A serving of 2020

From cakes made of sushi to frog bread and other wacky additions, the food and beverage trends that defined 2020 were as interesting as they could possibly get.

By Raul Dias

With barely a couple of days left for the year to end, I think that it is high time for us to move past the very obvious fact that 2020 was an unmitigated catastrophe of a year. But then, there was that proverbial ‘silver lining’ too. If we were to reach deep down into the depths of our remaining dregs of optimism, we would come to the realisation that there was perhaps no other year in our recollection, when creativity in all aspects of our lives was at its optimal best, as we navigated our way around the new normal. 

Thanks in large part to the social media blitzkrieg that seems to amplify things beyond control, trends abounded in the food and beverage space. A realm that somehow always manages to take a “sow's ear” of a situation and transform it into a “silk purse”. 

So, here’s my list of the most popular food and beverage trends that tried their best to take the edge off those pandemic blues.

Cloudy with a chance of frogs!

Baking bread in its myriad iterations was truly the big ticket trend of 2020. With the first half of the year dominated by an overwhelming amount of sourdough, banana and focaccia art breads holding sway in almost every home baker’s kitchen and social media accounts. However, things got a tad outré in the latter part of 2020 with the emergence of two very interesting bakery items. Resembling a fluffy, egg white meringue, no points for guessing how cloud bread got its name. Keeping the keto crowd happy, this low-carbohydrate 'bread' is a flourless confection made with stiffly beaten egg whites and cream cheese that results in a white bread-like, light-n-airy flat bun that can be coloured and flavoured either sweet (with vanilla or almond extract) or left savoury. Frog bread, on the other hand is exactly as it sounds: a bread roll fashioned in the likeness of the monsoon-loving amphibian.

Better butters?

While other nut butters like almond and cashew have become almost as passé as boring old peanut butter, 2020 saw the invasion of other, more unique preparations like watermelon seed, macadamia, soy nut and hemp seed butters that one cloud slather upon sourdough toast. But perhaps none more significant than the phenomenal rise of cookie butter—Lotus Biscoff to be more precise. Easily the 'new Nutella' this Belgian invention--that’s also known as speculoos spread--found itself in every kind of confectionery item be it cheesecakes or brownies from Mumbai to Madurai.

Sushi cakes

With over 100,000 posts on Instagram and Pinterest combined, there was no way the visually attractive sushi cake wouldn’t make this list. These quirky cakes are basically upturned versions of a rare-to-find-outside-Japan type of sushi called chirashi zushi. Roughly translated as “scattered sushi”, chirashi zushi is served in a bowl wherein a base of vinegared sushi rice is layered with raw seafood or vegetables along with the sweeter, creamier Kewpie Japanese mayonnaise and topped with blobs of wasabi, pickled gari (pink ginger) and dusted with furikake seasoning along with strips of nori seaweed. Besides home chefs, several restaurants in both Mumbai and Delhi have cottoned onto this trend with their own colourful versions (even Jain!) of the sushi cake.

Ghosting galore

Cloud kitchens, ghost kitchens or virtual restaurants—call them what you may, the lockdown showed us that in 2020, these specimens could easily replace their brick and mortar counterparts. A whole slew of delivery- and pick up-only restaurants sprung up across the country, offering diners everything from boxed, gourmet meals to DIY food and cocktail kits sent over to be enjoyed in the comfort of one’s home. What this also resulted in is the much-needed democratisation of 'fancy' food. We saw upmarket, five star hotels willing to send their chefs over to cook up a feast in your home’s kitchen. While snooty, fine dining restaurants didn’t think twice before hosting American tailgate-style, weekend only dining experiences in their parking lots. These entailing diners enjoying a multi-course, socially distant meal laid out in the boot of their own vehicles.

Foods that heal

Riding on the coattails of 2019’s biggest food and beverage trend of fermentation and probiotics--that saw the dominance of the 'triple threat' of kombucha, kefir and kimchi—is 2020’s ‘food as medicine' trend aimed at promoting digestive wellness. Ubiquitous turmeric-imbued drinks like golden lattes (a fancy term for good old haldi doodh!) and herbal teas laced with ashwagandha (Indian ginseng) and mulethi (liquorice root) upped their status as alleged immunity boosters in the war against Covid-19.

Plant milk

To put it in millennialspeak, the ‘takedown’ of milk as we know it, has been going on for a while now in hipster circles with the rise of plant-based substitutes like soy, oat, almond, rice and coconut milks. But speaking of coconut milk, 2020 saw not one, but three Indian companies launch their own brands of coconut milk yogurt that’s a boon to the lactose intolerant and vegans among us. However, the latest salvo comes to us in the form of the nutrient-rich milk derived from the split yellow pea. Yes, pea milk, anyone?

(A differently edited version of this article first appeared in the 27th December issue of The Hindu newspaper's Sunday Magazine section on page 8 https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/food/food-and-beverage-trends-of-2020/article33411350.ece)

A Foodelicious 2017!

Turmeric in your drink? Or perhaps a bowl of poké—the Hawaiian alternative to sushi—for lunch? There’s never a dearth of interesting food and drink trends that diners here in India are becoming privy to. Food writer RAUL DIAS, brings you a few such trends that promise to make the start of this New Year a yummy one!

The Turmeric Twist
With the turmeric latte being the newest beverage fad in the West with its sudden meteoric rise, Indian restaurants and bars are loathe to be left behind, with all things turmeric finding a firm footing on their dessert and drinks’ menus, giving a stylish fillip to good old haldi walla doodh! Known multifariously as ‘golden milk’ or ‘sunshine milk’ the turmeric latte is only one such iteration, while others like turmeric leaf ice-cream and a fresh turmeric-infused gin cocktail up the ante in the innovatively yummy department.

Who’s Doing It?

·         Golden Milk Iced Coffee at The Pantry, Mumbai

·         Muskmelon Pannacotta with Turmeric Leaf Ice-cream at Toast & Tonic, Bengaluru

·         Turmeric, Maple and Almond Latte at The Korner House, Mumbai

·         The City of Nizam Turmeric-infused Gin Cocktail at Ek Bar, New Delhi

·         Turmeric-infused Dry Fruit Milk Sorbet at Jeon, Mumbai

·         Turmeric Latte at Nosh, Suryagarh, Jaisalmer

·         Eureka—The Turmeric-infused Gin Cocktail at Bodega Cantina-Y-Bar​, Kolkata

Coffee Cocktails, Anyone?
One of the world’s favourite morning beverages—coffee—is getting another shot at racing ahead of tea up the popularity charts in the most interesting and unusual ways. Finding itself paired with everything from orange liqueur and smoky whiskey to the more outré activated carbon and gondhoraj lebu, coffee is taking a slow but steady detour from the soft beverage section on menu cards to the ‘hard’ one with its many experimental iterations one little bean at a time!

Who’s Doing It?

·         ‘The Morning Brew’ at The Sassy Spoon, Mumbai

·         ‘Mad Men’ at Monkey Bar, Kolkata

·         ‘From Aura with Love’ at Aura—The Vodka Bar, The Claridges, New Delhi

·         ‘Oh! