Who knew, canned goods are a trend for 2024! – 12/31/2023 – Marcelo Katsuki

One of my favorite holiday reads is Baum+Whiteman’s food and beverage trend forecast. Although made for the American market, many of the predictions apply globally, after all, we live in the era of influence with social networks. Below are some highlights from the report that I considered relevant. Let’s see what 2024 has in store for us!

• Guasacaca, a creamy sauce used in Venezuelan and Dominican cuisine, should be one of the highlights of the year in terms of flavor. Made with avocado, olive oil, salt, pepper, lime or vinegar, cilantro, garlic, green peppers and red pepper, it may remind you a little of guacamole, but it’s spicier and has a smoother texture. It goes well with arepas, meat, grilled fish, egg dishes and also vegetables.

– Guasacaca recipe.

• The soft butter boards sprinkled with condiments, which became fashionable at the beginning of the year, are being replaced by “seacuterie boards”, boards with seafood in cans. But they are not simple canned goods, they are preserves from the Iberian Peninsula such as artisanal anchovies, squid in its ink, tuna belly in olive oil, mackerel marinade, cod cheeks. According to the report: “To be fair, many preserves are filleted by hand and pre-cooked before being packaged, while supermarket sardines are mechanically processed and cooked in cans.” In other words, different canned goods, which cost more than fresh items. In any case, they are a good solution for that last-minute meeting with friends or for a quick dinner, in the company of good bread and a sip of wine.

– How to assemble a seacuterie board.

– Delicious “butter plank” recipes.

• A new generation of Japanese restaurants is offering “omakase” (similar to a trust menu) with more affordable prices. The menus feature reduced versions (with an average of 10 dishes) but maintaining variety and quality. You benefit from greater seat turnover with agility in service and more economical proposals. case of omakase from Miami’s Miss Crispy Rice, which offers a menu of fried rice rectangles (crispy on the outside and moist on the inside) that can come topped with raw fish, truffle meat or uni, for example. There is also Hand Roll Projetc, from San Francisco (USA), where you can eat five, seven or ten preparations similar to an open temaki, with fillings such as Wagyu, fish roe and uni (hedgehog roe).

• Mexican chilaquiles, made with fried corn tortillas covered with red sauce, eggs and cheese, are now appearing as a filling for sandwiches, accompanied by meat, breaded chicken and other proteins. They provide a crunchy texture and a special spicy flavor, even more so when paired with pickles and sour cream.

• Plant-based foods are on the decline. Sales fell 20% between July 2022 and July 2023 in the US. This is due not only to economic conditions but also to the bad image created by advertising because they are ultra-processed imitations of real foods. Restaurants are preferring to value the use of real vegetables.

• Happy hours give way to Aperi, with its sophisticated cocktails with low alcohol content, bitter tones and also non-alcoholic beers. A moment of relaxation before dinner that contrasts with the busy, drink-filled happy hours. The idea is to slow down and relax, which is why many take place in hotel bars. It’s smaller than a hefty dinner, but bigger than bite-size bites. Food is often served as a buffet or on a large board or in small bowls. In Italy it is common to Apericenaunion of words appetizer It is scene, which means dinner in Italian. It’s lighter than dinner and takes place at the same time as a traditional dinner.

• Fried rice is in! And it even appears on non-Asian restaurant menus. And with different ingredients such as smoked duck, lobster, crab legs and even foie gras. The stone pots used to prepare the dolsot bibimbap Korean have been used to give the crunchy crust, like that of socarrat, the Spanish caramelized rice. The kids’ favorite? Fried rice with oxtail. Little do they know that in Brazil, mexidão has been a hit for decades, lol.

Buzzwords for 2024
• Food industry executives are concerned that weight loss drugs will cause people to eat less.
• Szechuan-style fried chicken sandwiches.
• Chicken liver with toast.
• Variations of fried rice and crispy rice cakes in non-Asian restaurants.
• Syrian food.
• Persian food.
• Comforting snacks.
• Serious attacks on ultra-processed foods as we now know why they are addictive.
• Okonomiyaki“Japanese pancake” is gaining more and more fun.
• “Hospitality” in the service sector increasingly threatened by artificial intelligence and automation.
• More restaurants without seats.
• Drive-thru coffee.
• Restaurants unplugging their phones.
• Mashups street food freaks.
• Italian vermouth and soda, or just on its own.
• Better quality sumac for greater flavor impact. Also known as sumac, it is a seasoning widely used in the Middle East to add acidity and heat to salads and meat marinades.
• Yellow ají.

Source: Baum+Whiteman International Restaurant Consultant

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