5 Food Trends
To Cook This Year
Delicious fusion, old-school techniques, and more plants round out the list of predictions for 2019.
Trend 1:
Pacific Rim Fusion
What is it: When people refer to the Pacific Rim, they’re talking about any country with a border that touches the Pacific Ocean. Pacific Rim fusion cooking, then, refers to dishes that meld the diverse techniques and ingredients found in countries and locales from the West Coast of the United States to New Zealand and Japan, to name just a few.
Key ingredients/techniques:
Think ubiquitous dishes such as seafood tacos combined with unusual ingredients like coconut sauce, longganisa (Filipino sausage), and passion fruit smoothies.
Try it at home:
Look for recipes that offer a hodgepodge of fresh herbs such as basil, cilantro, and lemongrass, or are infused with the bright zing of ingredients from warm-weather climates, including
Trend 2:
Classic Techniques
What is it: This trend homes in on time-tested cooking skills that your grandmother (or great-grandmother) would have used in the kitchen, but updates them with recipes that include ingredients geared for today’s families.
Key ingredients/techniques:
These recipes eliminate pretension in favour of basic skills, such as baking bread, roasting, and dicing, that you’ll use over and over. Check out current titles by popular authors such as Julia Turshen, Patricia Wells, and Tamar Adler.
Try it at home:
A few good ingredients and more intuitive cooking are often the hallmarks of back-to-basics cooking. Great starter options include a vinaigrette, roasted chicken, or a pot of simmered and flavorful black beans.
Trend 3:
Fermented Foods
What is it: Kombucha, kimchi, sauerkraut, yogurt, sourdough bread are all examples of fermented food and drink, a trend that’s ticking up in popularity. Many fermented food fans claim the bacteria that are present in these dishes offer a health boost to the digestive system, while others just like the tangy-leaning flavours.
Key ingredients/techniques:
Fermented foods are generally made when a bacteria or yeast converts a sugar or starch. In sourdough bread, for example, this means yeast mixed with grains equals lactic acid and carbon dioxide, which in turns equals rising bread. Salt, water, and seasoning creates the bacteria that breaks down cabbage, which is how kimchi is made.
Try it at home:
Quick-pickle red onions for a delicious burger topping. Combine about a cup of apple cider vinegar, a heaping tablespoon of sugar, 2 teaspoons of salt, and a red onion; let sit for an hour, then refrigerate.
Trend 4:
Plant-based Eating
What is it: More and more consumers are eating less and less meat, even if it’s just a day or two out of the week. About one-third of Americans go meat-free at least once a week, and over 8 in 10 have tried to boost their health with plant-focused foods.
Key ingredients/techniques:
A wider availability of grains, beans, lentils, and alternative dairy foods have helped people make swaps, such as tofu in place of meat as the main ingredient or almond milk for cream in coffee.
Try it at home:
Dairy milk is perhaps the easiest change: Simply choose an unsweetened alternative milk, such as soy, in recipes. And tofu can be a really delicious, hidden alternative in some plant-focused desserts such as chocolate mousse. In addition, search out recipes that offer a high-protein grain, such as quinoa, for a tasty addition to your lunch rotation.
Trend 5:
French Cooking
What is it: Today’s cooks appreciate Julia Child’s artistry, but don’t necessarily have time to fuss over daunting hours of prep time and pages of ingredients. Instead, this food trend finds more practical approaches to French classics, such as packaged beef stock, to cut time and effort but not flavour in delicious boeuf bourguignon.
Key ingredients/techniques:
Quality is key in French cooking, such as richly marbled cuts of beef and farm-fresh eggs. These ingredients along with techniques such as braising allow the flavors to shine and let today’s cooks experiment with those time-worn techniques.
Try it at home:
Opt for simple quiche with a crusty loaf of bread or a minimalist soufflé.
