Taste of 2016: Veggies step up to the plate

06 January 2016 - 02:40 By Shelley Seid

One day you're in. The next day you're out - this applies as much to cuisine as it does to your closet. While last year was the year avocado toast went viral (search and discovery service app FourSquare reports that mentions of "avocado toast" increased 270% during 2015), the jolly green giant is here to stay for the foreseeable future - and in any form, say trendsetters. Under eggs, mixed with chickpeas, as sauces and salad dressings - and even as desserts. Think smoothies, ice creams, fudge and brownies.Part of the continued popularity of the avocado is due to another rising trend, #come-home-fats-all-is-forgiven.Full-fat food, a steadily growing local trend thanks to Tim Noakes and the Banting diet, is finding favour overseas with consumers demanding more full-fat products and eschewing carbs.At the same time, vegetables are having their day in the sun. Following on the path forged by the cauliflower, veggies are about to move to the middle of the plate where they are taking the place of meat and carbs.Anyone for zoodles (zucchinis julienned into noodles)? Or a healthy helping of carrot linguine?The US's National Restaurant Association says "veggie-centric plates" is this year's hot trend. Expect "root-to-stem" dining as well as veggies in brand new incarnations, like ice cream.Ancient grains are also back in vogue. Millet, perhaps, or faro or any other grain that has a biblical reference. Quinoa may still be on the menu but the nutritious spelt, which has been around since 5000BC, has far more gravitas.Another addition to your 2016 beetroot-noodle salad will be some sort of legume. It's time for the spotlight to shine on the modest bean, lentil and chickpea, and the UN has declared 2016 the International Year of Pulses.Seaweed is the new kale, fungus is in fashion and sugar is the new devil.With consumers demanding more natural, and less "processed" products, food companies are bowing to the pressure of removing artificial ingredients.Consumers are also demanding that claims on products be verified - especially those claiming that products are "organic", "handcrafted" or "artisanal".Some alternative foods are mainstreaming (non-dairy products for example, coconut in all its forms, as well as alternative proteins) and while local continues to be lekker, "environmental sustainability" is the new buzz term.Beer will get bigger, and the demand will be for simplicity."Beertails" - cocktails with a beer base - are becoming more popular, as are beer and food pairings.In South Africa, however, it might be a different story. "Squirreling is the new trend," says chef, anthropologist and food writer Anna Trapido. "The only thing that was not more expensive over the new year, thanks to the drought, was red meat. So shove all the meat you can in the freezer and hope Tim Noakes is right."Meat is only cheap because drought-stricken farmers are being forced to slaughter their herds - when that protein has passed on, prices will rise."Trendy treatsSTILL IN THE KITCHENCold-brewed coffee, Middle Eastern flavours, artisanal beer.NEW ON THE PLATEGenetically modified salmon, vegetable cheese cake, wine in a tin, African cuisine, broccoli leaves, millet, turmeric and bowls. Bowls are the new black. Plates, having already been replaced by bits of slate, bread boards and pots, are not coming back.IN THE BINCronuts, cupcakes, fat-free everything, bite- sized desserts, bottled water.GADGET OF THE YEARThe spiraliser...

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