The food scenario has changed much in the past few years with the focus shifting from being a health nerd to a responsible eater who can be a gastronome as well.
Fiber and protein-rich food top the charts in cyber foodie circles and the conventionally not-so-charming foods are being given a yummy makeover.
The food world has gone through a paradigm shift, bringing healthier versions of traditional recipes. Crossover dishes like cronuts also succeeded in finding a huge fanbase in the past year.
Some trends die fast, some survive the test of time.
Let's take a look at the food trends that we are going to keep seeing in 2017 along with a set of emerging ones.
Jackfruit- #ThePowerFruit
Among foods, Jackfruit topped the search results and hashtags in Pinterest and Instagram and the world started calling it the power fruit. Recipes using jackfruit ranges between cakes, sweet desserts to a spicy pickle. It is a rich source of vitamin, minerals, fibers and protein. It's cheap. It tastes like meat in dumplings and curries. The world is going frenzied over jackfruit products and dishes. Scientists suggest that jackfruit could become the next staple food. A rising number of jackfruit manufacturers and jackfruit fests across the world indicates that this thorny fruit would be the next big thing in the food industry.
Midas's golden milk
Golden milk is nothing but turmeric lattes. This magic drink is gaining a cult fan following across the globe. Turmeric latte is made with milk, hot water, turmeric, cinnamon, ginger and black pepper blended in a perfect proportion. Popularly known as “haldi doodh” in India, turmeric latte made inroads to the western world as a health drink and is gaining popularity among coffee lovers with its adorable appearance. It is like dusk in a coffee cup.
Coconut everything
South Indian cuisine is known for adding a bit of coconut in every dish. After being labeled as a 'super food', the trend is making way to the international food scene also. First, it was coconut water. Now, products including coconut flour and coconut milk are being used as replacements for common ingredients in everyday dishes. Repeated recommendations by researchers on social media trends suggest that coconut is not going to step down from the trends chart anytime soon.
Charcoal is the new black
Charcoal is known for its detoxifying effects. However, chefs have gone creative and tried their hand in infusing charcoal in popular dishes as an ingredient – the results were amazing. It turned out that charcoal is the new black in cooking. The trend is sweeping the 'Foodstagram' with pitch-black scoops, pastries, desserts and even buns made with charcoal. Fast food chains are already making black buns and pizzas indicating that this is a trend that is going to stay. Let's hope it does, at least until next Halloween.
Kunafa to replace cheesecakes
The three-ingredient Japanese cheesecake might have won the title 'dessert of the year' in 2016. But 2017 would be the year of middle-eastern desserts, especially kunafa. With food chains across the world looking at kunafas, it could be the next big thing in food from the Mideast since shawarma. Not just kunafa, a set of other Mideast dishes are also making their way to the global market. Dishes like shakshuka are already winning many hearts. Arabic, Turkish and even Syrian cuisine are finding place in the menu-cards of leading restaurants in the west as well rest of the world.
Raindrop cakes and gravity-defying cakes to be the jaw-droppers
2016 was the year of mirror cakes and galaxy cakes. Next year, it could be raindrop cakes. Recipe videos of this cute jelly water cakes went viral last year and food joints have already mastered the art of making them. They are definitely a treat for eyes.
So does gravity-defying cakes. It's the most fun food we have seen lately. Gravity cakes are normal cakes with a wine pitcher or your favorite candy packet balanced on top of it giving the illusion that candy is pouring from them. M&M and Maltesers themed have become too common and bakers took it to the next level with weirder shapes. Baking indeed has become an artwork.
Naan pizzas- a new level of fusion food
Fusion foods often managed to hit it off by blending the goodness of two different cuisines and food traditions. Naan pizzas are no different. The flat-bread pizzas made with naans instead of pizza base set a new trend in US recently. The single-serving tandoori naan pizzas are easy to make and gives an added taste to the usually unattended crust. Way to go US, you just took India-Italy bilateral relations to a new level.
