This coming year promises many new and interesting things in cooking. During the pandemic, our attitudes, eating habits, and lifestyles have changed in many ways. We have begun to cook more ourselves, we are more careful in choosing products in the store, we buy kitchen gadgets more often, we host dinner parties for friends and relatives, and we are interested in new ways of cooking. Gastronomic trends, many of which reflect these changes, will gradually become part of our lives, making eating more diverse and healthy. We tell you what trendy food is waiting for us in 2022.
Local and seasonal foods
Because of the disruption of the supply chain and the personnel crisis during the pandemic, imported food became much more expensive. Now seasonal vegetables, fruits, berries, and local products such as farm cheeses, meat and meat delicacies, milk, and fish are very popular. In fact, this kind of diet was natural for many generations of people before the advent of developed trade and supermarkets.
Scientists say that fresh fruits and vegetables grown in the area where we live are healthier and more environmentally friendly. In addition, fruits ripened at the time intended by nature are more tasty and balanced in terms of protein, fat and carbohydrates.
Supporting domestic producers and farms responds to the global trend toward conscious consumption and eco-friendly lifestyles. They provide us with quality food and create new jobs, strengthening regional economies. Not having to transport our produce also reduces our carbon footprint, which can make a major contribution to solving the problem of global warming.
Familiar dishes in a new guise
Familiar to us dishes will be presented a little differently, they will be complemented by unusual flavors using new technology. It’s important not to feel bored and monotonous with food.
Restaurateurs and food delivery services have noticed that in times of hardship and stress, people tend to order simple, familiar dishes from their childhood that they associate with a quieter life – mashed potatoes with cutlets, stew, fried potatoes, pilaf, chicken noodles, borscht, mushroom soup, etc. On the one hand, it is soothing, but on the other hand, it makes everyday life more boring.
To get more joyful emotions from food, it is enough to make a small change in the recipe, add some spices, make a brighter sauce, apply modern cooking techniques – and the usual culinary classics will be transformed.
Cooking on an open fire
Citizens have a renewed desire for country living and cooking over an open fire for dinner. In 2022, interest in this will only intensify. People are increasingly buying barbecue and charcoal grills, and many are very interested in pilaf cauldrons and grills for the countryside.
Food cooked on fire is considered more natural and healthy. Products get a spectacular appearance, the aroma of smoke excites the appetite, and the food is much tastier. Slow meals in the fresh air calm us, fill us with harmony, make us closer to nature and to each other. So we learn to enjoy simple things and become happier…
The popularity of non-alcoholic cocktails
The fashion for cold non-alcoholic cocktails in the coming year will experience a second birth, becoming more diverse and refined. Even now many bartenders can prepare the most famous and fashionable alcoholic cocktails in a “grape-free” version. It turns out that Margaritas, Bloody Marys, Pina Coladas and even Cosmopolitans do not need alcohol, they are delicious without it.
More and more young people are giving up alcohol, so bartenders will have to crack their heads on how to make non-alcoholic cocktails especially appealing. A banal mix of fruit juices is not the best solution. There are more interesting ideas using tinctures, vegetables, spices, and fermented ingredients for maximum richness and depth of flavor.
Seeds instead of nuts
In 2022, seeds will be more popular than nuts. Sunflower and pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, and sesame seeds will be the most popular. They are a source of healthy fats in the diet, although their value is not limited to that. Pumpkin seeds normalize metabolism and strengthen immunity, flax seeds are the source of omega-3 fatty acids and phytoestrogens that prevent the growth of cancerous tumors. Sesame is rich in calcium and useful for lowering cholesterol and blood pressure.
Sunflower seeds will be at the peak of popularity, and one reason is that they are less likely to have allergies. In the U.S., sunflower seeds have already “infiltrated” many products – in crackers, nut butters, vegetable milk and even ice cream. This is not surprising because they are rich in antioxidants and contain a lot of protein, reduce depression and strengthen bones.
