The Best and The Worst Food Trends of 2011

I totally agree with you.  But what's wrong with pork belly?  You don't like bacon?

For me the best is organic food.  Also I'm glad to see Americans becoming more adventurous in their food, this has been a trend I've seen developing over a number of years.  We've come a long way since I was in high school where chicken nuggets were all the rage and ladling heaps of marinara over anything was the single definition of Italian food.

The worst is the cost of organic food.

Organic Food.

...or as our grandparents called it: Food

Best Food TV Trend:  Cat Cora no longer a regular Iron Chef.  Worst Food TV Trend:  Robert Irvine is still working; Giada is still working; Rachel Rae is still working; Melissa d'Arabian's insulting lies about food costs continue unabated.

Best Personal Food Trend:  Improved equipment and pantry items; more best beef and fish; better coffee due to better equipment and switch to home roasting.  Worst Personal Food Trend:  Purchase of useless junk appliances; too much food waste; too much eating out.

BDL

Favorite

Increase of people celebrating their heritage foods and sharing them, both as restaurants, books, and friends

Least favorite Salted Sweets. salted caramel, salt licorice, salt chocolate.

Least favorite: Flavored bacons.

Most favorite: The continued movement towards locally grown and seasonal ingredients.

"to me, pork belly is not bacon, it's BELLY fat (oh yum)...fat being the key word.....i'm not sure of the exact fat to meat ratio but i believe it lies somewhere around 90%...just the name turns me off let alone the mouthfeel of all that fat in my mouth, but then again i don't like hog jowls either, with the exception of soul food..now that's a whole nother animal!"

joey

But jowls are not fat...they are cheek meat...perhaps it's a mouth feel thing. I have a real problem with rare prime rib for the fell part of it.

Pork belly as a food term is a trendy thing, and just another way they've taken an inexpensive cut of meat and turned it gourmet and expensive.

Until relatively recently, "pork belly" was the term used when it was a commodity. And that's how it's still traded. "Bacon" was used when talking about it as food. If it was uncured, we called in "fresh bacon."  But they refer to the same cut of meat.

Any particular pork belly has greater and lesser percentages of lean, depending on how you cut it. So, yeah, you could have pieces ranging from practically pure fat, to as much as half & half lean to fat. But it all comes from the belly. As a general rule, the higher up the sides of the belly, the greater amount of lean.

Bacon originally referred to the fat on the back of the animal. The word "bacon," in fact, derives from the Germanic "bache," which translates as "back meat." Nowadays the back fat is mostly used for making salt pork, which has relatively little lean.

From a texture point of view, and in terms of the fat to lean ratio, jowl is indistinguishable from the meaty part of the belly, and in most of the south is referred to as jowl bacon. Until recently that was pretty much the only way it was available. But, of course, the hog cheek trend, which parallels the pork belly one, has  made uncured jowl more readily availble---again, while driving the cost upwards.

Some people handle the neck as if it were bacon, curing, slicing, and cooking it the same way. This produces a more meaty product, but one in which the fat does not render out quite the same way.

For Asian people pork belly is a standard item.

For me the best food trend is that Olive Garden and the like are going down the tubes. 

The worst trend is restaurant groups trying to capitalize on the "meeting place" idea.  Overpriced and too loud.  No substance.

Not sure if these are exactly 2011 but...

Most favorite: Trend of neo bistros in Paris.

Least Favorite: Pop Up Restaurants

WOW. This is gonna be an interesting thread. LOL.

I think "food trucks" are mostly garbage. LOL. That coming from a guy that ran a "hot-dog stand" as a kid. 

I absolutely LOVE smaller plates being used. 

Improperly cooked chicken is stupid. No lawsuits for me, thank you. It's still stupid anyway. 

I think the latest love of "pork belly" has come from it's appearance on so many TV competition cooking shows. I've never cared for it, I don't see things changing soon. It aint'e bacon. 

I hate the constant barrage of new TV competition cooking shows. This past year I think has gone "overload". The judges suck too. I'll name them if you want, but I've called out the same people before. 

For the first time I think, I'm completely disagreeing w/ BDL. Cat Cora, Giada and Rachael Ray are a "Triple-Crown" of TV entertainment. There are other winners too, but those three(3) were called out. I love Paula too. Some stuff is just really good "smothered". 

Phatch, I'm disagreeing w/ you too. "Salted carmel/caramel" is good stuff. 

That's it from my considerably biased opinions for right now. I'm sure as this thread continues I'll have more things to say. 

