FOOD CLUB JANUARY 2016
Well, that’s it folks! Another year has come and gone, we have all put on pounds in weight over Christmas and New Year, but hopefully you all had a wonderful time. Time to look at what 2016 will bring – more innovations in food, more ‘superfoods’, more food trends ? The answer to all of those is – YES! Hot new restaurants – YES! Here is a snapshot of what you will be reading and hearing about this coming year.
Welcome to Brazil
With the upcoming Olympics, promotion of Brazilian food has already started – just as when the Football World Cup made every supermarket and restaurant Rio crazy. Brazilian classics are appearing already in restaurants throughout the major cities in the UK, accompanied by famous cocktails such as the’Caipirinha’. Look for Brazilian beef dishes and traditional hearty food like ‘feijoada’ (pork and black bean stew) and ‘bolinhos’ (crunchy rice balls) both of which are already appearing on menus in the capital.
What’s Hot for Health
Nuts have long had tremendous focus as a healthy food, but this year you will see more restaurant dishes and more recipes made using CASHEWS, which are being heralded as ‘The Nut of the Year’ by health professionals and restauranteurs. Vegans and vegetarians have of course been advocates of this nut for a long time, but now more and more people are using them as a base for butter, or to be used in cheesecakes and raw foods such as salads and even chocolate bars.
Seaweed has been featuring for the last few months, even in the food halls at Marks and Spencer (used in biscuits and crackers), not only for health reasons, but also sustainability. Full of protein, calcium and iron, it is a very valuable addition to diets, particularly the ubiquitous smoothie craze.
What to Have in your Store Cupboard
Buzzword is Gochugaru, a Korean version of chilli pepper flakes or powder, the main hot spice ingredient in their regional food (such as my Kimchi recipe). Korean food popularity continues to rise (20% more restaurants in the capital alone last year), so if you want to jump on the bandwagon, get some of this potent spice and start cooking!
Has Lobster Had Its Day?
The desire for lobster in the UK will never fade as a luxurious, impressive and totally delicious dish, but crab is on the rise. We have had the emergence of pop-up lobster restaurants all over the country, but now it’s the turn of this delicious crustacean. Supermarkets have upped their game with the quality of the crab and crabmeat they sell, with Orkney crab being the preferred favourite, with Sainsbury’s at the helm of using top quality crab. Try my delicious Brazilian Grilled Crab Shells recipe.
