Trends Past Trends Future

 This was an interesting year food wise. There was hot honey and sleepy girl mocktails. Fast foods combat each other with cheaper prices. These were some fo the trends in the year past. What will 2025 bring in?

Hot honey was everywhere, from iced tea to a dip for anything chicken.It's an easy make.Take regular honey, preferably a wildflower kind, add crushed hot pepper flakes and just a tiny splash of apple cider vinegar to cut all that sweetness. You can simmer it on a stovetop or just hear it int he microwave for a few minutes. Add it to everything. it kick;s up a bland buttercream and makes for an exciting rib sauce. As for the sleepy girl mocktail.Use tart cherry juice which facilitates sleep,magnesium and some seltzer.Mix and drink. This is perfect for those sleepiness nights and can help in destressing. Fast food giants like Wendy'd and McDonalds's lowered their prices in competition with each other. This will continue until the summer. Taco Bell joined the nugget competition with their chicken nuggets and covered them with tortilla chips. They're bigger than McDonald's and according to some Tiktokker's tastier.

What's ahead in 2025? it will be a year of sauces.Chipotle's viral vinaigrette will be gracing salads. This is a mix of red wine vinegar ,honey oregano and garlic along with chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. This is the perfect lift for any salad. Ranch dressing will still be number one but there will be variations.There will be pickle flavorings along with chimichurri. Fruits will have new flavors.It all started with cotton candy grapes. Strawberries will surprisingly have more flavors. Your next bite into one may be one filled with pineapple, peach or passion fruit mixed with the juicy berry flavor. These will also be higher in nutrients and vitamins too, given that they'll be grown on more organic soil.Hospitality will also be big in the new year with  friendship oozing out of hotels and restaurants. There will be shorter menus and comfortable menus. Value and deliciousness will be important as more and more places offer workers a more reasonable work/life balance.

It's time to ring out the old trends and ring in the mew. 2025 will be interesting and flavorful. Every bite and sip will be intriguing.

Your 2023 Food Trends

 It's always fun to predict what's going to be hot and trendy in the New Year. What will 2023 bring foodwise? Will there be a hot new flavor? Or a new fusion cuisine that everyoine will rave about? There are some definite predictions that we'll br seeing a lot of in the next twelve months.

Regular contributor Kim Severson pondered this and investigated it in todays New York Times Food section. She interviewed the best food forecasters and waded through dozens of reports and news releases. Some predictions seem grim thanks to external forces like inflation, climate change and globalism. what trends willt hese give birth to? According to Jennifer Zigler, a food an drink director for the global market research group Mintel,, simplicity , versatility escapism and resourcefulness. There will be high end Jell-o shots, , bright naturally colored fare and packaging reminiscent of the Seventies.What will be the ultimate flavor of the year? Surprisingly brine. fresh bracing marine flavors are what our palates will be craving. There will be coastal cocktails garnished with crab claws and oysters.Actor Dan Levy and host of "The Big Brunch"  is making Clamato juice hot again. Another food trend is the ube a slightly nutty vanilla scented purple yam from the Philippines.It will be  in everything from waffles to pina coladas. There is also going to be a snack of 2023 too.It's the crunchy , yummy chicken skins. They're gracing nachos and on their own.Chefs are using every part of the chicken  thanks to rising costs. we also may be sharing food more too ,thanks to spending years apart. 

There is even a food word of the year.It's regenivore , meaning  a person who wants food from companies who are actively healing the planet through carbon reducing agriculture, more rigorous  animal welfare policies and equitable treatment of people who grow and process food. Also look for more packaging that reduces waste.Chefs will use more climate hero foods like teff and lupin beans. There's also going to be a lot fo thrift. There will be no shame in coupon clipping. Rising energy costs will find home chefs using their air fryers, microwaves and electric kettles.Private label supermarkets will also be offering shorter menus and more value. Japanese cuisine will be shining in the New Year. other cuisines will be more Japanese adjacent  meaning that chefs of that descent will be using flavors and techniques in foods that they grew up with. Kimika in New York is a prime example , marrying Italian and Japanese cuisines together. West African food is going to be popular too  with suya ,a three spice flavoring becoming popularSpace food will be seen on the menu in 2023 too. Tang makes a big comeback as does free dried ice cream. even Coke comes out with a space flavored drink (think lime).

