), is the new oatmeal dispenser. We checked out the one made by Bunn called the Imix-3 Oatmeal Machine, which will come out in mid-July. You’ll see it in hotel lobbies and convenience stores, so look forward to the day when you don’t have to rip open the packet or measure your hot water. Given the rising interest in hearthealthy oatmeal, we are only surprised this didn’t come along sooner.
10. Edible Utensils 7. Chile The International section at the Show is always a big deal, but Chile pretty well stole the show this year with its exhibits and the energetic Carolina Ordonez (from the Chile Trade Commission) who identified the companies who are working hard to bring their products to the United States. We were intrigued by the wine in the can, and impressed by Chef Katherine Medel, who had us taste the turbot from Seafood Resources.
We had to throw in one just for fun, but it’s also one that people couldn’t stop talking about. We heard this from all over: “Did you see the edible spoons?” Credit Edibles by Jack for the Asian spoons in various flavors. And, the “meat straw” from Benny’s Bloody Mary Beef Straw company is potentially worth waiting for—it comes out later this summer. “I was bartending and I was bored,” Ben Hirko told us. It seems like a good idea, although he only had prototypes on display. Hang onto your celery sticks, though, because we suspect this may usher in a whole new trend!
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