Food trends for the year 2017

ndian street food went global and regional cuisine continued to make news last year. Chefs dug out heirloom recipes and nostalgia found its place in professional kitchens. While some of these trends will continue to evolve and grow this year, we are curious to see what more this year has in store for us. We ask the experts.

‘Responsibility and ownership’

“The Indian home chef space has again become popular, which is important because it is a big part of our culture,” opines celebrity Chef Ranveer Brar.

The chef adds that hyper-local is here to stay. “Regional and sub-regional cuisine is big today. Cuisines of Mysore, Uttarakhand etc — regions that were not spoken of earlier— are gaining prominence. The other trend that has evolved over the years and now come into the fore is a definite understanding of compassion and responsibility that has come into the Indian space, whether it is the understanding of Indian grains, responsibility towards our local produce, the culture and our farmers. Responsibility and ownership are becoming a big part of Indian dining,” he states.

The chef is also happy to note that internationally too, everybody seems to be talking about Indian grains. “Our amaranth and nachni are going places. Indian cuisine is reaching greater heights because vegetarianism is on the rise and we are rightly planted in that space,” he adds.

‘Veggie desserts are in’

For Pooja Dhingra, founder of Le15 Patisserie, the past year has been full of travel tales. “The one thing I’m having a lot of fun doing and saw a lot of chefs around the world also trying out is mixing sweet with savoury — an element of something salty in a dessert. The other thing that will be big this year is incorporating vegetables in desserts. Here, for instance, we make a chocolate cake with burnt onions. We also do a green olive and white chocolate cupcake — ingredients you would not associate with desserts,” she reveals.

Over the past couple of years, customers with a sweet tooth are veering towards healthy desserts and Pooja sees the trend continuing this year as well. “There is a lot of demand for vegan and gluten-free desserts. Customers are realising that healthy sweets can be delicious too,” she states.

‘Molecular gastronomy: Not a mere gimmick’

Zorawar Kalra, Founder & Managing Director, Massive Restaurants Pvt. Ltd, believes that the concept of molecular gastronomy has been received quite well by guests across demography and age within India, where last year witnessed an explosion of restaurants adapting and showcasing the use of molecular gastronomy in various forms, across the country, especially in the metro and cosmopolitan cities like Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, among others. “This has created the opportunity for chefs and restauranteurs to push the envelope in culinary innovation within the country and come at par with international trends and experiences,” he says.

The man behind Masala Library by Jiggs Kalra, Farzi Cafe and Pa Pa Ya, says that while the concept may have reached its pinnacle in the West, molecular gastronomy is still at a nascent stage in India and there is still a lot left to explore of the concept. “Having said that, we are still sometime away from actually witnessing a pure molecular concept coming up in the country. One of the key trends that I foresee this year is various elements of molecular gastronomy being imbibed in the dishes of the menus across contemporary restaurants where they truly add value and not as a mere gimmick, being led by in depth and extensive research, incorporating latest in culinary technology with contemporary techniques of cooking. At MasalaBar, for instance, we experiment with cocktails using centrifuges, magnetic stirring, and rotary evaporation. By employing modern culinary techniques, latest technologies, laboratory style equipments and cutting-edge presentation, progressive cuisine aims to showcase food and drinks from around the world in a contemporary manner, bringing them to the 2020’s,” he adds.

‘Innovation is key’

According to Dimi Lezinska, Director of Beverages, Pebble Street Hospitality (KOKO, The Good Wife and Trilogy), it was a great year when it came to mixology, “New and classic flavours and techniques were presented innovatively,” he says. The mixologist likes to keep it simple, specially when a great idea strikes him. “French chef Paul Bocuse said in fusion there is a lot of confusion, so I like to keep things simple and let others do the gimmicks. I feel that is the trend for 2017 — simplicity combined with flavour as well as the use of unique ingredients,” he says.

Dimi believes that there is enough potential here to set trends, rather than aping the west. “The use of exotic ingredients used innovatively is definitely on the rise and successfully so. For example, we have a cocktail at KOKO that uses broccoli as the main ingredient, while another uses parmesan with white chocolate. Matcha is yet another ingredient that will be even more in demand,” he concludes. The mixologist adds that a trend he sees here to stay is the farm-to-table one which would apply to ingredients used in cocktails too. “The focus will move to simpler drinks with no theatrics surrounding it. It’s a year of going back to basics. Simple, tasty and innovative!” he says.

‘Local is exotic’

Chef Manu Chandra, Chef partner at The Fatty Bao and Monkey Bar, says the trend of looking inwards has made all the difference. “A lot of restaurants and chefs are being inspired by what’s around them, which means using a lot of local produce, local fish etc and we are just going to see a lot more of that,” he says. The chef feels it’s a natural progression when talent comes to the fore. “Till two years ago, customers wanted only exotic, but now, local is exotic,” he adds.