SUMMER TRENDS

Polish veggie cuisine, souped-up soft drinks and hyperlocal ingredients are among the trends to look out for in the coming months. Words: Fiona Sims Vegan barbecue

Increasing numbers of us are choosing a largely plant-based diet, so why should meat-eaters have all the fun at a barbecue this summer? Jack Stein says: “You can’t look past the plant-based movement at the moment. I think vegan barbecues will be a big thing, because everyone who’s trying it or who’s doing a flexitarian diet still wants to grill stuff.” Good point. Try dishes such as cauliflower steaks slathered in hazelnut butter, or miso-laced aubergines. You can even cook an avocado on the coals, as the smoky flavour brings out the natural sweetness.

Summer pulses

Pulses are not just for winter, declares José Pizarro. “Chickpeas, beans, lentils. So many times when I’m getting those out it’s winter, but you can make incredible salads,” he says, highlighting lentil salad with tomatoes, onions and mussels as a favourite. Alternatively, try tacos with black beans, and whizz butter beans into a chilled gazpacho for a creamier texture. London’s Spanish restaurant chain Brindisa, meanwhile, serves Navarrico chickpeas in a light fish broth with clams. The pulses also have health benefits — as well as being a low-fat source of protein, minerals and B-vitamins, their high fibre content can help lower bad cholesterol and decrease the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

Ethiopian cuisine

There’s been a groundswell of interest in West African cuisine over the past couple of years, but now it’s time to look to the other side of the continent, to Ethiopia, suggests Martin Morales. “I’ve always been a huge fan of Ethiopian food and I want it to be more recognised,” he says. Cue super-nutritious teff, a grass seed that’s ground into flour before being turned into injera, a fermented, spongy flatbread traditionally topped with a plethora of stews and salads. North London has a large selection of Ethiopian restaurants, although the cuisine is also popping up at street food markets — look out for Lula’s at Common Ground in Oxford, and Selam at Lower Marsh Market in south London.

Polish vegetarian

Think Polish cuisine, and sausage will likely be among the first foods that comes to mind. Yet there are also many great vegetarian dishes, says Olia Hercules. “I can’t wait to read Michal Korkosz’s new cookbook,” she says. Called Fresh from Poland – New Vegetarian Cooking from the Old Country (£15.99, The Experiment Publishing), it includes vegetarian recipes from his mother and grandmother. “You have to remember that people ate mostly vegetarian food back in the day,” says Olia. Furthermore, Warsaw regularly appears on Happy Cow’s list of the top cities for vegans — so Poland’s plant-based chefs must be doing something right.

Seacuterie

While raw and cured fish have long been staples in top restaurants, the new kid on the block is ‘seacuterie’, such as octopus salami and scallop mortadella. A key populariser of this trend has been Aussie chef Josh Niland and his game-changing The Whole Fish Cookbook (£25, Hardie Grant). Published last autumn, it challenges preconceptions about fish cookery, from sourcing and butchering to dry ageing and curing. Look out for swordfish bacon, moonfish guanciale and kingfish pastrami. And if you’re planning a future visit to Sydney, you can see Niland in action at his restaurant, Saint Peter, or his Fish Butchery.

Hyperlocal ingredients

The concept of restaurants growing their own is nothing new, but those that do it, such as L’enclume and Le Manoir, tend to be Michelinstarred or large country houses. However, a new wave of hyperlocal restaurants is cultivating its own supplies, even in urban locations. Leading the way in the capital is Robin Gill’s The Dairy, in Clapham, with its impressive rooftop allotment, which includes onion cress originally grown by Gill’s mum in Dublin, while others elsewhere in the country include Ambleside’s Lake Road Kitchen, Sedbergh’s Three Hares Café and WTLGI in Stockport.

Smartened-up soft drinks

More people than ever are choosing not to drink alcohol, or are simply cutting back. So, bartenders have had to get creative with soft drinks, with exciting innovations from bars such as Lyaness, in London, and Bramble Bar & Lounge, in Edinburgh. The trend has also prompted National Geographic Traveller Food’s wine columnist, Fiona Beckett, to write How to Drink Without Drinking (£15.99, Kyle Books). She suggests everything from ferments and cordials to shrubs, juices and ‘virgin’ cocktails such as a hibiscus and rose cosmopolitan.

Posh bar snacks

Pre-dinner snacks are getting serious as bar owners take the lead from top chefs and up their game. At Trivet in London, chef and co-owner Jonny Lake has been seducing walk-ins with wagyu tongue and anchovy, and miso-glazed white cabbage. Elsewhere in the capital, once cocktail bar Forty Elephants, reopens at Great Scotland Yard Hotel, you’ll be able to sip house punch and crunch on chicken skin loaded with Korean ketchup and blue cheese.