Food trends for 2008
You don’t have to be a genius to figure out that the new more is less: Less meat, less sugar, less packaging and less food on our plates. High oil prices, health-conscious baby boomers, and increased global awareness will drive the trends for the coming year.
The word of the year for 2007 from the New Oxford American Dictionary is “locavore,” which is someone who eats food that is grown locally. This is all about buying from local farms, eating seasonally, and supporting small, sustainable farms and local artisinal products.
Other trends for 2008
Probiotics is the hot buzzword and yogurt is the number-one delivery system. Trendy yogurt shops are popping up all over the Bay Area as people discover the digestive benefits of friendly bacteria and the smooth and creamy taste of real yogurt.
My new breakfast is oatmeal with plain yogurt, blueberries, chopped nuts and agave syrup. Homemade yogurt is surprisingly easy to make and you have the benefit of knowing exactly what’s in it.
Sugar and high fructose corn syrup are out and low glycemic natural sweeteners are in. Agave syrup, stevia, xylitol and vegetable glycerin are the sweeteners in my pantry. Look for more and more baked goods to be made with these alternative sweeteners. Whole grains such as farro, quinoa, and oat groats will continue to climb in popularity, as will gluten-free baked goods. Good carbs are in, which means anything unrefined, unbleached and not white, unless it’s pasta, which will never be out.
The hot kitchen machine will be a home grain mill for grinding your own wheat, corn and flax seed. Mine is an attachment on my Kitchen Aid mixer.
Look for more vegetarian restaurants to open and cookbooks that feature grain and vegetable dishes. Asian cooking uses meat as a collaborative ingredient and American chefs will begin to emulate this model and move away from large pieces of meat as the central focus on the plate.
The plates will also get smaller and the portion size will diminish as we realize that we can’t eat like Fred Flintstone anymore.
Our seemingly inexhaustible desire for stocking our pantry with specialty food items will continue unabated. We will have more varietal choices, from sea salt to extra virgin olive oil.
Food varieties from Asia and Latin America will be given more space on the grocery store shelf. More information about where the food is grown will appear on the label. We want to know where it was grown, how it was harvested and under what conditions.
Paper or plastic? That is so last year. We finally get with it in a big way when it comes to disposable packaging. Just say no to paper, plastic and Styrofoam, and yes to bringing your own bag, cup, and to-go container. Most of it does not get recycled and ends up in a landfill. This is the year we all buy nice water bottles and refill them from the tap, which is exactly where the two-buck designer water bottles are filled.
Gardening, home canning, baking, and specialty food-preserving activities like drying, dehydrating, and solar cooking will become more popular. Not only do we want to know where our food comes from, we want to grow more of it ourselves and have control over how it’s processed.
Here are my nominations for 2008:
Ingredients of the year:
pumpkin seed oil, rangpur lime, barley
Cuisine of the year:
Kerala (southern India)
Restaurant of the year: home
Cooking method of the year:
backyard solar oven
Food book of the year: “In Defense of Food,” by Michael Pollan
Buzzword of the year: local
Chef of the year:
Tito Nunez Gudas, restaurant El Romero, Pinar del Rio, Cuba
Dish of the year:
Grilled cheddar cheese sandwich on homemade whole wheat bread
Runner-up dish of the year: chard pancakes
