[Sca-cooks] OT Food Trends of 2014

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

"Sandra J. Kisner" <sjk3 at cornell.edu> wrote:
> Any highlights (besides cauliflower) we should know about? You can't view the slideshow if you don't 
> have a Facebook account.

Sorry, i had no idea. Here's the list:

1. Cauliflower ["Watch your back, kale."]
2. Asafoetida & fenugreek [they mean fenugreek herb, known as methi or something similar in most Indian languages]
3. 3-D printed food
4. Ice cream sandwiches [gourmet kinds with real cookies and unusual ice cream flavors]
5. Bread ["...this bakery item has suddenly gone high-end. New varieties, fresh uses (bread salad? 'kay!), and even a resurgence in home bread-baking..."

6. Beef
7. The "other" meats [mostly game animals & fowl, "...like venison, squab, goat, and rabbit..."]
8. Gin ["Local-botanical infusions and specialty distilleries..."]
9. Tea ["this classic has also begun to invade our plate ...in dessert syrups, steamed infusions, and coming sprinkled on your entree"]
10. Turmeric

11. Jerky of all kinds ["With the Paleo takeover of 2013, meaty snacks are on the rise... Get ready for everything from tuna to ostrich to kangaroo jerky"]
12. Savory yogurt ["...a line featuring flavors like beet, tomato, and butternut squash"]
13. Midwestern food
14. Biscuits [i had really good biscuits with fresh mushroom gravy Saturday morning at my local cafe]
15. Freekah ["wheat harvested while still green" - it's commonly eaten in The Levant]

16. More mashups [a la "cronuts" - croissant-donuts, for those who missed out. I know i sure did NOT eat any]
17. Haute Jewish deli - true Jewish delis have been dying out. I don't know if this is good or not.
18. New Make Whiskey ["new make whiskey is fresh off the still, un-aged, and in its raw, elemental form."]
19. Non-wheat noodles ["you can probably already find shirataki or rice noodles on your health-food-store shelves, expect a much wider variety of potato, bean, soy, and buckwheat-based pastas..."]
20. Sugar-free everything

A lot of these won't be news to many cooks on this list.

Speaking of "Local-botanical infusions and specialty distilleries", I got the trio of gins last year from our local St. George Distillery -  http://www.stgeorgespirits.com/gins/
-- Botanivore Gin ("19 different botanicals working in concert. Think of a meadow in bloom—herbaceous, fresh, and elegant.")
-- Terroir Gin ("An ode to the wild beauty of the Golden State. Forest-driven and earthy, Terroir is a profoundly aromatic gin with a real sense of place. We wanted to make a spirit that conveyed what we love about the monumental groves of trees, moist and misty glens, and sun-baked chaparral of our favorite local parklands. ...we try to take you there with Douglas fir, California bay laurel, coastal sage, and other evocative botanicals.") This one really needs no mixer beyond a quality club soda water and a squeeze of citrus.
-- and Dry Rye Gin ("warm and malty")

Someone sometimes called Urtatim