Trends arrive, and when they become main stream, you know they are over. A trend usually finishes on the supermarket shelf. Waves or perhaps ‘fads' roll in and then crash on the shore disappearing for ever. What ever happened to nouvelle cuisine, raw food, most diets?

Trends

The biggest trend today is Molecular gastronomy or is it?  It is not food that can be made at home, it needs lots of understanding of chemistry to make it well, special tools and special chemicals but the trend in it may be that it is redefining food -taking food down to its essence to give great taste.

 In a poll conducted by the Independent newspaper in Britain, El Bulli was anointed as the best restaurant in the world while The  Fat duck in England was number 2.  These are both molecular gastronomy havens but 8 American restaurants were on the list including Alinea, which also features molecular gastronomy.   Having eaten there I can say it was a sensational eating experience. 26 courses with never a taste out of place.  A wonderful assault on the taste buds.

 It is food as theatre. Each dish astounding in its taste, texture and ingredient combination.  Looking for the ultimate - is it food as theatre - each dish explained as to how you eat it or food as sex -the ultimate explosion. 

Culinary Buzzwords

Artisanal, organic, global, ethnic, healthful, locally sourced and authentic, foams, gelees

Tapas or Small plates - excellent for the less sophisticated palates who want to taste so much.  But it is streamlining into a more approachable type.  Slightly bigger dishes that really can be shared or three courses for yourself.  Chef's tasting menus that are based on the menu not on the chef's whim.

Hot Cuisines

Korean, earthy Moroccan, bold Spanish or exotic Indian-a few of the many cuisines that draw interest from chefs, compelling kitchen commandos to delve further into the world marketplace for ingredients, equipment and techniques.

That fabulous Indian meal you just made?  It is no longer enough to cook the most fashionable cuisine, Indian; you have to know the region. Kerala is the new buzz word in Indian cooking. The food is hot, spicy, and aromatic and features vegetables with some fish. Start reading up on Shanghai food from China, the food of Piedmont (home of white truffles) in Italy and Basque food in southwest France and northeast Spain. After the exotic, go to fresh organic food simply prepared from Orkney and Skye in Scotland.

Ingredients

Kurobuta pork-produced from Berkshire hogs and valued for its taste, texture and marbling.

Pork belly and guanciale (dry-cured pork jowl) growing in popularity among chefs and diners. Guanciale is richer than bacon, and the fat has a different melting quality

Combined platings - beef cheeks or veal cheeks -rich and mellow- with sides of steak or roasted veal tenderloin. Braised pork belly and Kurobuta pork tenderloin together to contrast the rich, crisp flavor of the belly with the leaner cut 

Making charcuterie - chorizo prosciutto, salami's.  Cava restaurant in Toronto where Chef Chris McDonald cures his own meats. Loconte's supermarket in Toronto where not only do they make many different kinds of Italian Salume, they cook them on the barbecue for you in the summer.

Why ham when you can cure tuna.  Tuna prosciutto is very hot in New York.

Monkfish liver, also known as the foie gras of the sea will be a new foodie must-have.  Barely available in Canada until now, but it will start to appear in the market place.

Spices

Moroccan spice mixes including harissa, made with hot chiles, garlic, cumin and coriander, and ras el hanout, which can contain as many as 50 ingredients.  Ginger, anise, cinnamon, cardamom, galangal and turmeric, all spices are in the mix now.

So too are specialty salts from out-of-the-way places. Super expensive Balinese Sea Salt is hand harvested at night after the sun has dried the salt water which had been sprinkled over raked black sand.  The crystals have a hollow pyramid shaped structure, perfect for using in salt caramels and chocolate salt truffles.

Aleppo peppers - dried red chillies from Turkey and Syria add authentic heat to Eastern Mediterranean dishes - part of the new salt, pepper trend.

Shanso pepper -dried from a kind of anise seed in Japan.

Long Pepper - comes from Indonesia and Bali.  It is a different species from black pepper and its taste is fuller flavoured, hotter with sweet overtones.  It looks like a tiny pine cone.  It was used extensively in Roman times but fell out of favour and is now used in Thai, Indian and Morroccan cooking.  Now chefs are using it to crate a different heat in dishes.

Korean hot sauce - combination of miso and hot sauce which is mellower than other Asian hot sauces

Ahai seeds from the Amazon.  They promote good health and some have anti-aging benefits. Find them in power drinks.

Banyuls vinegar from the Southwest of France is made from the rich, sweet, rather Port-like Banyuls wine.  Great for seasoning foods and making extra special mellow vinaigrettes.

Comte cheese from France and now Quebec too.  It is excellent for cooking.  Use like gruyere in fondues or toasted cheese sandwiches. Tallegio another rich cheese with a more brie like textureis outstanding in cooking.

Fat

Fat is back. Fabulous cheese, succulent Berkshire Pork and Kobe Beef are the new super desirable foods.  Could fat be the new 6^th taste?   Research has shown fat molecules to be carriers of taste in food, which may explain why we become addicted to French fries and other fat laden snacks. When low-fat was de rigeur we missed the real taste of food.  But now we can indulge. 

Butter

High fat butter is better. Butter in Canada has about 80 percent butter fat but in Europe it's about 86 percent.  That's why our baked goods are different from the Europeans.

Creamy European butters higher in butter fat are available quietly at certain markets.

Also try Quebec goat cheese butter fabaulous.

The Politicization of Food

Chicago has banned foie gras, and California is following on its heels.  New York has banned trans fats.  Since their success in banning smoking in restaurants, local governments now believe they can ban anything they believe is bad for you.  You can still smoke at home, but does this mean that we will be sneaking banned foie gras into our kitchens while we watch for the food police?

Sous vide or the slow cooking of ingredients in a vacuum container was just becoming the hottest trend of the year when the New York Department of Health banned the process due to a fear that it could cause botulism or listeriosis.  Until precise guidelines are published chefs in New York should not think of slipping the meat into the bag. Can we be far behind?

For further edification, you can check the pedigree of fish to learn if you are being politically correct.  Check the web site http://www.oceansalive.org/home.cfm  to learn what you can and can't eat. Keith Froggett at Scaramouche takes it very seriously.  He is just back from a receiving the award as chef ambassador at the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program for being a leader in sustainable cuisine. This summer he is featuring a delectable sustainable seafood menu at Scaramouche in Toronto which I tried and can heartily recommend.

Be kind to your lobster - feel its pain - there is a huge backlash about lobster catching and cooking methods led by Whole Foods who have now decided not to carry lobsters.  My tip - chill the lobsters before cooking.  It dulls whatever senses they have.

And finally, there is a new organization that will certify restaurants that only buy animals that are humanely raised. We can all sleep better at night.