Happy New Year & 2021 Food Trends

Well, Happy 2021. In truth, I did not get all excited about this event. The sun sets, the sun rises - and I saw no reason why January 1 would be so different than the day before. Yes, there’s the promise of the vaccine - though this will likely be months down the road for most of us. It doesn’t seem to be a time when we can make prophecies with any assurance.

But that hasn’t stopped food writers. Are you bumping into all the 2021 Food Trend predictions? I have no idea how writers come up with these lists. here are a few of my own thoughts (which are sort of obvious) added to what I’ve seen in the media.

Continued interest in Plant-Based Foods. Perhaps you’ve already seen burgers that are 50% plant-based – aiming to nudge people in this direction. The truth is that a lot of us already eat a fair amount of plant-based foods – just keep it up. Mushrooms seem to be popping up a lot as a plant-based food. So many ways to enjoy these! I don’t eat much fried food, but here’s a Hungarian favourite.

Home Cooking Projects. We have already witnessed the obsessions with sour dough and Dalgona – some say homemade peanut butter will be next, as well as pickling (which was making a comeback in recent years anyhow). An increased interest in making homemade pasta is also predicted. Hot Cocoa Bombs have been all the rage in the last few weeks. Many people will forget about buying these and make them at home. What are they? Put the chocolate ball in a cup, pour over hot milk - the chocolate melts releasing min0marshamllows floating to the top- a quick stir and you have hot chocolate. (Not to be mistaken for a bath bomb…)

Make At Home Kits will increase in popularity – not only those from big-brand companies but from local restaurants. I already see some of them combining kits with wine and even a music soundtrack (I thought that was my idea!) – all to create an at-home resto experience.

As comfort levels with meeting programs increase, fasten your seatbelts for an explosion of Online Cooking Classes – some where you simply watch and some where you cook along with the chef.

More Ghost Kitchens. This refers to someone (often an existing resto) setting up a new business with no bricks and mortar – they simply use an existing resto kitchen to offer an entirely new menu.

Mocktails. I am still surprised when I do resto reviews at how many places do not have a list of non-alcoholic cocktails. Yes, they will make one if you ask but it’s not on the menu. I am betting we will see more of these using various base ingredients such as Seedlip. Kombucha is already popular and some say it contains traces of alcohol. Watch for “hard” Kombucha this year. By the way – this is Dry January – a month when people are challenged to drink no alcohol.

Spicy Sauces. I read that these will be popular. I have already seen stores that sell dozens of them and I wish they would STOP. Who needs this? I cannot handle anything more than mouth-warmth and IMHO “heat” masks all other flavours in the food.

Hot Breakfasts are supposedly making a comeback – and I don’t mean Eggos heated in the toaster. Some say we will soon be making pancakes, French toast etc. Have you ever had a Full English Breakfast – with beans and fried tomato etc.? I have been meaning to make this - maybe even for supper – for ages. I will make 2021 the year that I follow through on this. I even have the toast rack!

Home-based Food Enterprises are popping up - everything from pizza, to baking, chocolates – and even charcuterie! I am working on an article on this. It is astounding how many people have been inspired to begin making something at home and then sell it via social media. It’s partly exciting to witness such creativity, but you might be shocked to learn how many of these people seem to have no idea about the health, safety and legal requirements linked to setting up a home food business. Watch for my article in the weeks to come.

Gadgets? I resisted the Instant Pot – mainly because I have absolutely no room for another gadget. I hear that Air Fryers will be the new Instant Pot.

Especially as pandemic restrictions begin to loosen and restos reopen, watch for the continued “Reset” where restos aim to improve workplace conditions for employees. Be prepared – that can mean higher prices.

A wish, not a prophecy. Let’s hope for more kindness all around. Happy 2021!

P.S. Let me know if you have any 2021 food trend predictions.

Backward and Forward

Looking forward or back ~  look at yourself. 
Ste Annes. 

We are just about to leave behind that time of year when every form of media is dominated by looking back (on 2015) and looking forward (to 2016). There’s almost too much of that, but then it is a “too much” time of the year. 

