By Jennifer Sergent
Scripps Howard News Service
NEW YORK--From artisanal chocolate to boutique nuts and "unsung" wine regions, this year's food fashions can be interpreted as a reaction to mass-market globalization.
Well-known chefs and experts at Food Network Kitchens all predict that the prevailing aromas of 2004 will flow from sources small and regional. Instead of one big melting pot, food in America will flourish in its ethnic parts.
At the same time, cooking will continue to get easier, as supermarkets expand offerings of ready-cooked meals and precut and washed produce. Markets will also add items once sold only in specialty and ethnic markets, in keeping with the growing popularity of international dishes among home cooks.
Of the regional cuisines, expect to see dishes from Spain and Northern Africa stand out as the "it" foods of 2004.
In addition, the post-9/11 trend of people returning to the comfort foods of their youth remains strong, the experts said.
Here is a sampling of Food Network personalities' predictions for next year.
- Mario Batali, host of "Molto Mario," "Ciao America" and "Mario Eats Italy": "I see continued interest in more casual, less intensive dining experiences with a push toward the new cooking of Spain and Northern Africa. Small plates will rule, as will less-expensive, more esoteric wine lists. On the home front ... Grocery-chain-produced 'home meal replacements' will grow more than any other segment."
- Anthony Bourdain, host of "A Cook's Tour": "I think the trend is Spain. Not just Spanish food, or tapas, or (famed Spanish chef Ferran) Adria-inspired dishes, or Spanish chefs, but the whole Spanish lifestyle and approach to food: casual, eat-at-anytime, a little bit--often."
- Giada DeLaurentiis, host of "Everyday Italian": "Renewed interest in regional cuisines from all over the world, rediscovering spices, flavors and ingredients that we haven't visited or used in a long time."
- Sara Moulton, host of "Sara's Secrets" and "Cooking Live": "The trend I see is eggs on the menu, as a garnish, in all sorts of restaurants like a soup topped with a poached egg or pasta tossed with a fried egg or creamy Parmesan grits with an egg on top."
- Rachael Ray, host of "30 Minute Meals" and "$40 a Day": "I am really into something I call 'Metro-Retro cooking'--making hip, healthy versions of food from the '60s and '70s, like Salisbury steak, chicken a la king and pepper steak."
- Paula Deen, host of "Paula's Home Cooking": "People are still craving home-style meals like their grandmothers used to serve. A great deal of my letters and people I meet, often remark on the fond memories and comfort that certain foods bring them."
The behind-the-scenes experts at Food Network--who prepare all the food that you see on TV--also contributed a list of trends they see on the horizon in '04:
- Exotic sweets: Chefs and home cooks will discover a wide array of sugars from around the world that are becoming increasingly available at markets. Move over, granulated and brown sugar. Enter jaggery, piloncillo, muscovado, demerara, malt, date and plum.
On the same sweet front, hot chocolate is getting dressed up in a variety of startling flavor combinations, such as ginger, chile and banana peel. Ice cream, too, gets new flavors--from olive oil, lychee-cilantro and jalapeno pineapple.
In an effort to get us to eat more sweets, restaurants will start serving desserts in smaller portions so diners might not turn down that final course after a big entree.
- The new balsamic: Pomegranate molasses "may be the biggest thing in condiments since balsamic vinegar." Pomegranates also make the scene as a gourmet dessert sauce.
- Soy invasion: Soy products continue creeping into the mainstream and will be consumed in unprecedented quantities, from tofu to soymilk to tempeh.
- Varietal veggies: Heirloom and organic produce will become ever more available, in addition to a proliferation of farmers markets, as consumers make the effort to eat more food grown locally.
- Neighborhood fare: As culinary schools turn out more graduates than ever, look for an increase in ambitious, creative neighborhood restaurants. And while you're busy avoiding the chains, look for a proliferation in international sandwiches, from Mexican tortas to West Indian roti to Vietnamese banh mi and Cuban cubanos.
- For your next party: Look for gourmet olive bars in the supermarket. Pass on the Planters and order nuts from a growing number of boutique-nut orchards. Figs are also getting more popular. Offer a cheese course from an increasing selection out there. And for your salad, choose also from a broader selection of wild mushrooms and leafy greens at the grocery store.
- Apple of 2004's eye: A new variety called Honeycrisp is hitting the stage. Crisp as a McIntosh and sweet as a Golden Delicious.
- Drinks and cocktails: To whet the palate, "unsung wine regions and grape varietals hit the big time." Look for new names, such as Tarragona and Costa del Segre from Spain. Also arriving are the Argentinian Malbecs, Portuguese varietals and offerings from the rustic regions of Southern Italy.
Cocktails are also gaining in popularity, flavored with new tropical and exotic fruits that are making their way into the States.
--For more information on what's new in food, go to FoodNetwork.com.
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