While the Cronut stands out as 2013’s most popular food hybrid (a croissant-doughnut blend pictured right), culinary experts predict that other food mash-ups and more exotic foods will take center stage this year, all trends that stand to influence gourmet packaged food offerings.
“Chefs will continue playing ‘mad scientist’ and dreaming up new food mash-ups in 2014. They might also ditch olive oil for more exotic oils like avocado, hazelnut and benne seed, and marine vegetables like sea beans and plankton might take kale’s crown,” according to an Andrew Freeman & Co., report quoted in a New York Daily News article.
Chefs in 2014 will be playing “mad scientist” and mashing up different foods and dishes, according to the hospitality and restaurant consultancy. A hybrid example noted in Freeman’s report is the ramen burger, where fried noodle patties replace hamburger buns. More exotic proteins will also emerge on menus, including pork belly and goat, and pork and catfish will become more commonplace, perhaps replacing the plethora of chicken menu offerings.
However, New York-based restaurant consultants Baum + Whiteman predict the opposite. They say “the humble bird” will go haute in 2014, with chefs pricing organic, free-range rotisserie chicken on par with steak.
Andrew Freeman & Co. also predicts chefs will serve more fermented foods and use “the full bounty of the ocean,” including all parts of the fish – fish cheeks and monkfish liver pate, for example – as well as marine vegetables such as sea beans, plankton and seaweeds. And it looks like french fries, the potato in general, and tortilla chips and crostini will be replaced by more unusual sides such as beef tendon crisps, crispy chicken skin and jicama and cucumber crudités.
