Its 2010 and a new decade beckons us, but what did we eat in
the Aught-Naught Decade? Here is a
random and completely subjective compilation of food trends in our recently
departed decade. Collected from popular trend lists, I'm not editing, just reporting the facts.
2000
Buzzword: Local
Hot Cuisine: Latin, Indian
Prediction: People will grow their own herbs
IN: Eating in restaurants, going out to eat becomes the evening’s
entertainment
Wine: Syrah, Zinfandel, restaurants add more wine by the
glass
News: Slow Food opens its first US office in NYC
Statistic: 10% of meals in the US are eaten in McDonalds,
65% of restaurant meals are fast food.
Quote: “The trend toward gourmet borders on a hobby.” –Bob
O’Brien Pres. Foodservice Info, NPD Group
2001
Buzzword: Local, Gourmet
Hot Cuisine: Mexican
Prediction: Raw food movement is over
IN: Cheese carts, healing foods, bulk food dispensers (whole
grains that come in big plastic containers and when you lift the trap door they
spill everywhere but in your plastic bag), flavored vodkas, bottled water for
kids, water sommeliers at restaurants, exotic foods
Event: Rachel Ray debuts on the Food Network, egullet.org
launches and foodies unite over the keyboard
Food Recalls: ground beef, hot dogs
2002
Buzzword: Local, comfort food, Antioxidants and free
radicals enter mainstream vocabulary
Hot Cuisine: Latin, Italian
IN: smaller restaurants, affordable cuts of meat, Japanese
ingredients, comfort food with exotic ingredients (lumpy mashed purple Peruvian
potatoes), Freedom Fries
OUT: Balsamic vinegar, sundried tomatoes, foccacia, French
food
Wine: Late Harvest Anything
News: Obesity lawsuit is filed against McDonalds
Food Recalls: ground beef, cantaloupe
2003
Buzzword: Local, Organic
IN: South Beach Diet, meat, protein, Flavored potato chips, beer can chicken
Out: All Carbs
Food Network: Alton Brown’s Good Eats show is HOT
Statistic: Grain production drops dramatically on a global
scale and meat consumption is 5 times higher than it was in 1950
Food Recall: Friendly’s Apple Pie a la Mode Ice Cream
because it may contain small pieces of a rubber-like material that could
present a choking hazard. (Note: it is recalled because we might choke on
pieces of rubber?? Not because it contains rubber like material??)
2004
Buzzword: Healthy, Organic, Easy
IT Buzzword: Low….low-fat, low carb
IN: Very complicated small plate dishes, El Bulli restaurant
in Spain, Molecular Gastronomy, tasting menus, chocolate, yuzu, agave syrup,
vertical food presentation
Obsession: Obesity gets world wide attention, the global weight
loss industry reaches $240 billion with about $40 billion coming from the US
market, energy drinks are the fastest growing supermarket category, bottled
water outsells coffee and beer
Consumer trends: 50% of consumers want to eat healthy, the
other 50% want convenience
News: Martha Stewart is in prison, Julia Child dies
Food Recalls: The news is full of reports of recalled food
staying on the shelves or being returned and mixed with other foods and being
reshipped.
2005
Buzzwords: Fresh, Local, Healthy, Organic, Whole Grain,
Probiotics
IT Buzzword: NO…no trans-fats, no carbs, no calories, no
preservatives
IN: Small meals (used to be known as snacks), meals on the
go, individual meals, quick fix meals, breakfast, portion control, garlic,
layering complicated flavors and exotic ingredients in a single dish, Las Vegas
as a dining destination
Out: raw food diets
Perversity: “Healthy” kid foods flood the market: sugar
coated whole grain cereals, sugar-loaded yogurt in brightly colored containers
Obsession: is it a good carb or a bad carb
Openings: Alinea Restaurant in Chicago, Iron Chef America débuts,
the movie Sideways brings us all a little closer to wine tasting in California
Closing: Atkins Nutrition, founder of the Atkins diet files
for bankruptcy
2006
Buzzwords: Healthy, Easy, Gourmet, Local
IT Buzzword: Free…Trans Fat Free, Gluten Free
IN: Dark chocolate from a single source, Superfoods: blueberries,
avocadoes, green tea, beans, walnuts, chocolate will make us all live long and
prosper), Super Tuscan wines, Flavored bottled water, Quinoa, faro, wheat
berries, bulgur, amaranth, whole wheat pasta, healthy take out food,
convenience food
Hot Cuisine: Mexican, Latin, Tuscan
Libations: Cocktails are in and bartenders are now
mixologists
Comeback: Fat is back, 75% of people report using low fat
products v. 2001 when 82% report using low fat products
Banned: Trans-fats in NYC
2007
Buzzwords: Local, ethnic, exotic, crispy, crunchy, organic,
grass fed, free range
IN: small bite deserts, cupcakes, single serving meals, 100
calorie snack packs, pre-cut veggies, premium quality ingredients, Nyotaimori
naked body sushi, specialty sandwiches (PA raised ham with NJ organic brie and
French mustard on whole grain pita wrap), Super juices (Odwalla with Amazon
rainforest ingredients), pomegranate everything, Omega 3 fatty acids, exotic
sea salts, Celebrity Chefs
News: Mario Batali’s contract with the Food Network is not
renewed
Bigger News: Wal-Mart introduces an organic section
Libations Gone Wild: Very Elaborate Jell-O shots, Flavored
Ices, Molecular Gastronomy inspired cocktails, Layered drinks
2008
Buzzwords: Local, Farmers Markets, CSA, Cheap, Ethical
IN: Home cooking, chef run noodle bars, offal, barrel aged
beer, Fair Trade anything, caffeinated anything, Super fruits: blood orange,
acai, goji, yumberry, no knead bread
Hot Cuisine: Korean
OUT/OVER/DONE/FINISHED: Bottled water (oh, really?), raw
diets
Marketing Gone Wild: Enriched white bread will improve
memory, natural butter flavor makes a comeback, probiotics move beyond yogurt
and into Kraft’s Live Active Cheese (they’re kidding, right?), P&G
introduces Pur Flavor that will flavor your water as it comes out of the tap, a
good night’s sleep is equated with weight loss and Nakazawa Adult Milk is
marketed as coming from cows milked at dawn so the milk has a higher melatonin
content so you’ll sleep better and wake up skinnier. (I’d love to see the snappy translation of that marketing
concept.)
Recession News: Ruth Reichl at Gourmet magazine publishes a
recipe for meatloaf with ketchup
Nanny State News: NYC requires calorie counts on chain
restaurant menus, LA bans fast food restaurants from opening in certain
neighborhoods
Statistic: It’s an even 50/50 split on money spent for food
for home consumption and food away from home
2009
Buzzwords: Local, Sustainable, Locavore, Comfort foods,
regional, simple, value, bare
IN: Home cured meats, charcuterie, butchers, home cooking,
rustic foods, slow cooking, braising, clay pots, beans, bacon, smoked anything,
peanut butter, blueberries in everything, gardening
Hot Cuisine: Peruvian (huh? This turned up on everyone’s hot
list. Am I missing something??), butchers, recipes are now on the web, on your
desktop widget and in your iPhone apps, cookies are the new cupcake
News: Best year ever for the Food Network, the film Julia
& Julie is released and Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking
is a hot item
The only prediction I have for 2010 is that Local will be
the buzzword and maybe raw food diets are over. Why does everyone pick on raw food diets? The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Happy New Decade!