Beyond Kale and Full of Rum: A Fall 2013 Food Preview
So what's the next cronut? Are we finally over kale? Here's our guide to what everyone in the food world is excited about, bored by, and ready to try this season.
.So what's the next cronut? Are we finally over kale? Here's our guide to what everyone in the food world is excited about, bored by, and ready to try this season.
Collard Greens are the New Kale
This was the year kale became the Jennifer Lawrence of the vegetable world. Now, the heir apparent appears to be collard greens, which would make collard greens the Shailene Woodley of the vegetable crop. It has already been crowned "the new kale," reports Equinox blogger Allison Baker, noting that collard greens are loaded with vitamins A and K, cancer-fighting antioxidants, and fiber. And they reportedly taste good, too — even when they're not drenched in pork fat. This development, of course, is bad news for farro, the Anne Hathaway of the food world, eagerly waiting in the wings. Chin up, farro, there's always next season.
The Next Cuisine You Need To Try
That cuisine is Filipino, says Details, noting that "trendsetting chefs are reinventing the cuisine while keeping it rooted in the country's traditions." Those traditions include balut, a duck embryo that is beloved by some, feared by others. Not to worry, there's plenty of other Filipino delicacies to tide you over. The recent halo-halo craze is proof that Filipino food is among the most inventive of Asian cuisines. And since Filipino food is considered the soul food of that continent, there's plenty of pork.
The Next Cookbook Trend
Thanks to her raging racism, we will not be getting the planned Paula Deen cookbook. And that's probably for the best. There are much better cookbooks fortcoming, with Eater pointing out two trends among cookbooks this fall: French pastry (hail to the power of the cronut?) and fancy restaurants where you might not be able to get a table. Eater explains that the latter means that you will finally get a taste (more or less) of the restaurants you salivate over as you read about them in the Dining Section of The New York Times, including:
Gramercy Tavern (NYC), Ivan Ramen (Tokyo and NYC), Roberta's (NYC), Four & Twenty Blackbirds (NYC), Schiller's Liquor Bar (NYC), Sorella (NYC), A.O.C. (LA), Alice Waters, John Besh, Pok Pok (Portland and NYC), and François Payard (NYC and Vegas)
Good luck with those Roberta's pizzas.
The Annoying Food Trend that Needs to End
The "Food Sherpa." Being an obnoxious food is so 2000-and-eight. Being an obnoxious foodie who then parlays that foodiness into leading money-making tours about where to find the most precious meals and dishes is, well, so 2013. Let us hope this trend ends soon and is never discussed again. Sort of like cupcakes.
The Next Cronut
Since the cronut debuted in May, everyone has been trying to figure out what might be the next food craze to enjoy the hype, sustained enthusiasm, and imitability of the cronut. We have our answer: it is the ramen burger. Trend pieces and profiles are furiously being written about this mythical sandwich and its creator, Keizo Shimamoto. Lines are forming. Very long lines. And people cannot eat enough of these healthful, practically calorie-free patties—Shimamoto only created 150 ramen burgers in the ramen burger's debut earlier this month, and over 250 people wanted a bite. Well done, ramen burger. It's your time to shine.
Yakitori Could Be New York's Next Restaurant Craze
Yakitori is a bar-friendly, grilled-and-skewered Japanese style of cooking, poised to be the next big thing. "Yakitori is the next ramen, cronut or whatever foodstuff is sending the Instagram-obsessed into a tizzy when this is published—it’s about to blow up," writes Time Out New York's Patty Lee. And just like the ramen burger, this fall's yakitori trend will begin in the coolest place in the culinary world, Brooklyn, when BarChuko opens up in Prospect Heights.
Drink Your Rum
Rum is back — and it's not just for pirates anymore. People are even distilling it in New England, as they did almost two centuries ago. Supposedly, rum is enjoying a "big resurgence" across this land of ours. The best part? This means it is finally cool to order daiquiris. "It’s such a simple drink and it’s delicious and there are just three ingredients: white rum, lime juice and simple syrup," a San Francisco bartender told Food and Wine. And who are we to argue?
Photos by: Ramen Burger Facebook; flickr user: jpchan; flickr user sweetbeetandgreenbean; flickr user: kobakou