Eating locally gains support

The Nation's Restaurant News polled a number of chefs on what they thought were trends in the industry, and the good news is that many of them cited the increased use of local produce, meats and seafood as the top two trends. The other 18 top trends:

3. Sustainability
4. Bite-size/mini desserts
5. Locally produced wine and beer
6. Nutritionally balanced children's dishes
7. Half-portions/smaller portion for a smaller price
8. Farm/estate-branded ingredients
9. Gluten-free/food allergy conscious
10. Sustainable seafood
11. Superfruits (e.g. acai, goji berry, mangosteen, purslane)
12. Organic produce
13. Culinary cocktails (e.g. savory, fresh ingredients)
14. Micro-distilled/artisan liquor
15. Nutrition/health
16. Simplicity/back to basics
17. Regional ethnic cuisine
18. Non-traditional fish (e.g. branzino, Arctic char, barramundi)
19. Newly fabricated cuts of meat (e.g. Denver steak, pork flat iron, Petite Tender)
20. Fruit/vegetable children's side items
Source: The National Restaurant Association's What's Hot in 2010 chef survey

I'm not too wild about the newly fabricated cuts of meat - I like to know what part of the animal I'm eating, not some marketer's idea of what will sell me on eating it - but bring on more Arctic char! It's delicious.

Where's the (chefs') beef?

David Chang and Anthony Bourdain scorched the earth of the food world at a panel last Friday. For those of you who don't appreciate the overriding profanity in professional kitchens, here is the scrubbed and condensed version of 10 things they hate about food trends and fellow celebrities, as picked up from Grub Street. Chang is the genius behind Momofuku Noodle Bar and Ko, and Anthony Bordain is the author of "Kitchen Confidential" and star of the TV show "No Reservations."

Ten Things They Hate About Food

1. Cupcakes.

2. San Francisco. "... every restaurant in San Francisco is just serving figs on a plate. Do something with your food," said Chang.

3. Overexposed foods. Pork bellies are the new tuna tartare, Chang asserted. That said, he passed on answering Bourdain's question: "Is bacon less cool because Paula Deen likes it, or is it always cool, like Orson Welles?" As for cheeseburgers on a Krispy Kreme doughnut, Bourdain called it "a war crime."

4. Guy Fieri.

5. Career-changers who want to start cooking professionally at 30. Cooking is “grueling physical labor,” said Chang, adding that he’d never seen anybody start “that late” in life and succeed.

6. "Hell’s Kitchen." “They’re shooting the wounded on that show,” said Bourdain. But he defended "Top Chef": “On that show, the worst chef that day goes home and the best chef that day wins.”

7. Alice Waters. While both men applauded “her message” and Chez Panisse’s game-changing cuisine, Bourdain likened her to a hippie who doesn't grasp that the poor can’t afford organic milk.

8. People who take pictures and notes on the food at Ko. “The food’s getting cold,” Chang observed.

9. Critic Alan Richman. His insistence that celebrity chefs actually cook in their own restaurants is ridiculous, the two concluded. Richman just wants chefs to “kiss his ring,” said Bourdain. “I’m going to Emeril’s restaurant — do I suddenly expect him to pop up and say 'Bam!'?”

10. The thing they hate most: "Gray Kunz and Christian Delouvrier, the two greatest chefs in New York, are still trying to make a living."

Food trends from abroad

Yesterday, I posted the 2009 trends from foodchannel.com; today, we check out what the Europeans foresee, courtesy of thefoodpeople.com.

Among the mega trends expected to continue into next year, are “comfort food, nostalgia, scratch cooking and home baking, as consumers want to save money as well as feel good about the food they serve.”
Overall, the amount of protein on plates will shrink. But where meat is served, consumers will aim to make it go as far as possible through “head-to-tail” eating – including offal.
And considering the stiff markup of alcoholic beverages in restaurants and bars, more people will have that drink at home, either with their meal there, or before going out.
Thefoodpeople sees less reliance on packaged food. The group also predicts an uptick in fishing and growing your own vegetables.
Also emerging will be ‘freeganism’ – that is, the practice of living off discarded, yet perfectly edible food that has been thrown out. To date the freegan movement has been driven by green crusaders who object to unnecessarily wasted food clogging up landfill sites. Now it may catch on with people trying to decrease household spending.
People may start to club together and produce food by committee, and begin community food projects.
Sustainability will “remain high on the agenda”. This includes sustainable fish sourcing, and investigating little consumed varieties that are not endangered, such as rockfish and flounder.
Organic foods, because of their expense, may well drop back in importance.
Desserts are likely to contain less sugar and derive more flavors from the ingredients themselves, and also cross the line into savory sensations.

Food trends

Top 10 Food Trends for 2009, according to the Food Channel:

1. Home on the Range - Downsized economy breeds new generation of home
chefs, more food-savvy than their predecessors
2. Foodie 2.0 - Growth of virtual and non-virtual food communities
3. Going, Going Green - Kitchens go eco-conscious
4. Living La Vida Locavore - Eating locally and seasonally, both at home
and in restaurants
5. TMI? - Is seeing the calorie count on the menu Too Much Information, or will it lead to healthier choices?
6. FrankenFood - The rise of bioengineering and genetically modified
food; the next evolution of last year's Functional Food trend
7. Food Philanthropy - Individuals and companies address world hunger
8. Food Insecurity - The call for tighter food controls, after the
tomato and jalapeño scares of 2008
9. Brewing Business - Striking a balance when cost is an issue; the
divide widens between the exotic and day-to-day food needs
10. Where in the World ... is the next flavor trend coming from? It's
all about globalization and variety