Displaying items by tag: food trends

If only you had a crystal ball. This is what ours is telling us will be on trend for 2019. In no particular order ...

Chilled red wines- unoaked, lighter bodied reds such as Pinot Noir, Gamay (Beaujolais), Cabernet Franc from the Loire and Tempranillo's. We know that reds don't always have to be served at room temperature so this year expect to find more restaurants offering to chill your red wine, especially if we get another heatwave summer.

Gazoz- with the ever growing interest in things fermented and botanicals, Gazoz (main picture) is an Israeli soda based drink, made with natural fruit syrups (often from fermented fruits) fresh fruits, botanical infusions and herbs topped up with fizzy water. It's going to be this years addition to the increasingly popular shrubs and drinking vinegars of 2018. Find it on the menu at Bala Baya.Southwark. London.

Rum- Gin might be left on the shelf in favour of rum, which we are very happy about being part Caribbean foodies. White, gold, flavoured, spiced, dark, premium and overproof, there is no single standard and it's no longer the sole preserve of sailors and pirates. Want to know more? Follow Ian Burrell our favourite Rum Ambassador or try a Rum Masterclass at Cottons. We must go again!

Afro-Caribbean- well this is rather a broad area in terms of food and drink. The rise of North and West African cuisine is now well established. Mr SuffolkFoodie is from Durban so we are pinning our hopes on seeing more from South Africa, heavily influenced by the fruity and full bodied flavours of Cape Malay cuisine along with the French and Dutch influence of the European settlers. (Keep an eye out in the recipe book for our own family recipes). As for Caribbean cuisine look out for Rastafarian Ital cooking which is natural, plant based and organic. Plantains will feature too, we're getting bored with avocadoes and cauliflowers, plantains make great snacks. Tostones will be in!

Lard - the big fat comeback. Butter prices have gone through the roof and restaurants are looking at keeping menus affordable and innovative. The Italians love it and it's a mainstay of Mexican cooking and it's not as bad for you as you thought. Love a lardy cake don't you? Get barding and larding everyone.

Sardines- healthy, sustainable, delicious and affordable. One of our favourites and used in many types of cuisine from around the world. From spiced and fried whole in Indian recipes to the delicious Pasta Con le Sarde of Sicily, proving that they are versatile too. Bring on summer for some more delicious Portugeuse sardines cooked over the open fire.

Breakfasts - using rise and shine orange and yellow food which is Instagrammable. We'll be eating food because it's photogenic and can be hashtagged 'feel good' or 'sunshine food'. So we are guessing mango, oranges, lemon curd, pumpkin, carrots, things with saffron and God forbid no more turmeric lattes.

Grocerants - grocery stores and deli's with sit down dining, ready to eat, ready to heat food. The type of place that you go to buy the components of a take away supper then think dammit, if I eat it here it will save me washing up.

Waste not want not - zero waste cooking with wonky veg and root to fruit dishes will stay in vogue and so will the meaty nose to tail eating we've enjoyed over the past few years. Fig leaves will be very popular, brussel sprouts are making a big comeback, look out for Kalettes, broccoli stems, radish tops and carrot tops. But let's make sure that it's tasty please?

Bread - it's back. More ancient grains, sprouted grains, cornbread and vegetable stuffed doughs. Apricot breakfast bread, potato, pumpkin and onion baguettes, flatbreads, Earl Grey teacakes. You name it we will be kneading it. Sorghum will be the grain of 2019. Cheerio quinoa!

• carrot tops not the nicest of ingredients in our opinion
• Sardines
• #feel good #sunshinefood
• Earl Grey teacakes anyone?
• Bobotie a South African classic. Recipe in our book.
• Rum - one of our favourites
•  

• snaffle
• pow
• mingle
• wowzer
•  

I opened my front door this morning to find this on the handle. In the seemingly never-ending competition between food start-ups I thought this was a great marketing tool - I actually read it before I put it in the bin. On offer and described by Time Out as 'Swanky Chef-made Meals' were Flat Iron steak, Artisan breads, Berlin Brunch which I had to look up, Truffle Mac'n'Cheese, Avocado sourdough, Club sandwich and Prosecco or Bloody Mary - all available at weekends from 11.30am to 10.00pm. But I won't be ordering because I will be making my own.

 Great name for a fruit and veg delivery business, don't you think?

Oh the things we do in London to entertain ourselves...