Will these trends stick til December of next year. It's hard to say. Some stay . Sone don't. Just embrace  them and enjoy their flavors .

The Cookbooks That Sustained Us

 The best sellers of 2020 were not thrillers or romance - although they certainly had thrills and love in them. They also had flavor. What sold during the pandemic year? Cookbooks. Thousands of them. They helped us get through some of the most difficult times.

Kim Severson wrote about this phenomena of sorts in today's New York Times Food section.Cookbooks were everyone's go to , starting almost exactly a year ago. They comforted us, taught us how to cook comfort food as well as exotic dishes,Best of all they were simply a friend to home chefs, looking for an escape from a scary new normal.It's no wonder that sales were up seventeen per cent from 2019. The stars were predictable. Joanna Gaines and Ina Garten were at the top. Samin Nosrat, a regular contributor to the New York Times Food section. Her Salt,Fat, Acid, Heat, (Simon and Schuster) was number five on The New York Times non fiction best sellers list. Others, like Claire Saffitz's Dessert Person: Recipes and Guidance for Baking with Confidence (Clarkson Potter) also rose to the top ten, speaking to our need for sweet comfort last year. Trends emerged too. Sales of vegan cookbooks soared as did  ones revolving around health. This was due to people concerned about the planet and their own Covid-19 threatened lives. Vegetable Kingdom: The Abundant World of Vegan Recipes by San Francisco chef, Bryant Terry sold 30,000. African American cookbooks like   Toni Tipton -Martin's Jubilee Recipes From Two Centuries of African American Cooking, a mix of history and cooking also sold.

Of course books about baking bread soared. People wanted to join the sourdough trend. Yet other trends emerged too. There was a run on canning and preserving books because many home chefs went out and bought canning equipment. The same was true for grilling. The sales of pellet grills and smoking cookbooks were simultaneous. That's why Franklin Manifesto : A Meat Smoking Manifesto written by Aaron Franklin and Jordan Mckay was a breakout hit. The book sold a whopping 360,000 copies with 500,000 in print.Pizza cookbooks were other big sellers. Flour,Water, Salt, Yeast : The Fundamentals  Of Artisan Bread and Pizza written by Ken Forkish and published by the food centric Ten Speed Press became the top selling baking book on Amazon with 600,000 books in print. Home chefs wanted to travel too and they did it through cookbooks.In Bibi's Kitchen: The Recipes and Stories of Grandmothers From the Eight African Countries That Touch The Indian Ocean shows  the different comfort recipes from Eastern Africa along with Dan Buettner's The Blue Zones Kitchen which combines lush photography from around the world with international recipes.

Cookbooks will always be a source of comfort. They not only teach us but take us away from what had been the scary normal. They were godsends in a truly turbulent year.

The Last Entry ..... For Now

I am closing the Pantry for now. I don't know if I will come back because I am undergoing a life altering operation. it will change me - and not for the better. I whole heartedly wish everything was different - back to normal, where I could still interview chefs and write about food trends. That was not meant to be.

If I am back  - I am back - if not - thanks for all your amazing support these past nine years.It meant  a lot to me. I loved writing this blog and now I must give it up.💧💧💧😪😪😪😪😪😪😪😪

Food Trends For The New Year

We all want 2016 to end.Foodwise, it was an OK year.Cheetohs may have made a comeback , thanks to a certain presidential candidate but that's it.What trends will bloom in the new year?

The New York Times Food section wondered this too in today's issue.Kim Severson, a regular contributor, wrote about trends of past years.1997 brought us the exotic wrap, now a staple of delis and luncheon platters every where.2006 brought us the uboquituous olive bar that is a supermarket must
2002 ushered in bubble teas while we have 2008 to thank for the rebirth of kale.Macaroons and whoopie pies were the it girls of 2011.


Trends used to take two to three months to percolate back in the late Nineties.Social media now can birth a trend and grow it overnight. Every December food wonks and PR firms throw out foods and see if they stick. 2017 is promising to see an interest in such diverse cuisines as French and Filipino. Natural grains such teff and sorghum may be in every baked good from cupcakes to breads. Egg yolks ,long under fire for being bad for you, is now going to be a top ingredient.Not surprisingly, hemp is also going to be hot.

