ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 1, 1997 TAG: 9701020002
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 8 EDITION: HOLIDAY
Nothing is so clear as hindsight. And so, it's always fun to look back on culinary trends and predictions made at the beginning of the year to see how well the food soothsayers fared.
Equally enjoyable is to let the gourmet gurus take a stab at forecasting what will be hot and not among food trends for the coming year. Here's what various culinary experts said and what they now say:
These were some of the big food trends predicted by various experts for 1996:
* Convenience foods will get even bigger: Sometime during 1995, the clinical phrase ``home-replacement meals'' was coined. They're meals you pick up on the way home - at grocery store deli counters and fast-food chains - and set on the table without lighting the stove. Most popular? Whole roasted chickens served with side dishes such as pureed butternut squash and corn bread.
Look for even more of an explosion as grocery stores turn up the volume to compete with fast-food chains and full-service restaurants expand their takeout options. Supermarkets, too, will add more convenience items and improve the service that goes with them. You might be able to call ahead, charge it, and have your takeout meal ready when you arrive. Or, you might be able to order the family meal online. And we'll see more ready-to-use foods beyond bagged lettuces in all aisles of supermarkets, from marinated meats to dinners in a kit.
* A backlash against healthful foods will grow; low-fat and nonfat foods will plateau: Beef consumption continues to rise. At many restaurants, desserts are ordered by the majority. Fast-food outlets push their super-sizes, tacos topped with bacon and burgers sloshed with sauce. A MasterCard dining survey shows that more than 60 percent of us let our diets slide when we eat out. Perhaps too much has been pounded into the American psyche about the evils of all kinds of food. Too many fat-free and reduced-fat products line shelves.
Sure, the manufacturers will keep figuring how to siphon the fat and calories from foods. And government approval was granted in 1996 for Olestra, Procter & Gamble's artificial fat. But we'll show we're fed up with fat-free, shunning some of the many offerings.
The new trend is going to be high-fiber, low-calorie foods that are naturally full of flavor, not products that have been fiddled with to remove fat. Fruits and vegetables, perhaps? What a concept.
Fueling the trend is a growing sense of unease over product labels. We don't like a long string of ingredients, in which we recognize only a couple.
* We'll go to restaurants to be entertained, not just eat: Restaurants need atmosphere or themes; food needs to be fun. Established places such as Planet Hollywood and the Hard Rock Cafe are examples. But new-to-the-scene restaurants such as Twin Palms in Newport Beach, Calif., where diners sit under a giant tent and are entertained by a jazz band, are examples, too.
* Wine will be poured more often: Thanks to recent studies linking consumption of red wine with good health, vintners expect greater sales during 1996. And we'll uncork new varieties. Merlot will be in demand, cabernet and chardonnay not so much.
The only bad news: Wine prices will climb because of factors such as increased demand and grape shortages.
* Meatless meals will top more tables: It's one of those contradictions that plague trend stories; despite eating more beef, we're also eating more meatless meals. What's happening is that such meals - once served only in vegetarian households - are becoming mainstream. As part of the move into the mainstream, a group of eaters called ``alternavores'' is growing in numbers. They're the folks who say they're vegetarian, but occasionally eat chicken, fish or maybe even meat.
Whatever the motivation, more of us will rotate a few meatless meals into our weekly routines, filling in with pasta, beans and grains instead - perhaps for health reasons, perhaps because they're less expensive and easier to prepare.
* Ethnic ingredients will continue to become widespread: Ingredients once associated with one kind of cuisine will continue filling pots and pans of all kinds of dishes. Ginger is an example of an ingredient making the rounds in many dishes. Asian-inspired lemon-grass sauces show up in a variety of foods. Supermarket shelves will groan under the arrival of even more ethnic products.
* The family will become a focus at mealtime: Well, almost. Actually, we'll be looking for someplace good to take the family to use mealtime as shared time. As a result, more restaurants are creating ``child-friendly'' environments, offering more child-size portions at lower prices or children's menus, according to the National Restaurant Association.
