New food fads to watch out for. By Matt Preston

We always like to try something new, and here are the hottest trends in food that are worth sampling. Matt Preston reports.

These days food is fashion and there's ridicule waiting around every corner for those of us that think Zumbo is a fitness craze and Amaranth is the name of the latest floaty singer from Nimbin.

So this week we present a primer of the coolest movers and shakers in food from around the world right now. And we're not talking about the chefs (chefs are like sooo 2014) - we are talking about the must-have ingredients and foods that are on everybody's lips.

Savoury yoghurt is the new Greek yoghurt.

We are living in a brave new world where nothing is too outlandish to try, whether it's vegetable-flavoured ice-cream, chocolate-flavoured hummus or yoghurt in flavours like tomato or kimchi. Keep an eye out for those new Haagen-Dazs flavours: carrot orange and tomato cherry!

Maple water is the new coconut water.

Sorry Kylie et al but the death knell for coconut water is being officially sounded by maple water that is claimed to have 46 naturally occurring vitamins, minerals and antioxidants and is high in calcium, potassium and magnesium. The kicker is that it has half the sugar of coconut water. And is tastier.

Bee pollen is the new wheatgrass.

Most effective when consumed raw - which makes it perfect to add to your daily fresh juice - bee pollen is being held up as a wonder source of everything from folic acid to vitamin B. It's apparently good for your skin, too. Interestingly, in the United States honey is now finding its way into everything from spirits like bourbon to beer.

Cauliflower is the new kale.

Thanks to its versatility - it can be used as everything from a substitute for rice or couscous to a pizza base or a mash - and its healthy vitamin C and K reading, expect to see a lot more cauliflower around in the next 12 months. Personally, I'm a fan of roasting it slowly in the oven or slicing it into thick steaks and cooking on the BBQ to serve with sauces like chilli hummus or Greek yoghurt cut with cumin, currants and salt.

Baobab is the new chia.

The fruit of this African tree is claimed to have six times the potassium of bananas and the vitamin C of oranges, plus loads of antioxidant properties. You buy the fruit as a powder and it is currently being imported into Australia in this form.

Kalettes are the new broccolini.

Crossing kale with the Brussels sprout has produced what the UK rather charmingly call "flower sprouts", known here as kalettes. With less bitterness and a nice nuttiness, they might be the hybrid that converts haters of both or either parent plant to the charms of the green. These are the first hybrids to be successfully marketed since the Japanese crossed broccoli with kai-lin to make broccolini. More hybrids are planned like the "broccoflower" but it seems that as much work needs to go into the name as the genetics. I'm not sure anyone would have stir-fried broccolini if the growers had persisted with the original name, "aspabroc"!

Millet and amaranth are probably the new quinoa and spelt, but teff and kaniwa are the new millet and amaranth.

The pace of these trends is so dizzying. Just when you got around to pronouncing quinoa and amaranth correctly, the world of ancient grains falls in love with a type of grass seed called "teff", first harvested in Australia this year by a group of Ethiopian migrants (and on the menu at Mugaritz - rated the number 6 restaurant in the world - as a sprouted roll). The other new favourite is "kaniwa", a versatile South American red seed that can be used whole or as a flour and is a fine source of protein, amino acids and iron.

Seasoned Korean laver (seaweed) is the new potato chip.

Loaded with all the umami hit you could want this crispy seaweed snack is great as a garnish or just devoured with beer - or a nice glass of fermented kefir.

Death of margarine

We know what's coming but what is going? Well it seems like one stalwart of the supermarket is sliding out of favour faster than a sundress in a cyclone. Butter consumption may have hit a 40-year high in the US but the real story there is the collapse in interest in margarine and the question of what people are spreading on their bread instead. While whipped lardo and lard used in baking (both micro trends) might account for a little of the 60 per cent fall, the massive growth in hummus consumption may also take some of the blame, as well as falling bread consumption in the face of the growing number of people avoiding gluten.

Source

Taste.com.au - September 2015

Author

Matt Preston

Source: Taste.com.au, Matt Preston, September 2015
Originally published as: New food fads to watch out for. By Matt Preston