Food trendwatchers and chefs across the city tell us what to eat and drink in 2017
CHEF PREM K POGAKUlA, THE IMPERIAl NEW DElHI
Cook less: With the urban lifestyle evading our way of eating, I think ‘cook less’ meal is something to look forward to in 2017 and is surely the next big thing. With time crunch in hand and both the partners working in a nuclear family scenario, one pot meals are super easy, highly nutritious with adequate protein and starch content and are perfect for a quick meal. You can also call it as urban cooking.
Emotional food: I also strongly believe that the dining scenario in the city is in for a change in the coming year. Experiments are still on but the vital aspect is that old and lost cuisines are being rediscovered. Chefs are working with emotional food bringing back the childhood memories. I also believe lost tribal recipes are in the process of being explored to a great extent.
Marijuana edibles: As more countries start to legalise marijuana, opportunities to experiment with this secret ingredient will come up as it has many medicinal benefits. It’s perhaps the most interesting new food market to appear in coming years, with chefs working on new found ways of cooking with cannabis.
CHEF RAHIS KHAN, THE METROPOlITAN HOTEl & SPA
Being in the deep of the food industry, we always tend to look what’s coming next. This year was all about healthy eats, low-carb foods like vegetable noodles, cauliflower rice, and sweet potato toast, etc which has bulged popularity and overall we can say year gone was a pretty healthy year. And the coming one will be a pivotal one for the future of food and is poised to be even healthier.
With emerging technology in food production more experimental trends will be coming out with the “lets try this too” attitude. And more and more cuisines will be coming to the Indian food market, people will be more innovative with the food they relish.
Fermented foods and probiotics like kimchi and gochujang will continue to gain steam while pioneering options like chiogga beet kraut and non-dairy tonics will add variety. Also, dehydrated trend is going to take coming year on new heights; from dehydrated broccoli, brussels sprout and parsnip chips to sophisticated salmon, bison and chicken jerkies all with grown-up flavour combinations.
Smoke and fire combination has also started getting featured up everywhere on the menu, be it charred or roasted vegetable sides or in desserts with charred fruits or be it burnt-sugar toppings; cocktails are featuring smoked salt, smoked ice or smoky syrups. So these trends will continue for sure.
Further expansion of vegetarian, vegan and other plant-focused interest, fruits, mostly exotic and veggies such as kale, fermented foods and green tea to be in trend in 2017. What I believe is vegetables will continue to push meat right off the plates. Even now in professional kitchen we cook veggies skins, leaves and stalk as they contain more nutrients than other parts.
Also, edible cookie dough is more likely to come in trend. Coconut flour tortillas might replace coconut oil and coconut water as the flour is gluten-free and helps in reducing risk of heart disease. Mocktails featuring health-promoting ingredients like fresh-pressed juices, teas, sipping vinegar, herbs, and spices will be in.
Now, more people are shifting from meats and trying out more healthy options like seafood and veggies. They are looking for a change whenever they want to dine out i.e. they want to experiment with more different cuisines and foods available. The live cooking concept will be on new pinnacle as guests now want food as per their choice and even want to see it being prepared.
CHEF SONAM YOlOMO, STEllAR
According to chef Sonam Yolomo from Stellar, a continued blurring of meal times will mean more of us opt to graze instead of eat three meals a day. Picking and sharing small plates are on the rise, as now a variety of healthier snack solutions are available. Therefore we expect to see more low-sugar and high-protein bites.
Gluten-free pasta: With more and more people going gluten-free, traditional pasta will get a makeover. Pasta can be made with different ingredients like quinoa, lentils or even chickpeas. In the case of traditional pasta, the whole grains will have to come from local mills.
Veggies forever: There is an exponential rise in veggie and vegan cooking in the last few years with “vegetarian butchers” and their ilk around to remind us that vegetables should no longer be consigned to a side order. One sub-genre we expect to see more of is sea vegetables like healthy dulse (seaweed) which can be used as a salt substitute as it adds a briny tang to food.
Brunch fun: For many of us, all-day breakfast is hardly a new concept. The very texture of breakfast is being transformed. But the uniqueness about this trend in 2017 is how the texture of breakfast will change. Forget all those smoother breakfast offerings such as soft scrambled eggs, buttered grits or for that matter oatmeals. Expect something like more “aggressive” crunchier items like fried chicken, crispy chorizo and chimichurri in 2017. As a bonus, smaller chains and independent eateries will justify these around-the-clock breakfast items as perfect hangover cures!
Negative on GMOs: In some cases, consumers have made up their minds before scientists have reached consensus, but many restaurant customers are declaring genetically modified organisms to be nonstarters. Many diners will agree with calls for labels of GMOs on menus and food packaging; some will go further and gravitate toward restaurants that advertise a GMO-free menu. That will be a major issue for the nation’s food supply, since many crops-particularly soy fed to livestock and other animal feeds have been modified to boost their yields and productivity.
UMANG TEWARI, FOUNDER, BIG FISH VENTURES
Meals in a Mug: Not having time to cook from scratch can never again be an excuse in 2017. A trend for cooking entire meals by microwaving ingredients in a mug proves that you can prepare a home-cooked meal during a TV advert break. The craze for mug cooking started when a recipe for a molten chocolate cake took the internet by storm. With 97 per cent of households owning a microwave, recipes have been developed and expanded to cover breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Vegetable yoghurt: The trend for healthy eating is expected to continue and in 2017 you may be swapping your blueberry yoghurt for one flavoured with beetroot. Flavours featuring the sweeter-tasting vegetables such as carrot, sweet potato, pumpkin and beetroot are expected to hit our supermarkets in 2017. But don’t have them with your morning coffee — vegetable yoghurts are served as an accompaniment to spicy savoury meals such as curry.
