In the first of our Trends 2012 articles, our corporate chef Bruno Le Gac gives us an insight into what he believes will be the biggest food trends this year.
Bruno Le Gac
My big 3 predictions
1. ‘New’ Chinese and Indian cuisine
Many young Chinese and Indian chefs will appear and experiment with the traditional ways of cooking and presenting their dishes.
New great chefs from Asia will start exporting their talents abroad and open restaurants across the globe under their name.
2. Tea food
Food associated with tea, food and tea pairing dinners should become more fashionable.
Guests are getting savvier about tea, and quality products and ranges have become more readily available. Tea sommeliers will become a reality very soon.
3. The Maitre D’
The concept of the Maitre D’ will come back, but with new codes and a modern approach. Service jobs will come back into the spotlight, and we’ll see new ways of doing things, more service competitions and even TV shows on service.
Celebrity Maitre D’s will become more famous, and will lead the way to attract younger people to learn. In other words what’s happened in the kitchen will now begin to happen in the dining room.
What the industry predicts will be big news in 2012
4. Homemade pasta and noodles
Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Thai…. 2012 will be the ‘year of noodles’
5. Insects
Insects are a great source of protein. They form part of the culinary tradition of many countries (Thailand, China, Mexico…). They could be a good alternative to meat and some say it would help release the pressure on our planet.
Some famous chefs such as celebrity Milan chef Carlo Cracco have already explored using insects on their menus.
Watch this space – for my part, I don’t think we’re quite ready for this yet.
6. Pure food
Food as natural as possible, with no artificial ingredients. We’ll see more ‘back to roots’ options prepared with very good quality products.
And general consumer trends, that continue to grow
Fresh produce
7. Green, local and organic food
It’s been big for several years and I suspect the trend will continue to grow. Consumers are fed up with bad quality products and want to come back to the real thing. Home grown vegetable gardens will become even bigger, especially in cities.
8. Quality snacks, take away food, light bites
People have less time to eat, and want to enjoy easy food for lunch. Easy but still good and healthy. This is also true in hotels and resorts and I think we’ll see more and more casual outlets in hotels selling quality, light and tasty snacks.
9. Conviviality and human contact
Tired of watching bad news on TV? Family style dishes, portions to share, long tables and casual barbecues will become more popular.
People want contact and authenticity. Culinary classes, ‘do-it yourself’ sessions and more interaction on hotel buffets.
And now over to you…
Do you think insects will be gracing our plates in 2012?
Has organic food had its day?
We want to know what you think. You can post your comments on the blog below, to our Constance Facebook page or tweet @constancehotels.com
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