The top 10 food trends (inside and outside the kitchen) Laura Brehaut
This past year saw a moment of reckoning in the restaurant industry, an uptick in sophisticated (and tasty) meat alternatives and an unprecedented focus on food waste. Here’s a look the 10 most notable happenings in the world of restaurants, food culture, media and products in 2017.
10. Waste not, want not Highprofile projects including Anthony Bourdain’s documentary Wasted put the global issue of food waste in the spotlight this year. Community-level charity events (e.g. Toronto’s Trashed & Wasted) and international endeavours such as Massimo Bottura’s Bread is Gold cookbook highlight the creativity involved in working with products that all too often end up in the bin. 9. Faux meat The plant-based food market is exploding, and this past year has seen some truly innovative products hit the market. Leonardo DiCaprio-backed Beyond Meat and Ahimi – a tuna substitute made from tomatoes – are just two of the new foods that are disrupting the meat-analogue industry. They look, cook and taste like the real deal. The good news for consumers – whether vegan, vegetarian or omnivore – is that they’re becoming increasingly available in supermarkets.
8. Misconduct in hospitality A culture of abuse in the restaurant industry was exposed on a major scale this year. John Besh stepped down from his New Orleans restaurant group after more than 20 women came forward with sexual harassment allegations. In Ottawa, chef Matthew Carmichael admitted to sexually harassing three women, while four women have recently accused Mario Batali of sexual misconduct. Advocates – including restaurateur Jen Agg (author of I Hear She’s a Real Bitch), chef Amanda Cohen and Besh whistle-blower (and Time’s Person of the Year) Lindsey Reynolds – continue to champion equality in the industry.
7. Back to basics Several of this year’s cookbooks emphasized the importance of building technique, rather than relying on recipe instruction alone. Cultivate intuitive cooking by learning from chef Samin Nosrat’s ingenious approach in Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking. Home cooking beacons Jamie Oliver and Donna Hay also focused on fundamentals in their 2017 titles: 5 Ingredients and Basics to Brilliance, respectively.
6. Everything Instant Pot Is the Instant Pot a trendy kitchen appliance or indispensable tool? Many home cooks have given it rave reviews this year, singing its praises for speed and convenience. The device was designed by Canadians as an all-in-one appliance – it fills the roles of slow cooker, pressure cooker, yogurt maker, rice cooker and more. For recipes and shortcuts, check out Daniel Shumski’s How to Instant Pot.
5. Edible insects In Western countries, edible insects are gaining traction. This year saw the launch of the world’s first insect bread in Finland (made from ground dried crickets, wheat flour and seeds). And one of Switzerland largest retailers started selling mealworm burgers and beetle larvae meatballs. The trend is hitting home kitchens as well, with a new cookbook on the subject, On Eating Insects by the Nordic Food Lab.
4. Vegetable- driven From the vegetarian – Anna Jones’s The Modern Cook’s Year and Deborah Madison’s In My Kitchen – to the omnivorous – Joshua McFadden’s Six Seasons and David Tanis’s Market Cooking. Chefs took their cues from nature this year, giving vegetables their full attention. Thanks to their veggie-centric approaches, cooking with the rhythm of the seasons is more exciting than ever.
3. Cook it, black In contrast to the glittery, rainbow-hued unicorn craze, activated charcoal had the potential to provide sweet – albeit moody – relief. From soft serve ice cream and waffles to coldpressed juices, pizza dough and other baked goods, ultra-black foods seemed perfectly suited to the inner (or outer) goth. However, it’s not all fun and games. Doctors have raised a significant concern: drug interaction (including birth control pills). Do your homework before consuming. 2. Clean eating backlash “Food is not dirty,” Nigella Lawson wrote in her 2015 cookbook, Simply Nigella. Regardless, the clean eating movement marches on, fuelled by energy balls and bone broth. In January Dr. Giles Yeo busted clean eating’s claims of “wellness” in the investigative documentary Clean Eating: The Dirty Truth. Cookbook author Ruby Tandoh followed with a column for The Guardian calling out the “toxic layers to the wellness phenomenon.” By July, food writer Bee Wilson illustrated in a long read for The Guardian that although “thoroughly debunked,” the movement doesn’t appear to be going anywhere. At least good sense is putting up a fight.
1. Avo- mania The “pixelated” avocado, avolatte, low-fat avocado and the scourge of “avocado hand” all came to being in 2017. Thankfully, the year is ending on a solutionoriented note, at least where avocado-related injuries are concerned. British supermarket chain Marks and Spencer recently launched a pit-free, “safer” avocado. “Cocktail avocados” have edible skin and due to their seedless nature, present almost no risk of “avocado hand.” Alternatively, you could just learn how to use a knife (see Back to basics).