DRIER… WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS
Food and drink trends for 2019.
That’s the food and drinks forecast for this year; from alcohol-free and plant-based to African-inspired and homegrown, Sharon Stephenson checks out which way the wind is blowing
It started with fermented, pickled and gut-friendly foods, detoured into coconut everything and ended with vegan burgers that ‘bleed’. But 2018 was that kind of year. Trends, as we know, can be fickle beasts, hard to predict and even harder to maintain. Even more so when it comes to the food and beverage sector where consumers’ fickle palates, supply and demand and social media crazes can see flavours and cuisines dip in and out of fashion.
So what can we expect in 2019? According to research firm Mintel, plant-based food will be the taste on everyone’s lips. In their Global Food and Drinks Trend 2019 report, Mintel said the trend for non-meat products was more than just a fad. Last year, for example, sales of plant-based foods in the US rose by
8.1 per cent, compared to the year before. It’s a similar story here, with the New Zealand Restaurant Association reporting an increase in customers seeking “humane eating experiences that promote sustainability to animals as well as the natural environment”. Expect to see, for example, mushrooms, particularly large, ‘meaty’ ones such as the King Trumpet, standing in for foods like beef jerky, pork rinds and bacon.
RISING STARS
Experts believe the breakout star will be West African cuisine. Chefs, they say, will be mining the culinary catalogues of Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and Mali for inspiration, so get ready for a blast of spice in generous, one-pot dishes such as tangy chicken yassa, smoky okra and jollof rice, as well as ingredients like kola nuts, plantain, yam and scotch bonnet chillies.
Even better, West African dishes are often gluten-free and high in plant-based protein, fitting in with current trends.
Our own backyard also gets a look-in, with the Pacific Rim region set to inspire menus with a hodgepodge of ingredients such as dried shrimp, cuttlefish, guava and dragon fruit, while luo han guo, or monk fruit, is expected to be the next big thing in sugar replacement.
‘In’ will be the new ‘out’ when it comes to dining this year. A report by global food/ hospitality consultants Baum + Whiteman predicted that more people will choose to eat at home than visit restaurants, thanks in part to the rising cost of eating out. Suppliers have already stepped up, with an increase in precooked meal-kits, better quality supermarket food packages and food delivery services.
Unusual ice cream flavours will also find a place in the 2019 culinary hall of fame – think pig’s blood with cinnamon, and free-range bacon with maple syrup. The more outlandish the better, say experts. The trend promises to make the frozen delight an unforgettable sensory experience, with unusual flavours and textures, some of which make more sense than others.
It’s predicted we will be washing down spicy, home-cooked, unusual flavours with low or no alcohol beverages, as abstinence becomes a more popular lifestyle choice. Enter alcohol-free ‘spirits’ such as locally distilled Ecology + Co or, for those who do indulge, so-called hybrid drinks such as vodquila, a mash-up of vodka and tequila and rumquila (rum and tequila).
dish asked five Kiwi food and beverage experts for their picks of the top food and drinks trends for 2019.
Chefs say they will be mining the culinary catalogues of Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and Mali for inspiration