* edit additions:

"Sue-veed", "con-feet" and "molecular gastronomy". Just because someone does it on TV doesn't mean it belongs anywhere in the home. Oh yeah, pro-chefs should be able to deal w/ those concepts. I'm just sick of having to hear about them. 

The Avoider  ~   “No thanks: I’m off gluten right now. Also, could you put the cream sauce on the side? I’m avoiding dairy. There aren’t any traces of nightshades in this, are there?” Be it dairy, gluten, corn, soy, meat, wheat or anything with a high glycemic index, the Avoider strictly follows the advice of the latest health book they have tracked down, much to the chagrin of those with actual food allergies. These people need to go somewhere far away.

I am putting on the flame suit for this but....

As somebody who is on the front lines of food development I will tell you first hand that people in general aren't eating any healthier.  I am being asked for all the salt, all the MSG, artificial flavors... People aren't changing, just good marketing and the companies wanting you to think they are doing the right thing, well they are on a small scale, but when it comes to the big hitters and heavy sellers they haven't changed a bit.

Worst trends this past year:

-cake pops-sorry but how stupid!!!

-the whole cupcake thing has run its course

-as someone who has been touting the whole"everything is better with bacon" since culinary school in the early 90's I hate to admit it but bacon has now become officially overexposed

Best Trend

-having gone to the dark side and moved over to the institutional side of foodservice it is nice to see a major focus starting to take shape in looking at local sustainable argriculture.  There have been big strides in sourcing local, creating gardens, and cutting (and utilizing)waste.

As a home cook I see the cupcake trend ending as a good thing. Nobody sees these 500 calorie carb bombs as bad things if they're "pretty". Once I started seeing "cakelet" baker gadgets (sort of like waffle irons) in home goods stores, I knew it was a bad end to a bad thing. (Apologies to my niece!)

Just for the record, I agree with those here (and elsewhere) who predict pies are the next big thing- regular-sized or small. I happen to favor pie over cake, so it seems like a good thing. But then, Breville is making mini-pie baking machines, so maybe that one is gone before it gets going.

Rare chicken?? Thank heavens I live in the Midwestern U.S., where "trends" are slow to arrive. By the time we see it (if ever), there'll have been too many lawsuits to make it pay on menus.

Pork belly is not a trend; it's a staple, as Kuan said, in Asian cuisine. For me it's wonderful deliciousness! Not kosher, but delicious anyway.

I want to see more local-sourced food too, but it's kind of hard in the climate where I live. I want to see the end of "pumped" meats and overly-salted menu items.

Ah BDL, I hate to admit it but I've tried several recipes of Giada's and they all were lovely.  I don't enjoy watching her much with all her "and THEN" and "so NOW" and "puncetta" or "moozzarella" and her "nice and golden" "nice and crispy" "nice and creamy" but never the less the food is simple and good.

Cat Cora though I love - what do you have against a pretty, blonde, talented Greek cook?
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by chefhow 

I am putting on the flame suit for this but....

 

As somebody who is on the front lines of food development I will tell you first hand that people in general aren't eating any healthier.  I am being asked for all the salt, all the MSG, artificial flavors... People aren't changing, just good marketing and the companies wanting you to think they are doing the right thing, well they are on a small scale, but when it comes to the big hitters and heavy sellers they haven't changed a bit.

 

 

I think that the way a person is raised can really impair their ability to taste real food.  I have one friend that refuses to eat chicken with a bone because it creeps her out.  All her chicken must be of the "boneless breast" or "nugget" variety.  I just made mac n' cheese for a friend of mine who LOVES making mac n' cheese supposedly.  He was telling me about how he makes it with melted velveeta (what's a roux he asked) and so I wanted to make a grown up version for him.  I made it with caramelized onions, cheddar, colby and monterey jack - a very mild mix of cheeses to appeal to his pallett and he didn't like it although it was made with high quality cheese, a creamy roux, and lots of butter.  I don't think his taste buds can take it if all he's used to eating is velveeta.  Processed foods have a way of taking hold of a person's palate and destroying it for all future flavors.

 what do you have against a pretty, blonde, talented Greek cook?

You left out vertically challenged.

Joey,

This year I have seen alot of places offering sweet potato fries.

Almond milk. I like the odd glass of milk here and there but the first time I tried almond milk it ended up being my last.....too watery , no flavor. Yet I see everyone buying it. ...and Soya

There was alot of talk about comfort foods this year. My question is : Since when have we not had comfort food ? We will always have comfort food.

Buying local and fresh.

In Montreal there are alot of bistro's and restuarants serving "lofty produce" , is that big anywhere else ?

2012 = caneles (accent on 2nd e) for sweet trends

Going Green.

