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The next big thing: Experts weigh in on food flavours to look out for in 2017

What will be in, what will be out, what’s going to be hot and what’s not, experts tell us about flavours that threaten to stir a storm in 2017.

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Korean Gujeolpan or the platter of nine delicacies. Thanks to its bold flavours – spicy, salty and sour, Korean cuisine is expected to be big in 2017Korea.net_(CC BY-SA 2.0)
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Javed Gaya, Food Critic

Dining at home: Experiences outside restaurants in a club arrangement, like Secret Supper Clubs, or dining at houses of home chefs is the kind of concept I see becoming quite attractive, and it also gives opportunities to young chefs. 

More farmers markets:  From only existing in suburbs, farmers markets are now popping up in town and getting good footfalls. You don’t know how much is organic, but it’s fresh and will be important to the gastronomic scene. Interesting wines are  being made around Bangalore.  GST may help too, by making it easier to move goods internally---access lovely wines being made around Bangalore, local cheeses from Goa or Ooty. Import Buratta costs Rs1,500 versus 
Rs200 for a local one. 

Favouring food trucks:  They’ve become very popular in Bangalore, but you don’t find many in Mumbai. Permits are a problem, though quality and hygiene are being taken care of. We’re used to street food, but this is like eating Bistro cuisine on the streets, without the cost or burden of high overheads.

Antoine Lewis, Food Writer and Commentator

Back to the roots: I see the trend moving towards neutral root veggies like turnip, parsnip and yam, mostly for the bases and dips. Root to shoot has gained momentum worldwide, but what also works for roots is that chefs need something that has body to it without the starch in response to more people complaining of diabetes. People will look more at local grain varieties and leafy veggies; they caught on as superfoods or healthy options, but will now enter the mainstream.

Rise of South American:  We’re moving away from modern European to more modern American – that has influences of south America, New York, Mexico and some Indian ingredients and Asian flavours. 
Overall, we’re going see a lot more ingredients and influences from Mexico and other South American countries. That’s because Peruvian is really big internationally and chefs are quite clued into what’s happening globally, a lot of people travelling to Peru and in response to it their consulate too is doing trade shows and hosting dinners.  

Asian cuisine to dominate:  
It will continue to get the bigger share of the pie, but with spotlight on Vietnamese, which has remained at the periphery, or on Korean that besides being exotic value should find favour thanks to its natural leanings towards bold flavours—spicy, salty and sour. There are many Korean restaurants in Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai and Pune. Mumbai has one, but hopefully that will change.

Move over lemon, it’s time for orange: I’m seeing that a lot of places are playing with a basil-orange combo in various cities; basil lemonades have always been a good blend, this is probably just a variation and it works quite well.

Sherlock Holmes, Relentless Foodie

Molecular mania to end: Over the last couple of years, we’ve seen a lot of half-baked modernisation of Indian food and molecular offerings (that’s already seen a backlash internationally) where amateurs give us gimmicky froth and  foam. The stalwarts will survive, but these trends have run their course.
More from farm to the table: The farm to table concept that focuses on fresh produce will flourish. We have one claiming to be so in town, but it’s frightfully expensive. I’m expecting it to make its way the mid-price range. 
Chefs abroad literally get the produce from their own farm, while that may not be possible for here, getting supplies from a 100 – 200 meter radius and avoiding imports is.

Dapper yet desi: There’s been a re-emphasis of regional Indian food, cuisines we’re not too well aware of, authentic home-style cooking and rediscovery of traditional ingredients. I see this trend accelerating. We still don’t have a single good Maharashtrian restaurant in Mumbai, and could with more Bengali ones too; there’s a lot of scope for regional cuisines.

Gourmet vegetarian: It’s catching up globally and waiting to happen here: high-end gourmet vegetarian cuisine. Even non-vegetarians tend to like it. Then it can be any cuisine, Italian, Chinese or any other... Support lies in the sheer number of vegetarians and that most trading communities, which  are vegetarian, are well-travelled and willing to pay for world class food.

Fine dining in casual setting: I also see the traditional fine dining with three course menu giving way to a more casual setting with small plates places like The Table, which has been such a success. Indians are just not happy to have a single dish, the thali concept will never go  away.

*This relentless foodie loves to eat outdoors, pores over food books and travels the world with a great appetite, but prefers to remain anonymous

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