What else will be the most trendiest food this year?It could come from any foodie. It could be hemp crepes or a Filipino egg dish. Any guess is a good one.

What Will The New Year's Bring?

What are going to be the trends and tastes of the new year? Will we be beset by another year of Middle Eastern spicing? Will a new gadget spark our interest? What will 2016 bring? 

One trend is getting back to our culinary roots. In other words that General Tso's chicken and buffalo wing pizza will be foods of the past. Foodies want authentic food not Americanized versions. You'll see more regional dishes in restaurants of all ethnicities. This may also lead to discovering one's culinary roots and a push to delve into  family cookbooks for the real thing.This may have lead to the next trend -less processed food.TV dinners and microwave snacks will no longer have artificial coloring or flavors nor will they have preservatives.This will lead to another predicted trend of the new year - organic fast food. Amy's has already opened up their first fast food joint, enlisting local farmers to help them out .Hopefully the big guns, McDonald's, Wendy's and Burger King will also follow suit.The big flavor of the year - pineapple. The tropics are coming back and in a big way.

Another trend is baby chefs. We're going to be inundated by new waves of Junior Master Chefs. Foodie babies have come of age and they're hot on the trails of their elders to slice  dice , and inherit the family sous vide. That said, there may be a rush to enroll's one's to, not in tetherball but  in baking and grilling classes.They'll probably be going gaga for gadgets like their home chef folks however there's a twist in this.The thingamabobs are not brand new. They're what our grannies and great-grans used to create delicious dinners and desserts. Get ready to swoon over (again) for baking sheets and broilers. More dinners will be cooked on a baking sheet than in any pot or pan. This makes sense because you can roast the main and the sides together for an evenly cooked meal.

These are just some of the predictions for the new year. We'll never really know until the trend is literally on fire. New ideas and recipes come along all the time. The trick is will they be the spark that lights up the foodie world in 2016?

Food Trends Predictions And Hopes For 2015

Every new year brings predictions and hopes. The culinary world is no different. There are expectations and trends that will shape and polarize 2015. What will they be?Will they be successful or fizzle out? Just as with the world anything is possible.

One of the most talked about trends to be is the Nordic Diet. This is replacing 2014's Paleo diet which was the cave man diet, which has periods  of starvation along with feasting on meats and root vegetables. The Nordic Diet is a bit more kinder.It is basically the foods the Vikings ate over a thousand years ago with  the inception of canola oil or rapeseed oil, rapeseed being common in Scandanavia. Meats include everything from cod to moose, however free range chicken is also allowed on meat days. Foods should be foraged and moss along with edible barks and twigs are allowed. Root veggies such as carrots and turnips along with berries like strawberries and blueberries are extras. Another trend that will be welcomed, is the death of hipster artisanal foods. The hipster movement is dying and with it all those annoying trends like make your own bacon, pickles,Amish food and make anything in a mason jar.

2015 has a lot of exciting food trends.I'm excited about Brusselkale, a hybrid of two very good for you foods. Imagine kale in miniature with a peppery taste.There is also lollipop kale which will definitely be made into neat little appetizers. Pistachios are another hot trend in the making (obviously those Stephen Colbert commercials paid off for the National Pistachio Council).Right now you can buy them dipped in rich dark chocolate for a sweet and healthy snack. You'll be seeing them on pizzas as well as in guacamole and pesto sauces.Bitter foods are going to be another culinary must have. Think tart and earthy like broccoli rape or stout.Fermented foods are also going to be getting a shout out this 2015. Sauerkraut and yogurt will be bigger than usual although there is a reason for this. Both are probiotic which aids both in digestion and eliminating harmful bacteria.

This is only day one of the new year yet trends are forming and gelling. It should be an interesting 2015, with pistachios and sauerkraut vying with moose and berries.  What will your trend be this year?

Food Trend 2012

Now that the New Year is here , it;s time to see what will be the top food trends in 2012.there will be a lot of them from  what yesterday's Daily News Eats section predicts.Some are actually very predictable, some are sort of a surprise. However for now there is no new breed of animal we'll be eating or new strain of fruit or veggie to go wild over.It seems the New Year looks to the past as to what we'll be chowing down on.

