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2008 Food Trend Predictions
2007 was without doubt the year of the locavore and 100 mile diet. So what will emerge in 2008? Without the aid of any kind of real research or expert consultation, I give you my best guess at what will be hot by, um, next week or the next 51… 1. Freshness Coffee, beer and chocolate are just three ingredients that degrade over time. Merchants of Green Coffee Co-founder Derek Zavislake gives a coffee bean about a three day shelf life after being roasted, and Creemore Brewery will pull its beer from store shelves after eight weeks. It’s the anti-oxidants in most volatile (i.e. complex and delicious) foods that begin to decompose and go rancid that make the difference. Watch for more best before dates and freshness claims. 2. À la française For twenty years French food has taken a backseat to Italian, then Spanish, in the minds of the English-Speaking World’s gourmeratti. But, as Michael Ruhlman, who came under fire this year for his decidedly francophilic Elements of Cooking recently pointed out “It was in French kitchens that the fundamentals of cooking were first named and codified. It may be American, but it is called our cuisine.” Watch for the ghost of Escoffier to come back with a vengeance. 3. À la chinoise The world media is heading to Beijing this summer for the Olympics and these people generally like to eat and drink. Look for sinophilic magazine covers by June and stock up on five spice. 4. Funny cuts of meat For a young chef, completing a “stage” or apprenticeship in a top restaurant is a necessary rite of passage. So where is the hottest place to stage in Toronto this year? The Healthy Butcher shop on Queen Street West. Why? Because they deal with whole sides of beef and animals in their entirety. Chef Mark Cutrara trained at Healthy Butcher before opening Cowbell (which has an enormous meat locker in its basement for just this sort of thing), and knife guru Peter Hertzman travelled all the way from the San Francisco Bay to do the same. Watch for more interesting cuts and proprietary information on meat on menus. 5. Green thumbs Martha Stewart has always known it and Jamie Oliver has discovered it and taken it to the next level with his latest TV show and book. Gardening is the natural extension hobby of the home cook and the obvious extension of the locavore movement. See you at the seed exchange. Malcolm Jolley is the Publisher of Gremolata. |
