If it’s difficult to look back — since we don’t quite remember whether the events happened in 2020 or 2021 — let alone make predictions for the coming year? But some experts made the effort, like the North American consultancy Baum + Whiteman, whose report I read every year-end and enjoy myself as someone who consults astrological forecasts. I’m kidding but the guys have already scored some great goals like the spread of Korean cuisine and the invasion of poke, all well before it became fashionable.
But there is no big news in this year’s report. There are more findings. Trends such as kitchen automation, the supremacy of vegan chicken and churros remind one more of a “museum of great news”. Let’s unravel the future.
• About robots in the kitchen, the report cites Creator’s hamburger machine, which has operated in San Francisco, Calif., since 2018, but has now reopened in Daly City, with some improvements such as the ability to customize your own sauce and memorize it on the phone. Flippy, the robot from Miso Robotics who made hamburgers in Las Vegas, now fries potatoes and even shakes the basket before dipping it in the oil. And Sushiro’s sushi machines in Tokyo, Japan, in addition to cooking, seasoning and shaping sushi rice, now use artificial intelligence to organize the flow of preparation of dishes by the staff. There’s even a Chinese restaurant with automated woks that shake the ingredients without anything popping out of the pan. But I think we’ve already seen this on Youtube, right?
• Plant-based chicken should also be highlighted in 2022. Impossible Foods launched vegan nuggets in the United States last August, but here in Brazil we already have cubed chicken from Veg & Tal, a plant-based line by Sadia that uses soy, peas and beans to recreate protein. I tasted it and although the flavor isn’t that exciting, the texture is impressive. The NotChicks Bites, NotCo’s vegan nuggets sold in some Bullguer units, are sensational, very close to the original.
• The condiment of the year will be chili crunch, basically composed of oil, pepper flakes, fried garlic and sesame. Some can be fortified with ginger, dried mushrooms or seaweed. David Chang, who is no fool, already sells his no Momofuku. I tasted a very special one in Bimiya Ramen, used to prepare the broth, and soon I was dreaming of buying it. Who knows now the chef will make it available for sale? Tan Tan also makes a very tasty one, the Taberu Rayu: I tried it earlier this year and got addicted. This sauce is more flavorful than stingy, it’s very rich in umami. It goes well with meat (fish in particular), roasted vegetables, salads, and even over a simple bowl of white rice. It’s a good cry (even the next day, lol).
• Ethnic cuisine must continue to conquer space, but now surrounded by narratives, histories and cultural roots. But what is ethnic cuisine for Americans? Afro-American, Thai, Korean, Indian and even Brazilian. Yes, we are trending.
• As ghost kitchens, kitchens set up for delivery service and which exploded as a result of the pandemic, should continue to rise. And if the forecasts are optimistic, with Euromonitor saying that the ghost kitchens could represent a $1 trillion industry by 2030, there is growing concern about the number of vacant restaurant seats caused by this expansion.
• What if the corn dogs they never became a fad, now they must invade the world thanks to their Korean version: the K-dogs! The sausage stick with breaded sausage in fried dough (made from rice and wheat flour, not corn as the original) now appears with varied toppings such as bulgogui sauce, Sriracha aioli, kimchi. And everything is super installable.
• And there’s also the Korean scrambled eggs, which fill sandwiches with teriyaki chicken, tuna or bulgogui. It’s Korea dominating the gastronomic world too!
• Bizarre ice cream is another trend. After the success of American Van Leeuwen’s macaroni and cheese ice cream, flavors such as ramen ice cream with miso, ginger and yuzu from Sugar Hill Creamery, in Harlem, and French fries ice cream with sour cheddar cream and optional caviar, emerged Chicago’s Heritage Restaurant and Caviar Bar. Think!
• Other: creative and more hearty dishes for breakfast. In fact, this trend is a result of the flexibility of restaurants that have expanded their opening hours and had to adapt their menu and even their service. The report cites an Irish pub in Brooklyn that is opening for breakfast to serve tacos only.
• Drinks with a lower alcohol content are still on the rise, including in the beer market. On the other hand, alcohol starts to appear in products like kombucha. In Brazil we have High, a canned hard kombucha brand that even produces kombucha sparkling wine. I’ve already tasted the berry and tangerine ones and they are very good. Both have 6.2% of alcohol content, have a strong flavor and give that delicious dizziness that we expect from a sparkling wine. Perfect.
• And, closing, we will continue with the maintenance of the “fine dining“, haute cuisine. Between us, it never died, right? After all, the pandemic affected a large part of the population economically, but the elite continued consuming without crises. And not just in gastronomy.
Buzzwords in 2022
– Greek yogurt
– Birria (the mexican beef stew)
– Luxury vinegars
– Ethnic sandwiches for breakfast
– Churros
– Jaca
– Tiger nuts (chufa)
– Espresso martini
– Hommus variations
– Pasta alla gricia (roughly speaking, reminiscent of caccio and pepe, only topped up with guanciale)
As we’ve seen, nothing (very) new on the front.
Fonte: Baum+Whiteman International Restaurant Consultants
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I am currently a news writer for News Bulletin247 where I mostly cover sports news. I have always been interested in writing and it is something I am very passionate about. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and spending time with my family and friends.
