Tasty trends

Remember when acai bowls, kale and unicorn cakes were trendy? I caught up with taste.com.au editor-in-chief Brodee Myers-Cooke when she was on the Sunshine Coast recently to deliver her food trend report and found out what tasty trends we will see this season.

Are trends moving at a faster pace now?

Yes, we’ll see a trend in restaurants and quite quickly we’ll see some of those trends turn into home cooking trends. The other thing is how explosive trends are, it hits everywhere – social and websites, in such a big way; like vegetarian did about 12 months ago.

Have any trends come as a surprise?

Vegan is the biggest surprise. I’ve always thought of vegan as quite niche and would never have expected that it would take off because it’s a high level of difficulty and my experience in food is people want things that are quick and easy. 

Also, when I started it was all about spaghetti bolognese and lasagne, people were very comfortable with saying to the family, ‘We’re going to eat the same cycle of food every week’, and now nobody feels very comfortable with that. There is far more pressure than there used to be – you really want to be cheered to the table.

What food trends can we expect to see in spring
and summer?

Vegetarian and vegan: We’re going to see more and more plant-based eating, it will be the biggest spring and summer for vegetarian and vegan eating. 

YOLO: There is the sense of you only live once (YOLO) that is really influencing food, ‘YOLO I’m just going to have this gigantic piece of chocolate cake’. People feel food is a great way to have a celebration of their life and a moment each day they can enjoy their me-time. 

Mexican: Mexican is going to be bigger than ever but new in angles; bringing the Mexican flavour profile into a lot of dishes that wouldn’t normally have it.

Retro: It started with biscuits, chocolates, ice creams and sausage rolls; now custard and condensed milk are massive, as are cereals, lollies and French onion.

Frozen frenzy: Frozen items in drinks and desserts are huge, think Frosé (frozen rosé) and bombe Alaska.

Sauces and sprinkles: It’s almost like a hack to add flavour and excitement into your dishes, such as healthy granola sprinkles on top of decadent double cream yoghurts. 

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Current trends you can expect to see more of

‘It’s a wrap’

Green flatbread, focaccia, buckwheat pancakes, souvlaki fusion, tacos 2.0, chimichanga, burritos, bagels and tortillas.

‘Flavour obsession’

Togarashi, fennel seeds, saffron and sumac, juniper and pepperberry, sriracha, kimchi and miso.

 

 

‘Food as theatre’ 

Fondue pots, uber cheese boards/grazing tables, drip cakes, bark, cocktails and mocktails and bombe Alaska.

‘Micro seasonality’

Cherry tomatoes, bok choy, blueberries, spring onion and eggplant.