Top Food Trends for 2012 from Fast Casual Magazine

[grasswire]

The very interesting Fast Casual Internet magazine for the restaurant trade presents the top food trends for this year:


Global Organics

Arancini (threatening buffalo wings)

Macarons

Coconut Flavor

Ancient Grains

Heirloom Foods

Neopolitan Pizza

Nordic Cuisine

Burger Topped With An Egg

Exotic Fish

http://www.fastcasual.com/article/190891/Top-5-2012-food-innovation-product-predictions

[NJCher]

1. might be something to some of his ideas

For example, with the arancini rivaling buffalo wings, I read an article about how there is a trend toward more vegetarian food.

The heirloom foods and ancient grains also fit into this trend.


Cher

[grasswire]

2. arancini probably also has a higher profit margin than the chicken wings

Rice and cheese, deep fried. Although the specialty ingredients for upscale arancini might not allow a profit increase.

Now that I think about it....macarons are pretty cheap to make, as well. Egg whites, flavor, color, filling. Definitely cheaper than something with a lot of butter, cream, chocolate, etc.

[kestrel91316]

3. Nordic cuisine? Like pickled herring??

[grasswire]

4. Ha!

Here's the description from the article:

Nordic cuisine or "New Nordic Cuisine," is one of the next culinary trends because of its healthy connotations. Chefs Claus Meyer and René Redzepi of Copenhagen's groundbreaking Noma restaurant are creating a brilliant and provocative new kind of Nordic cuisine. A meal at Noma has been described as a flurry of precisely composed dishes that incorporate both familiar and wholly exotic ingredients, like musk ox or wild plants (in warm months, the cooks make frequent expeditions to the woods and the beaches, sometimes foraging with a naturalist for herbs and seaweeds). Redzepi says, "The taste of Noma is light, subtle. Clean. The flavor shouldn't hit you in the face — you have to taste the food and find the flavors yourself."


There's also Alpine cuisine, which is slightly different.