Seaweed spaghetti: It used to be that the only time we encountered seaweed was when it wrapped itself around our legs on a beach holiday. Next year we could all be eating it for dinner. Already familiar as a salad or deep-fried as part of a Chinese takeaway, the market is expanding with seaweed tipped to become as big as kale. Organic seaweed spaghetti from The Cornish Seaweed Company is sold in Tesco for £4.50 and, for the health conscious, could become a staple. Seaweed crisps are available as an alternative to the fattier varieties and seaweed granules and flakes offer a healthier way of flavouring food than salt. low in calories, vegan and high in calcium and iron, seaweed is expected to be 2017’s most popular superfood.
Cauliflower marches on: Vegetables in 2017 will extend their domination of the dinner plate, shoving animal protein to the edges or off the plate altogether. You can gauge the growing impact of veg-centric dining when you discover a steakhouse scrapping “sides” and moving vegetables to the middle of the menu. Sometimes, within an integrated category called “starters and sides”. Greens are in, and 2017 is the perfect time to jump on this trend and adopt healthier habits.
ROHIT MAlHOTRA, BARCElOS
Food apps: As the technology is evolving and people are becoming more tech friendly, the year 2017 will see the rise of table reservation apps or food based apps. These applications help users to book tables in advance and it manages the tables if there are people waiting to be seated. These tools also help the restaurants to keep a high demand of its customers on busy nights, and even better, to increase traffic on slow nights. Now a days, majority of customers also prefer the online table booking as it’s a quick process and they prefer booking the tables in advance instead of arriving at the restaurant and facing a long queue. So the trend is here to stay.
Multi cuisine: India is a growing market where consumer preference keeps changing. People of India are now more educated about foods hence they don’t want to restrict to one type of cuisine and are prone to experiments with food. Hence the multi cuisine is one big trend to watch out in the coming year.
Casual dining: The restaurant industry in India is mainly driven by the young population which opts for casual dining even when they want to catch up with friends. As Indian consumers are increasingly dining out, particularly in urban areas, changing lifestyle and food preferences are giving impetus to the F&B industry. The consumer trends are gradually moving from the fine dine to a more casual dining culture.
QSR: Quick service restaurants are a mainstay of the Indian food service market. QSRs have established their foothold in the major cities and are now expanding into smaller cities with smaller formats. To withstand the competition, most of the players are customising their menu in terms of flavours, pricing and services to meet Indian consumers’ inclinations.
CHEF PANKAJ JHA, THE SURYAA, NEW DElHI
Pan-Asian culture: Although common in high-scale restaurants, Asian cuisine is yet to penetrate the market. Japanese food, exotic in its origin and recommended by dieticians due to its freshness and variety will be explored beyond the sushi and sashimi which have been popular this past year. Korean and Filipino food is quickly catching up with Asian cuisine lovers.
Purple Food: Colours have always added to the presentation of dishes and couple it with nutrients, and you have the perfect mix to grace the table. Purple veggies, high in antioxidants, are especially expected to make an appearance this year. Recipes curated to include cauliflower, eggplant, purple sweet potatoes and acai are expected to trend. Instagram is sure to be flooded with purple food.
Use of organic and whole food: Research has shown that 40 per cent of food goes to waste after the main ingredient is extracted to be cooked. 2017 brings a much-welcome trend of maximised use of ingredients from stem to root, without any wastage. This farm-to-plate food philosophy is sure to catch up this year.
INDERJEET SINGH BANGA, PRANKSTER, GURUGRAM
2017 will belong to concept restaurants. For me it’s the vision that matters. I feel any restaurant works if it is build on the concept which evokes the fun element with people. If your restaurant is treating your sensories, it will be a hit. Food should be to treat your palate, music should be to please your ears, décor should be visually appealing to your eyes, if all these things are put together restaurants will be a hit. With much innovations in terms of concept already happened in the last year, 2017 according to me will totally belong to the innovations of food, it is progressive time and hence the cuisine should bring that progressive nostalgia.
CHEF AKSHAY NAYYAR, TOURIST
One thing that cannot change is “change”. Every product or industry has a trend cycle that keeps evolving. Only thing that changes in this cycle is improvisation and better implementation of technology. This is a result of constant readjustment wherein people keep readjusting their concepts and want to keep evolving in this competitive world to keep a hand above their peers.
With a tremendous growth in F&B industry trends keep changing like seasons. Nouvelle cuisine changed to modern cuisine which in turn lead to the birth of fusion cuisine. Then came molecular gastronomy with a big bang in last five years but is now fading out as people are moving back to dining concepts where food and its taste is prima facie. The epicentre of dining today for guests is its ultimate taste for which they could crave and return back. Simple white and black plate with natural garnishes has taken the main stage today. This shows us the rebirth of improved and better nouvelle cuisine with better technology used to produce foods like sous vide, combination cooking, dehydrators etc. Industry has started to accept this new trend already and is progressing towards it. Chefs are focussing more on ingredients, hygiene and modern techniques of food production helping to improve the overall recipe of a dish. Focus is on having classical recipe with amazing presentation and an aftertaste that creates a memory.