EMERGING INGREDIENTS, FLAVORS AND DISHES

December 2009

Mac ‘n’ cheese for hipsters...Adding to our Mac ‘n’ Cheese With a Twist profile in our recent Generational Comfort Food Culinary Trend Mapping Report, the comfort food classic continues to soothe hipster eaters in New York City and beyond. Restaurants featuring the dish this fall include Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Mercer Kitchen, S’MAC, a café devoted to the cheesy stuff, the newly opened Macbar, where Mac Lobsta’, Mac Quack (with duck confit, fontina, caramelized onions) and Mac Reuben (braised corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, rye bread crumbs) are available. (Wall Street Journal, 10/17)

Fried chicken: A migratory bird …There’s more to fried chicken than just the breaded Southern style. New global variations ensure flavorful meat and skin. In New York, options include Congee Village where whole chickens are rubbed with white vinegar, malt syrup, five-spice powder and more. At Japanese Tebaya, traditional styles include tebasaki, wings bathed in soy sauce, mirin, black pepper and sesame seeds and fried twice. (New York Times, 10/7)
As the daughter of a Dane, aebelskivers, spherical Danish pancakes eaten with syrup and jam, have been a long-time family favorite for me. But could they become a new sweet trend? Williams-Sonoma has featured special pans and baking mixes for the unique pancake. New York magazine reports that a Brooklyn saloon, Henry Public, also offers the treat dubbed Wilkinsons. They are served with rum-caramel dipping sauce or jam. (New York, 11/2)
Mackerel’s moment…Chefs looking for healthful and sustainable fish for their menus have embraced the mackerel, an abundant species full of omega-3 fatty acids. In San Francisco, SPQR serves a sweet-and-sour Italian dish called saor. At Out the Door, grilled mackerel is served with picled cucumbers and Szechuan peppercorns. Sustainable sushi shop Sebo serves hokke-yaki, fatty atka mackerel cured in shoyu, air-dried then grilled. (Tasting Table San Francisco, 11/4)
Grand Lux goes small with new menu…Reflecting the small plates trend, the casual-dining chain has added a “Minis, Bites & Tapas” category to the menu, including warm goat cheese salad, tempura vegetables and barbecue pork sliders. Other additions include Mini Rustic Pizzas and Cupcake Collision, a trio of chocolate cupcakes paired with vanilla ice cream, hot fudge and whipped cream. (Nation’s Restaurant News (NRN), 11/18)

NEW PRODUCT LAUNCHES

December 2009

Two-minute meals do some good…Meals for Change, a new line of microwaveable vegetarian and vegan entrées, come from Oakland-based Bay Area Community Services to fund its programs which include farm-to-table nutritional support for the elderly and culinary training for the disadvantaged. Meals include mushroom polenta pie, hominy black bean chili and “shepherd-less” pie with bell peppers and creamy mashed potatoes, illustrating the continued rise of vegetarian and vegan prepared meals. (San Francisco Chronicle, 10/11)

Mars rolls out Milky Way Simply Caramel Bar…Picking up on the trend mainstream products going “simple,” Milky Way now comes in a Simply Caramel version without the nougat centers. Other new Mars bars include Twix Java Chocolate Cookie Bars and 3 Musketeers Truffle Crisp Bar, both illustrating the growing sophistication of flavors in the candy bar world. (PRNewswire.com, 10/21)
Pumpkin’s got a brand new trick…In this holiday season, pumpkin pickles are a new and trendy addition to the table. A Taste of the North Fork, a food producer in New York, is making Long Island cheese pumpkins into pickles, another example of artisan-made fermented foods. (New York Times, 11/11)
Vegan ice cream heads to market… Alkemie Dairy-Free Ice Cream is made with cashew and coconut milk. It’s creator, Bay Area chef Daniel Clary, has been selling the ice cream in farmers’ markets but it is now available at Whole Foods. Flavors are Vanilla Bean, Dark Chocolate and Mint Chocolate Chip. Another expansion of non-dairy, non-soy frozen desserts. (San Francisco Chronicle, 11/15)
Target unveils Simply Balanced…Another “simple” product comes from Target with its new Archer Farms Simply Balanced private-label line extension. The line includes more nutritious items like whole wheat pasta, whole grain crackers and cereal. Products are free of artificial flavorings, synthetic colors and trans fats. (Supermarket News, 11/10)
Can Top Chef TV dinners live up to billing? …Schwan’s Home Service is offering Top Chef-branded frozen meals for hard -ore fans keen on trying frozen versions of chef-testant recipes. Recipes include chicken in red curry sauce from Season 1 and meatballs on polenta from the most recent season. (Time, 11/30)

FOOD AND BEVERAGE INDUSTRY HEADLINES

December 2009

Chefs learn South American influences…The cuisines of Brazil, Puerto Rico, Chile and lesser-known Mexican states are coming more to the forefront, according to chefs speaking at “Latin Flavors, American Kitchens,” a symposium at the Culinary Institute of America’s campus in San Antonio, Texas. Foods on the horizon: seafood, yuca (aka manioc and cassava), black beans and sofrito, which we profiled in our Latino Foods: The Next Wave Culinary Trend Mapping Report earlier this year. (MySanAntonio.com, 10/23)

Grocer Wegmans opens full-service restaurant…In another sign of grocers increasingly competing with restaurants, Wegmans opened The Pub in the chain’s newest outlet in Providence Town Center, Collegeville, PA. It offers pub favorites, sandwiches and “pan-seared meals,” along with beer, wine and spirits (Nations Restaurant News, 10/12)
Gluten-Free Superstore opens with 4,000 products… An online store will sell a wide assortment of gluten free products in one place, supporting those who cannot or chose to not eat wheat. The site also contains information on gluten-free restaurant menus, such as those from Outback Steakhouse and P.F. Chang’s. (PRWeb, 10/21)
To cut global warming, Swedes study their plates…New food labels and menus in Sweden list carbon dioxide emission information in the hopes of reducing the country’s food production emissions by 20 to 50%. For the moment, it is still confusing consumers by climate leaders are hopeful. (New York Times, 10/22)
Study: Calorie count on fast-food menus gives diners pause…Consumers who use the calorie information on fast-food menus in New York City bought 106 fewer calories worth of food at lunch than those that didn’t, according to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Yet only 15% of consumers say they used the calorie counts at lunch, while 56% saw it. (USA Today, 10/ 25)
Artisan pizza on the rise…The American staple is undergoing a renaissance, with creative chefs updating pies with long-fermented dough, hand-made cheese and rustic toppings baked in 900-degree ovens. CCD Chefs’ Council® member Peter Reinhart, author of American Pie: My Search for the Perfect Pizza, confirmed the trend, citing examples of new pizzarias popping up across the country, such as Pizzeria Mozza in L.A., Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix and even Pizzaiolo in Oakland, CA. (NRN, 11/10)