What To Eat in The New Year

With a  new year comes new trends. That applies so much to food too. There are some novel ideas coming out of the culinary world .Will they stick? Maybe.

Regular contributor Kim Severson wrote about these trends that were also covered yesterday in todays' New York Times Food section.We covered the future rice of sauces like Chipotle's which is an easy copy. This is a spicy vinaigrette that could work well with an adobo chicken salad.It's has the kick of chipotle peppers in tt. It could also work well There was also fruit like strawberries that will have added flavors like pineapple and passion fruit bread into them.There is an incredible interest in seed development as per the director of sales Jon Hansburg of Baldor Foods in the Bronx. The company specializes in such delicacies as truffles  and microgreens. Again there was also the idea of better hospitality aimed at customers. This will be apparent as employees  such as waitstaff and cooks will get a better work/life balance.Restaurants will also be warmer to customers ,offering them a haven amiss the turmoil outside.

Another trend not covered yesterday was savory coffees!!. THose liquid desserts with syrup and cream will make way for more saltier brews. Coffees are being mixed with pureed  sunchokes and avocado and be infused with ginger ,lemongrass and rosemary. Yemeni coffeehouses which got their start in Detroit, the country's largest Arab community will be spreading to other areas, bringing their Hawaii spice , a mix of cardamon, cinnamon and ginger. Japan will share its' grab and go gastronomy as even gas stations will offer prepared meals, along with their own brands of frozen foods and salads along with creating coffee bars.Protein consumption will be on the rise as more people go for peanut butter and Turkish breakfasts which expand the first meal with feta cheese and jams. Even orgam meats which usually are ignored could be on the table this year. There are also going to drinks that give the same buzz as alcohol, but instead of being ninety proof they're infused with hemp kava and an amino acid called GABA which calms the brain.

These are some of the trends that will grace 2025. There will  probably be more as the year goes on. These trends are worth trying and should add interest to any diet.

Sharing Love And Food

Food and love should be shared freely. Gullah cook Emily Meggett know this as she doles out equal parts  of them in the heart of South Carolina's Low Country Her cooking and attitude get love back, It's no wonder that she and her dishes are well known and adored.

Regular contributor Kim Severson wrote about Ms. Meggett in today's New York Times Food section. The entire world will be knowing Ms Meggett in two weeks time when her cookbook,"Gullah Geechee Home Cooking:Recipes From the Matriarch of Edisto Island (Abrams Publishing) The 123 recipes centers on  the staples of the Gullah Geechee table: rice seafood and locally grown fresh vegetables.Ms/ Meggett gives reader the definitive chicken perloo and okra soup along with one pot dishes. Other dishes reflect her own creativity to feed a large family or countless friends. She created leftover meat casseroles and canned pork and beans over rice and smoked sausage. Her wildcat sauce is made with crisped salt pork,flour and sauteed scallions with a splash of coffee. Ms. Meggett also has made countless shrimp and grits lunches for the Charleston car dealership where she gets free tune ups.The cookbook has a mix of complex recipes such as making wine(!) from muscadine grapes and stuffing shad with parsley and rice and serving it with roe. This is a two day prep. Then there's easy ones like pancakes made with melted butter and corn syrup and making juice pops called thrills or bears with Tropical Punch or Kool Aid.

Ms. Severson includes two of Ms. Meggett's recipes. One is the Gullah favorite crab cakes and the other is the classic benne wafers. The crab cakes are  made with homemade toasted bread crumbs as the filler. There's also self rising flour too (although you can sub in a mix of flour and baking powder,Mace and onion give it that distinct flavor as they're whisked into a cream sauce that also features , flours eggs, white vinegar and milk. Lump crab meat is added to the sauce and mixed lightly. They're then divided into thick rounds and coated with the bread crumbs. They're fried in half a cup of vegetable oil and then drained. Of course the benne wafers could follow these. This classic Gullah cookie gets its name from the benne seeds used

 in the recipe. They're actually sesame seeds so you can use these as well.These are rich  cookies thanks to th the addition of half a cup of butter used. There's also the mix of brown and white sugar for more flavor and baking soda for lift.Eggs and vanilla are also in the mix too. These' are a lovely ending to any meal.

Emily Meggett carries on the Gullah tradition of making good food and sharing it with those she loves. Thanks to her new cookbook, now the world can also love her good food and share it with those they love. It is food from the heart.

Shrimp Facts

Everyone love shrimp.It's so common that it"s part of our weekly diets,,thanks to fast food chains and all you can eat buffets.Yet do most shrimp lovers know what kind they're really eating? Is this love helping or harming the environment? it 's not just prawns in cocktail sauce anymore.It's a whole new world, as deep and complex asvthe oceans that give us these tasty morsels. Luckily regular contributor,Kim Severson,The New York Times Wednesday Dining section explored this along with giving us really good recipes.There's a wealth of knowledge to grasp before buying shrimp though.Most shrimp come from Asia, primarily Thailand .However if you're fortunate to live in the Southeast, you have your own kinds.The Gulf Coast produces brown shrimp ,from the Gulf of Mexico.This is an acquired taste because the shrimp has a strong iodine taste yet most natives of the area swear only by it.The waters off South Carolina gives us white shrimp while eastern Florida has pink.The Sunshine State also has the much treasured Royal Reds, a rare variety because they are pulled from very deep water and spoil quickly.As with salmon, there are shrimp farms on both American coasts.When buying in your local grocery store make sure that the shrimp have their shells still on.Shelled varieties are usually treated with chemicals to preserve them.Also look for the letters I.Q.F. Which stands for individually quick frozen..The lack or abundance of the crustacean on the market also depends on the season, government regulations and reproductive cycles. Shrimp also come with an environmental price too.Firstly the are affected by pollution. Louisianan shrimpers saw this when BP created that ghastly spill a few years ago.The result is deformed animals that can't be eaten and must be discarded..Other animals suffer too in the shrimping industry.Fish and turtles get caught in the large nets that shrimpers use however there are now devices that they must use.This allows freeing the turtles.Before buying research where the store or fish market has acquired them.Despite all this shrimp always has been and still is addictive.They meld well with any seasoning and cooking method.Ms Severson offers some tasty recipes such as spiced salt baked shrimp.This is a salt rub, enhanced by cardamon, cinnamon and peppercorns and baked around the shrimp in a kind of casing.there's also a scampi made with wild shrimp along with pan roast shrimp with mescal, tomatoes and arbor chiles..The last is broth cooked and fired up with poblamo chiles and a shot of the Mexican liqueur ,mescal.This last is the perfect dish for a Saturday night with friends. Shrimp may be a simple dish to create but it comes with a complexity of quandaries.The best bet is having an open dialogue with your purveyor about it's origins and how it was caught.Then enjoy it.It's is excellent in a salt rub or spice with peppers or a shot of mescal.