Fermented beverages and foods
In 2022, there will be an increased emphasis on fermented foods. They support intestinal microflora, improve digestion and facilitate the absorption of many vitamins and trace elements. According to recent medical research, such drinks and products strengthen the immune system, help prevent allergies, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer.
The most popular and useful fermented drinks are kefir, yogurt, kombucha (tea mushroom). You should also include sauerkraut, miso, soy sauce, kimchi cabbage, pickled cucumbers and soaked apples, aged cheeses, natural apple cider vinegar, sourdough bread, fermented pork jamon and prosciutto in your diet.
Potato milk
Vegan milk in all its variety can be bought in supermarkets – all kinds of nut milk, coconut milk, oat milk, soy milk, rice milk, sesame milk and others. Potato milk, produced by the Swedish company Dug, completes this list. The product has a pleasant creamy taste and creamy consistency. The producer assures that the milk foams well and can be added to coffee. Potato milk is enriched with vitamins, contains pea protein and chicory fiber. Not insignificantly, its production leaves a minimal carbon footprint, since growing potatoes emits the least amount of greenhouse gases. We are waiting for this innovative product to appear on the market.
Salad dressings with umami
Another innovation will be classic salad dressings enriched with umami flavor (one of the five basic flavors along with sweet, salty, bitter and sour). Umami is a flavor typical of high-protein foods. It can be experienced as an aftertaste after a piece of aged cheese or rich meat broth.
Adding umami-rich foods to salad dressings will make them more vibrant, savory and delicious. The most affordable additions for us are dried tomatoes, fish and Worcester sauces, mushrooms, gouda, cheddar and gruyere cheeses. Anchovies and parmesan may appear in dressings for Caesar. It will become popular to enrich familiar salad dressings with new ingredients, and any innovative ideas are welcome!
Vegetable meats and legumes
The tendency to reduce meat in the diet in recent years will develop further by leaps and bounds. Pulses and plant-based meat, which looks, colors, textures, tastes and flavors little different from classic meat and seafood, will become a trend.
Plant-based meat products are not the familiar soy sausages and schnitzels or vegetable cutlets, but a more complete substitute for animal protein. Manufacturers strive not just to make the product look like meat, but to recreate its amino acid and mineral composition, using, for example, not pea or soy protein, but their isolate, that is pure protein. In many ways, plant-based meat can be considered more wholesome, since today’s meat products, saturated with hormones and antibiotics, sometimes do more harm than good.
Even now, manufacturers are filling the market with vegan “shrimp” or “fish”, “beef” stuffing based on rice and bean protein, nuggets, meatballs, cutlets and other products that can satisfy the pickiest of gourmets. Reducing meat consumption not only has health benefits, but also helps combat the effects of animal agriculture – water and air pollution, forest destruction, and the extinction of many species of wild animals and plants. As some environmentalists say, humanity eats meat and meat eats the planet. Experts say that since 2035 artificial meat will actively begin to replace natural meat.
Passion for Pan-Asian food
The peak of popularity of Italian dishes is behind us, and now Pan-Asian cuisine is in the first place, interest in which is growing every year along with the demand for Japanese omelet pans, Chinese wok pans and Korean carrot graters.
Pan-Asian cuisine attracts with its exoticism, harmonious combination of five tastes (sweet, salty, bitter, sour, umami), variety of spices and minimal heat treatment, which preserves healthy properties of products. It is no accident that dishes of Asian countries are considered wholesome and healthy.
The most popular nowadays are Thai Tom Yam soup and Pad Thai rice noodles; Korean spicy carrots, kimchi cabbage and dumplings; Japanese sushi, rolls, miso soup, shiitake mushrooms, tofu; Chinese dim sum, wontons, pickled bamboo shoots and other unusual delicacies.
It’s always fun to try to cook something new in your kitchen. With premium cookware from our online store any experiments will be successful!