I was recently reminded that “backward” and “forward” play a role in Hungarian superstitions.  To ensure luck, a New Year’s Eve / Day meal should, apparently, include pork. “Pigs symbolize progress as they root themselves in the ground before pushing forward.” Any creature that pushes backwards – such as chickens scratching – signify bad luck and are to be avoided. Fish is customary in Hungary on Christmas Eve, but not so at New Year’s because they “can swim away with your luck”.  (Source)

These lucky / unlucky food traditions seem to exist beyond Hungary. Do a quick internet search on ‘new year’s lucky foods’ and it turns out that many countries share similar warnings, and are proponents of pork for New Year’s luck – Austria Spain, Cuba – even Southern USA. Visit an East European delicatessen this time of year and do not be surprised to see “Santa treats” replaced by pigs. “Austrians and Germans are... known to decorate the table with miniature pigs made of marzipan.” (Source)

Also included by many on the list of lucky foods is lentils – shaped as coins, they symbolize wealth and good fortune. (In case you missed it, the UN has declared 2016 The International Year of Pulses – aka lentils. More on that in a future post.)

Lastly, Hungarian sites refer to “kocsonya” as a lucky food. Pronounced "kuhchunyuh", this is nicely (and deceivingly) translated as “cold pork aspic”. “Aspic” sounds so genteel, but this tends to be very rustic and features pig’s feet staring up at you from a soup plate, surrounded by the natural “jello” that results from cooking the trotters in a broth. There has not been a year of my life when I have not had to watch someone eat this. (It’s a fave of Mr KB.) Though I am all grown up, this remains one of my “ick” foods, thus the “luck” for me is that no one forces me to make it or eat it. (Inexplicably, I remain willing to eat Jello in any colour, and have fond memories of Jello Jewel Pie which could make a comeback since BuzzFeed lists “all things Jello” among the 16 Biggest Food Trends in 2016.)

While being encouraged to look forward, a few missives popping into my email box prompt a backward glance. I am getting reminders to renew my blog site and domain. Yes, it is coming up to the one year anniversary of this preoccupation of mine.

Someone wishing me well once said ‘I hope you get what you want from blogging’. It’s taken me about a year of blogging, attendance at the Canadian Food Blogger’s Conference, and subsequent interactions with the FBC Community to realize that I am doing this mainly for myself. When blogging (and cooking) I achieve "Flow".

Flow is a term adopted by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi (that’s a lovely Hungarian name) to describe the state when "a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does… In flow, the emotions are not just contained and channeled, but positive, energized, and aligned with the task at hand. The hallmark of flow is a feeling of spontaneous joy, even rapture, while performing a task."

Flow – don’t you want it? Is there anything better than that? As it turns out, there are some food bloggers who also want/need an income. Some have “monetized” their blog and by combining it with related entrepreneurial activities (and possibly the publication of a book) are making a living wage – or in the case of Pinch of Yum – an enviable income of about $33,000 per month!

I have no plans to undertake any monetization. I blog for Flow, Zen, self-satisfaction and to create a digital version of favourite recipes and family traditions that can be made and sustained by family and friends. A few of us FBC-ers are calling ourselves “legacy bloggers”.

Thus, I am not reporting to you any income – though I did win a couple of prizes last year – mainly by accident, and one by participating in a Twitter Party – will tell you more about that one day. I will share a bit about 2015 in numbers – and these numbers pale in comparison to those of big name bloggers. Anticipating that maybe no one would pay attention to the blog, I ended up with 2527 unique visitors to my site in 2015 and 12,200 page views – all from 52 countries. I am not entirely sure how all that happens, though I do post a bit on Instagram (160 followers) and Twitter (167 followers).

There’s never a week when I don’t learn some new – though arguably useless and unimportant - thing. For example, near the end of 2015, Instagram-ers were posting collages of nine photos, hash-tagged as #bestnine2015. Here’s my best nine – as in most “liked” by followers. They are not my favourite photos, but they say the public is always right…

Instagram: Most Liked in 2015 - total of 5250 Likes

Some of my favourite memories

Numbers offer the “quantity” story, but blogging also brought some quality. It became a gateway to new experiences and connections. Those “in the zone” must surely know that cultivating community and connections with people sharing similar interests is one of the tips for successful ageing, so thank you Kitchen Bliss for that! (Source)

And what’s in store for KB going forward? More and better writing; catching up on many recipes that have been enjoyed but not yet shared; continuing new food experiences at home and in restos.

I like to conclude all blog posts with a recipe. Clearly, this time, one has to be pork. I was astonished that Gulyás Soup was my only “pork post” so far, but given that it was my first post ever maybe this is a good time to re-visit it. I also posted a favourite recipe for easy-peasy Broiled Pork Tenderloin.

Lentils appear more often in the KB Kitchen and here. Check out Parisian Lentils, Curry Lentil Soup and Lentil Orzo Salad. Enjoy them all!

From a card given to my favourite Capricorn – “In life, we remember moments, not days. Hope your new year is filled with perfect moments.” 

For 2016, wishing you Moments, Flow, Zen and most of all Bliss!

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