Here are some big food trends predicted in the January issue of Men's Fitness Magazine for 1997:
* Cuisines will get fused: Fusion cuisine, which pairs foods from different countries, is the hottest trend, according to Tim Zagat of the Zagat Survey. This means tortillas stuffed with Japanese pickled vegetables, Indian pancakes filled with tomatoes, basil and mozzarella, or spaghetti topped with stir-fried vegetables.
* Pan-Hispanic's popularity will grow: Guatemalan, Chilean and other South and Central American restaurants will become hip. Indian cuisine will also be hot. Chutney - chopped fruit or vegetable blends seasoned with Indian spices - should take its place alongside salsa, predicts Isabel MacGurn of the Hampton Chutney Company.
* Eating will become more of an adventure: Sports bars and theme eateries are going to be even hotter, says Zagat. "We'll go to restaurants for cyber-adventures like virtual reality safaris, complete with boar and ostrich on the menu," predicts Internet Food Channel producer Joshua Isenberg.
* Any food, any time: "With more business being done globally and around the clock, you'll lose track of traditional mealtimes. Restaurants will begin to serve dinner in the morning," predicts Art Siemering, publisher of Trend/Wire, a weekly food-industry advisory.
* Organic will go mainstream: Lisa Shapiro, natural-living manager for the Wild Oats Market in Boulder, Colo., predicts that soon you'll be able to buy an organic version of any type of food and at about the same price as national name brands.
* Drinks will boost energy: Potentially hot are the upcoming "pseudo" sports drinks, so called because they're sweetened with artificial sweeteners instead of carbohydrates for fewer calories, says Lynn Dornblaser, publisher of New Product News. She also expects to see more beverages spiked with caffeine, like Water Joe, which is caffeinated bottled water.
- JENNIFER LOWE, Orange County Register; Men's Fitness
And here are some additions:
Latino, Thai, Middle Eastern and Pacific Rim were 1996's hottest cuisines. During 1997, watch for Belgian, updated French classics, Korean and Mediterranean Rim - along with goat, fresh sturgeon and tripe - according to Food/Arts magazine.
Other top items on the 1997 gastronomic front:
Among veggies, it's peas and baby bok choy.
* Fish: sea or striped bass and arctic char.
* Buzzword: home-meal replacement - as in carryouts.
* Restaurant decor: Distressed anything, wood paneling, wrought-iron sculptures, art glass, candlesticks, multiple mirrors, humidors, black-and-white photographs, walkie-talkie headsets and unmatched chairs.
* Craze: Cigar bars. And let's hope this one ends soon.
* Drinks: Martinis and margaritas.
* The rest: Almonds, apricots, Asiago cheese, Asian noodles and sticky rice, bacon, banana splits, beets, breads, broccoli rabe, coconut layer cake, daikon, duck breast, escargots out of shells, fava beans, house-made crackers, Irish oatmeal, Italian puttanesca sauce, jicama slaw, kumquats, lime sauce, mango and papaya, mezze, nut crusts, pannini, peanut sauces, salty-sweet flavors, satays and kebabs, shortbread, tagine, tamales, tarragon in desserts, wraps and spring rolls.
* Shifting menus: The research firm NPD Crest tracked declining restaurant menu items during 1992-95: spicy fried chicken, barbecued chicken, cereal, fajitas, croissants, pan pizza, seafood salad, regular coffee, taco salad and frozen yogurt.
* Growing: rotisserie chicken, macaroni and cheese, bagels, children's meals, extra-large soft drinks, nuggets, English muffin breakfast sandwiches, tap water, burritos and turkey sandwiches.
* Ice cold war: You can exercise willpower now, but someday - unfortunately, not 1997 - it might be done for you. According to Food Processing magazine, a new generation of ``smart'' refrigerators that can be programmed to withhold unhealthy snacks by using bar codes is in the works.
``It will detect the sort of things that you eat and the sort of things you enjoy eating, making very intelligent, very reasoned, very nonemotional decisions on our behalf,'' Roland Burns of the University of Plymouth told the recent annual festival of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.
- PATTY LANOUE STEARNS, Knight-Ridder/Tribune
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