Break out the crystal ball: Next year’s hot food trends

As the New Year approaches, crystal balls are being brought out of the closet and food trends for 2014 are being forecast. We’ve uncovered three that create some interesting ideas to ponder:

Eatocracy has Eat This List: 2014 food trend predictions. Two of their editors each describe 5 trends, along with some honorable mentions. The article has full explanations behind each selection; briefly, they are:

• Fish collars, heads and trash fish
• Heirloom beans, peanuts and field peas
• Haute Jewish deli
• Indie printing
• Reconsidered rice
• Raw beef
• Eating with your hands
• Housemade hot sauces
• Parfaits
• Breakfast for dinner

Over at The Daily Meal, they asked 25 chefs to  Predict the 2014’s Dining and Culinary Trends.  We’ll let you look at the complete list, but here are some of the food items that were mentioned:

• Gourmet tacos
• Pork
• Dishes from Sardinia, Sri Lanka, Laos, and Malaysia (SE Asia is hot)
• Lots of grains and seeds – grits could be big
• Asian mustard greens
• Coconut sugar

And then we have the Wall Street Journal, which focused on just one trend in their article, Historical Recipes Are the Next Big Thing. As they write, “In a culinary landscape filled with Szechuan pastrami and cronuts, it can feel like our chefs are slaves to novelty, forever breaking with traditional foodways in favor of dishes inspired by artistic whims and enabled by modern technology. But look past the clamor of innovation and you’ll find some of the country’s most gifted toques quietly engrossed in old cookbooks, viewing the historical record as a treasure trove of ingenious techniques and preparations.”

However, as they explain later in the article, “The trend doesn’t stem from fetishizing the past so much as from the deeply held conviction that, when it comes to cookery, time-honored methods often trump personal innovation.” And, as  Adam Leonti (chef of  Vetri in Philadelphia)  points out, “Recipes from the past tend to lack the precise details we see in today’s texts…and that provides opportunities for creative thinking and experimentation.”

So if you want to be au courant,  dig out those old cookbooks and see which recipes trigger your curiousity. Sometimes the old is new again.