Petals.

Quote:

Originally Posted by durang

 

 

 

chefchow,

i don't know where you live but where i live in colorado we on the whole eat very healthy... colorado by the way is the 'fittest' state...there is only a handful of fast food places, and NO big box restaurants at all..not one...no olive garden, chili's, applebees, eegees, pf changs etc. etc. etc......all restaurants are privatley owned....as a restaurant owner i can tell you that people request heatlthier choices all the time...i'm not saying they don't like their steaks as they certainly do, but let's top that steak with something besides bearnaise or au pouive and let's trade the hollandaise or the creamy dill sauce on the fish for a fruit salsa.....msg is a nuclear no no.

 

I find it hard to believe that there isnt a SINGLE chain restaruant in the city you live in unless you live in a VERY SMALL rural town. 

I work for one of the largest privately owned global food manufacturers as their Corporate Chef for N/C/S America and Canada and can tell you that if you eat fresh tomato, spinach, squash, fruits ect. all year you are eating a GM'd food items or one that has traveled across time zones to be in your grocery store, this isnt an opinion its a fact.  I develop for companies all over the America's and into Europe and the trends are consistent, as a whole people dont want lower sodium or less sugar or less carbs, they want what they have been getting for decades, they may talk a big game but when it comes time to actually purchase the items its the healthy stuff that gets pulled and discontinued, not the salty fried snack foods.  Just today I sent out products to customers that had MSG, Artificial Flavors and Colors and was loaded with sodium.  These arent samples these are items that have been approved for sale and are going to be produced for a LARGE national grocery chain and launced in the 1st Quarter of 2012 because they scored over an 85% approval rating in national market tests.  You may live in the "fittest" state but that's just because people exercise more than anywhere else, they way they eat isnt any different then any other state in the country. 

The fastest growing and most consistantly growing segment of the food industry is the snack food arena.  I do more work for chip, cracker and nut companies than anything else and everytime we go to show new and existing customers reduced sodium or low sodium products they complain.  We have worked on sodium replacers but they are chemicals and nobody likes to eat what they cant pronounce so they say put the salt back in.  The reason you havent seen govt mandates on salt reductions is because there is no real natural replacer for it.  The only things that are available are chemical based and that just takes us back to square one.  Its a nasty vicious cycle and we as consumers need to learn that everything is ok as long as its in MODERATION. 

You lost me, Chefhow, when you started using the word "chemical" as the personifcation of evil.

Name me just one thing that isn't made up of chemicals. The air we breathe, the water we drink, the fruits, vegetables, and meats we eat. None of them belong in a chemical-free zone. Oh, wait: the sign marking the chemical free zone? Why, that's made of chemicals, too.

well, ky, i could be offended by that,

I don't care for "vertically challenged" myself, Joey. But Friend Wife, who is only 5'1", won't let me say "short-sh t" in public.

Mezzaluna I buy locally produced beef and veg. Freeze/can veg for winter use. Some stuff keeps well like squash(just ate my last acorn squash last night), carrots will keep if buried in sand, potatoes keep a couple months in a cool dark place etc. All from the local CSA and other local farmers. Best part is I find it is cheaper than the grocery store if I ignore my labor.

Which brings me to the best, local foods are available even out in the boonies where I live.

Worst is all the recipes calling for some exotic ingredient that you will never find out in the boonies.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaryB 

...

 

Worst is all the recipes calling for some exotic ingredient that you will never find out in the boonies.

Or worse, recipes calling for an exotic ingredient that costs an arm and a leg and you need only a little bit of it but have to buy then whole thing then you're left with the rest of this thing and don't know what to do with it.

Good Morning,

The best in Spain ...

1. tapas and meze with cultural awareness, non toxic ingredients, no lard and green too

2. home grown roof top urban gardens ( this is a fairly large metropolis )

3. staff learning how to food and wine pair

4. flexitarians ... Spain had never known a vegetarian or anyone who eats fish and chicken however, doesn´t eat alot of beef, pork or lamb ...

5. people from waiters to preppers and people in general, taking good basic culinary courses in techniques and developing a profound interest in what is going on their plates and yours

6. Canellonis from sweet to spicy ( The Sicilians and The Italians outdo Spaniards on this item )

7. Boar Sausages and Boar Salami Culture

8. Oven warm brown bread basket with seeded varieties on rise ( before it was all white Industrial lard filled basura = rubbish  )

9. Laboral Lunch Menus at 8.50 - 10 Euros throughout the country due to crisis

The Worst in Spain ...