The Eats section  interviewed several New York City chefs and they more or less answered the same way/. Local foods will be the biggest trend, carrying over from 2011.Both Robert Newton of  Brooklyn';s Seersucker Street Canteen and Jason Hilbert of Gwynnett Street, also of Brooklyn both feel that local produce will figure heavily in both restaurant and home cooking. This makes sense given that almost every town, and section of  New York now has a farmer's market. This also means that there's a good return to preservative free cooking too. People can pick up fresh spinach and tomatoes  along with herbs and spices. Locavore cooking may also figure heavily in the return to home gardening. There may be more tomato and pepper plants sold as there will be fruit tree saplings.

Another trend is once again taken from 2011 and that is comfort food.,In fact the  number one comfort food that may be the must have is the simple grill cheese sandwich. Daniel Holzman of  .Meatball Shop predicts that this gooey treat will be making the rounds of some of the best restaurants. Another trend is more sustainable seafood and a huge interest in seafood dishes. This last makes sense because , unlike beef and poultry, fish have  the necessary Omega threes along.It's also lower in fat and cholesterol. Another chef,Dan Silverman of Manhattan's The Standard Grill predicts North African and Moroccan cuisine will be hot. Thanks to the international coverage of the events of Arab Africa, more people are curious about the Arab lifestyles and what foods they make and eat.

The year has just begun however the trends are starting up. There will probably be a few new ones with each season. Like any other trend , food trends come and go. The ones mentioned may be hot, They may simply be predictions. It's hard to say.The year is brand new yet.

Much Ado About Food Trends

Trends rule our lives. Women gear their calendars by what's hot in the spring and fall. Techies of both sexes get excited over the latest I -something. Even foodies go completely gaga over what the experts and trendistas tell us to put into our mouths.The question is: is a food trend all the fuss?

I recently found this out when I tried macarons for the first time. Recently writing about them made me curious. When I spied them in one of my favorite New Jersey bakeries I had to get them. I wanted something sweet for a dessert later that evening. It was either them or home style oatmeal cookies. Of course the macarons won out. Let me preface by saying that this particular bakery is one of my favorites. I love their cupcakes . They're even better than the ones that are found in Magnolia Bakery . Their cookies are wonderful. I had anticipated that their stab into the newest sweet trend would be too. They were not what I thought they were going to be.. The chocolate ones were a bit gooey and reminded me of a brownie. The vanilla was better, redolent of almonds with a non traditional butter cream filling. So this is what all the fuss was about.

Maybe I 'm not used to them . I thought my first macarons were going to be heavenly. They were more leaden than what I imagined. Maybe another bakery would do them differently., create a lighter, crisper shell with a sinful filling.However that's the problem with food trends. There's so much hype about them . What's good? What isn't? It's kind of like the fuss about fashion.Platform shoes may look wonderful but in reality they hurt the calves and make walking cumbersome. The hype overwhelms and sugar coats the actual product sometimes.

What to do about foodie trends that make you scratch your head? Like any other trend, ride it out. In the end it's all about what makes you happy - not others.Listen to your taste buds - not the style makers.

Food Trends

Ever notice how some foods are just fads while others stay around forever? It's because your favorite eats are sort of like fashion. some things are literally flavor of the month while others remain staples. (think of them like the LBDs or the blue jeans of food) What's makes a food popular?On the other hand what makes it go out of style ?

What 's an example of the food trend? The cupcake. this lowly little sweet, rose to great heights during the "Sex and The City" years. It's still popular. After all who can resist a sweet morsel of cake topped off with fluffy butter cream icing. However the French macaroon is becoming the trendy treat of choice. They're everywhere. from Parisian runways to SoHo birthday parties. In fact Sunday is macaroon day in New York City. However this craze will last for a few years and die out. Theres'talk of the ever so common jelly doughnut becoming the next rising star.

Certain cuisines are that way too. Remember when there was a creperie in every mall? Then people became tired of the is french street food. Try to find a decent crepe in the suburbs? Forget it. Now the big trend is still Mexican and it's veered off into a mini trend (yes there are those and they're called trendlets) is Baja Mexican , celebrating the foods of the Baja Peninsula. However some cuisines, like Italian, German and Chinese transcend trends. They're always well loved and will never go out of style.

Just like hemlines and heels, food has trends. Some are interesting,. Some are just plain fun. Some stay Some don't. It's what rends are all about including culinary ones.