There have always been trends in most aspects of our lives. But with the instant communication that social media has spawned, it seems as if trends are surging more quickly than ever.
You might say that trends are…trending.
The end of one trend (do we all agree that blackened redfish has hit a red light?) makes way for another, and food columnist and author John Mariani (Esquire, The Encyclopedia of American Food & Drink, The Dictionary of Italian Food and Drink) recently identified 10 trends in food for the 10th anniversary issue of Celebrated Living.
This week, we will share Mariani’s food trends (with his comments in quotation marks), and add some wine-related observations of our own…
- Slow Food Movement “Has grown into a worldwide advocacy group zealously trying to preserve food traditions and culture, lobbying against the use of pesticides, and inveighing against large-scale agribusiness.” The impact has been the creation of a dining public and a generation of cooks more aware of the quality and benefits of food cooked from scratch, using natural ingredients. This ties in perfectly with the “natural wine” trend in Europe and the ongoing transition to organic winegrowing in America.
- Farm to Table Eating “A corollary of the Slow Food Movement, this easy-to-understand idea has become a mantra for chefs who believe that the closer the ingredient sources are to the restaurant, the better the food will be.” The wine world has embraced this philosophy for generations. While commerce dictates that wines made in large quantities be shipped long distances in order to be sold, there still are plenty of under-the-radar gems crafted in such small amounts that they’re available only in a winery’s tasting room.
Tomorrow: olive oils and pizza.
