Epicurious magazine has listed their “Top Food Trends for 2009“. Some of their predictions:
- Peruvian is the new Thai. Seems hokey to me; I just don’t see Peruvian food on every corner.
- Noodle Bars are the new Sushi Joints. Perfect for cold months, but when it’s summer, I’m all about sushi
- Ginger is the new Mint. Mint? Mint’s been “out” for years.
- Smoking is the new Frying. Chefs are smoking everything. Bartenders are copying them. Something tells me we’ll all laugh about this in 10 years. In the meantime, enjoy your smoked roe, salmon, bourbon and ice. Yawn.
- Rustic Food is the new Molecular Gastronomy. The title makes little sense. What they mean is gimmicky food is going away, and honest, comfort food is coming back.
- Regional Roasters are the new Starbucks. To some extent, I’d agree, but unfortunately cheap coffee will always reign supreme.
- “Top-Rated” is the new “Critic’s Pick”. I’ll just quote from the Epicurious piece: “Power to the people; single critics are a dying breed. Why believe what one person says when you can read and reflect on what hundreds think?”
You can read their whole list here. What do you think? What would be on your list?
ckrogstad says
11. Trend Articles are the new research piece.
Why bother with a laborious research piece when you can just throw out irrefutable, vapid opinions?
What an incredible non-article.
mczlaw says
Yes. ;-)
–mcz
Meg says
And I have to disagree with the one that says “Portland Maine is the new Portland Oregon”. What gives, Epicurious?
Food Dude says
You haven’t heard about all of this controversy? Patrick Coleman over at The Portland Mercury has challenged Portland Maine to a duel of sorts: http://thephoenix.com/BLOGS/abouttown/archive/2008/12/15/a-portland-to-portland-food-fight.aspx
mczlaw says
Hell, I was told that Des Moines was the new Portland, Oregon. Anybody want to buy a cheap rt ticket to Iowa? I was going to check out the street food stall action in February.
–mcz
Tommy says
Okay, I’ll take a crack at this:
Peruvian is the new Thai: Yeah, just like Guatemalan is the new Vietnamese. I don’t see ceviche satisfying my mussamun jones anytime soon…
Noodle bars are the new sushi joints: Maybe, but I’m still eating sushi despite the weather.
Ginger is the new Mint: More likely, mint is the new ginger.
Smoking is the new Frying: Of course chefs and bartenders have been smoking everything… that’s why they’re still stuck in the service industry!
Rustic food is the new Molecular Gastronomy: Totally moot point. Never the ‘tween shall meet.
Regional roasters are the new Starbucks: This one’s actually dead-on.
Top-rated is the new Critics-pick: I trust neither the public nor critics, I trust my tongue. To paraphrase Ed Abbey: When I hear the word “culture,” I can’t help but reach for my revolver…
Mary Sue says
Peruvian is the new Thai. Seems hokey to me; I just don’t see Peruvian food on every corner.
PUPUSAS! YES PLEASE!
reflexblue says
I think pupusas are mostly from Central America
ciaofun says
Do you like your guinea pig roasted or fried?
JDG says
Smoked, actually, over a rustic bed of ginger noodles.
meyersbg says
I think they missed a couple of other big ones as well … Casseroles are back and so is other Depression-era-cum-Recession food; Punch and punch service is also going to be big. What’s better than gathering around a hot, cheesy casserole or a big bowl of alcohol while also saving a couple of bucks with your nearest and dearest?
P Alan says
Since you mentioned it. I just couldn’t resist.
http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/Content?oid=775488&category=775442
http://www.portlandmercury.com/food/the-drunken-host/Content?oid=939367
Cuisine Bonne Femme says
Love the casserole and punch trend. I think you are spot on. However, because this is just now becoming a trend it means New York and National Media will take about 3 more years to catch onto it.
pdxcity-state says
Which means it will take four years for the PR people to take credit for it.
Michael M. says
That explains why the restaurant a block away from me went from serving “Traditional Tibetan Cuisine” to serving “Traditional Peruvian Cuisine”! Once again, we’re on the cutting edge here in NE… :-)
DinahDavis says
I’ve always been a casserole fan. Or as they say in Iowa “hot dish”.
But then I was raised with American Home Cooking, and still take pride in a well roasted chicken or a fork-tender Pot Roast. I can do a mean Swiss Steak as well.
Speaking of Tibetan vs. Peruvian, I know that corner too! (47th & Sandy! Go NE!)
Cuisine Bonne Femme says
DinahDavis, It’s funny you should mention American Home Cooking. I was raised with Southern home cooking and the past few months I’ve been craving those comforting (and honestly, very budget oriented) foods of my childhood – Chicken and Dumplings and pimento cheese and things like Grits and Hoppin’ John. I think this is a reaction to the uncertain economic and political times we are in but I say 2009 is going to be all about simple cooking, value and going back to our roots.
And a well roasted chicken or fork tender pot roast is good anytime!
marc says
the smell of tuna casserole roasting brings back bad childhood memories. sorry mom
dino says
Actually, Peruvian food is one of the sexiest cuisines of the world. It has that east/west thing going for it like Vietnamese…
As far as pupusas go, I believe those are Salvadoran in origin.
As far as Tibetan Cuisine goes- not my cup of tea- especially since Tibetans prefer their tea with rancid Yak butter….
Cuisine Bonne Femme says
Sure, and yes, Peruvian is sexy and quite tasty. However, does that make comparable to Thai on the “new trend” scale? I think it is a twee presumptuous of the writer to state that. Maybe in 10 years we might know a bit more and see how big this trend will grow. But until then, Food Dude is right. We don’t see Peruvian restaurants popping up on every corner, and Peruvian food is still mostly unheard of and hard to find in many (heck, most) American cities. It seems the writer was scratching the bottom of the barrel to try to come up with trend comparisons when there are none.