1. Overcooked Pastas in Spanish Restaurants serving Laboral Lunches as one of the 4 selections ... Horrendous ... and to top it off, they do not know how to make a Tomato Sauce at all ... Go to an Italian Trattoria if you want pasta and a good Marinara or Bolognese.

2. Fusion done poorly

3. The worst Asian I have ever had anywhere in the world ... If you want Asian other than Japanese, go to San Fran, L.A. or NYC or Wash D.C. or another city in the USA ... or anyplace else, not Spain. Kibuki at the Wellington Hotel is renowned for its Japanese under the helm of Chef Ric Sanz who spent many years in Japan. The Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese: you are visiting the wrong country ...

4. Spaniards have a tendency to have a heavy hand with salt ... so, over salty and over oily and over cooked dishes ... Yuk.

5. Poor visual presentations.

6. Packaged verses home made desserts with Lunch Menus ... They need to master the art of home made easy to do desserts ... Flan or Cream Bulee out of a box is garbage. 

7. Heavy medieval food swimming in cheap brand olive oil ... This is a disgrace.

8.  When 5 restaurants serve almost the same dishes and a lack of innovation.

9. Soy anything ... It has an aftertaste that turns me totally off and my older daughter, a Nutritional Biologist Investigator in Wellington, New Zealand, says NO ... This is not as healthy as one might believe it to be ... Far from healthy actually. This product is grown on un-sustainable soils ... Watch !  Only buy Organic Ecological Soy Products.

Have  a Happy New Year,

Margcata    

Quote:

Originally Posted by KYHeirloomer 

You lost me, Chefhow, when you started using the word "chemical" as the personifcation of evil.

 

Name me just one thing that isn't made up of chemicals. The air we breathe, the water we drink, the fruits, vegetables, and meats we eat. None of them belong in a chemical-free zone. Oh, wait: the sign marking the chemical free zone? Why, that's made of chemicals, too.

 

 

When the average consumer, and even most people on this forum read a label or go out and picket against food laws they dont think of salt as being a chemical or that a tomato is LOADED with MSG or that the fresh ripe sweet and tart strawberry they had this morning has a chemical breakdown, and is probably scary looking when its broken down chemically.  They are looking at the disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate or the mono and diglycerides or preservatives and specifically speaking to ingredients that are foreign to them without thinking about everything else that is on that label.  Chemicals arent the personification of evil, I use them all the time to make the foods people love to eat taste better or last longer and I dont mind it one bit. 

What I do find to be extremely entertaining but at the same time annoying is the people who go out there and rant about how the foods we grow, create, manufacture, produce(insert your favorite verb) are killing them but insist upon them all year round without thinking about what it takes to grow, create, manufacture... They want it all and want it in the dead of winter when its -15 outside or in the heat of summer when its 100.  You cant without some modifications or understanding. 

Our bodies are filled with chemicals NATURALLY as you stated in your post, I understand that, but most people dont think about it in a logical sense, they are in the moment and cant see the forest thru the trees...

...petite is a beautiful word

It certainly is, Joey. But to me it connotes delicate, shy & retiring, lacking in substance.

You know anybody like that?

Petite is usually a tiny ( slim slender ) woman who is 5 feet inches tall or under ...

Of course, there are petite pastries, meaning small ...

Happy Holidays Guys, and Gals,

Margcata.

Sounds like you are doing better than I am currently by canning / freezing but I found a local CSA that does Winter bundles - I missed this years but I'm on the list for next year, they grow most things in the green house - it's really cold here in the winter so there isn't much they can grow outside but I think they are experimenting with snow carrots and maybe others outside.  I'm very rural so we have lots of farms - the trick is getting to know the people running them so you can get what you want / need.  Not sure if any of the farms where you are run a Winter harvest but I just thought I'd mention it!
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaryB 

Mezzaluna I buy locally produced beef and veg. Freeze/can veg for winter use. Some stuff keeps well like squash(just ate my last acorn squash last night), carrots will keep if buried in sand, potatoes keep a couple months in a cool dark place etc. All from the local CSA and other local farmers. Best part is I find it is cheaper than the grocery store if I ignore my labor.

 

Which brings me to the best, local foods are available even out in the boonies where I live.

 

Worst is all the recipes calling for some exotic ingredient that you will never find out in the boonies.

worst trend: menu verbosity

Organic Blue Lake #274 Bush Beans lightly blanched in Sonoma Sea Salt water, then quickly sautéed with Double Devon Cream Butter, tossed with toasted Nonpareil Gold Almonds and finished with Murray River Pink Flake Salt and cracked Tellicherry Black Pepper

AKA: Green Beans Almondine