This is what it's all about - small portions, home-made food, disco music - and plenty of it. I had a crab open sandwich draped with just one seductive marinated white  anchovy and a blob of mustard mayo for £3 at Donastia Social Club's Basque food wagon at Kerb. Next door was (at last!) a stall selling a good selection (3) of interesting fresh fruit drinks - melon, raspberry lemonade and plum juice sodas at £2.50 from Square Root London.

This Saturdays media contribution to foodie enlightenment - featuring Pump Street bakery, and rather too many blogs from the US we think. But we do quite like A Girl Called Jack who has the cheapest tastiest recipes imagineable, proving that as long as you know how to cook, being on a low income doesn't mean you have to go to Iceland for everything.

Thrifty nose to tail eating – well those of us who are from the farming community have been at it for years, but now everyone is doing it. More of us will be eating offal and the bony cuts of meat in pearl barley stuffed casseroles in 2012. Look out for lamb belly, hearts, tails, tongues and gizzards. Last year Waitrose announced that it was to expand its range to offer lamb heart, lamb and veal sweetbreads and veal tail, and pigs’ ears and ox cheeks are already appearing in restaurants everywhere. Now I have moved one of my local restaurants is called Brawn (there are lots of local restaurants - it's London - even the cinema is a recommended place to eat) and currently has braised lamb belly with bitter leaves, trotters and beans, and home-made pork scratching on the menu.

Eastern European food – shops are already appearing all over East Anglia and we have one in Bury. I’ve tried the flavoured beers and bought a very nice piece of smoked bacon. Look out for Polish, Hungarian and Russian dishes. We will be making more preserves and pickles just like they do and we already have sourdough bread.

Barbecue-ing  – Jamie Oliver has had a mixed response to Barbecoa – the menu has burgers, ribs and a very heavy barbecue sauce that isn’t as nice as my own home-made one. If you don’t know how to make barbecue sauce you need to learn it fast. Freshly made burgers in good bread stuffed with loads of salad and home-made pickles are IN whatever time of the year it is.

Sharing tapas style portions – goodbye three course meal, we are ordering five things and sharing them. This way, restaurants can make their portions a bit smaller, we don’t get so full and can still have a starter, main course and dessert – but between us. We used to just order two starters but now it’s official – it’s ok to share.

Casual dining – white cloths are going, counters are coming. We still want good service but without the formal dining. We don’t mind sitting at a large table with someone we don’t know and a great salt-beef sandwich from a van is fine.

Salted caramel, and churros with hot chocolate sauce – if you haven’t tasted either of these yet you should find or make some now.  The recipe for the caramel sauce (and printed labels so you can give it to all your friends) is here. Yes, she's a mom not a mum but I love the pictures - if you like Nigella she's got a food-porn version.

Suffolkfoodie was created by my sister Claire in 2007.  Although Claire has lived and worked in the UK, nowadays she spends most of her time in the Caribbean with her family. Not in a 'living on a luxury yacht' kind of way, but on her smallholding where she raises goats and cattle. Claire is a great cook, a published writer and has a life-threatening addiction to hot sauce and makes it in Barbuda.

This leaves me to look after SuffolkFoodie. My name is Ruth and I've worked in the food and hospitality industry since I was 19; now I'm a Nonna! I still have the passion for cooking and good food that I had in my youth. Whether I've made it myself or someone else has cooked it I like good home-made food. I'm not fussy about what I eat; give me a good stew or a burger from a street food stall and I'm happy. You can see my food stories and recipes here! For those that would like to know even more about me I moved from catering, service and hospitality to the tourism sector when I got weary working behind a hot stove. I currently work as a freelance quality assessor within visiitor attractions and the leisure and sports industries. (My eight years as a full time hotel inspector taking their toll on my waistline and leaving me craving to eat my own cooking and sleep in my own bed again.) In my years as a cook/chef I've owned and run my own restaurant in Bury St Edmunds and also had my own outside event catering businesses. I've worked as a lecturer at West Suffolk College teaching cookery and life skills to vulnerable adults as well as teaching adult education evening cookery classes. I understand the complexities of running a food led business and the energy that it takes to keep all the plates spinning (literally). I love to keep up with food trends and writing the odd blog post or two. My relaxation pursuits include growing pumpkins, discovering more about wine and experimenting with my cocktail trolley - as Jimmy Buffet sang ... it's five o'clock somewhere; pour me another one!