“Cupcakes are last year,” declares NPR Weekend Edition reporter Liane Hansen on her quick-hit audio tour of “Food Trends for 2008.”
Some of this stuff we knew already. Small plates are hipper than the food troughs at Applebee’s. Superfoods like goji berries and pomegranates will remain hot, and Hansen predicts blood oranges are the next big thing. Biodynamic wines are on the upswing, as are tea, tap water, and
“exotic” grains like amaranth and quinoa.
But the statement that really got me going was this: “Salt is the new balsamic vinegar.” Yeah! Salt! Let’s all salt our food! Let’s salt it back in the restaurant kitchens, and then put the salt right out on the table so diners can add even more to their dishes. Let’s stop worrying about high blood pressure, and pour on more of that magic ingredient that transforms the bland into the sublime. Yay, salt! Please pass the shaker.
Salt, at least in my mind, has always been an important part of a good meal. Not so new, really…
Salt as a new ingredient? All commercial kitchens (I generalize, but so what) already use ridiculous amounts of salt. Amounts that would shock most home cooks, so I fail to see the necessity or novelty of this “trend,” and artisanal salts (pink, grey, fleur…) have been played out in my opinion. How about this for a trend, focusing more on executing existing menus/recipes flawlessly, and less on what’s, “hot?” Good Lord, I’m a bitter man. ;)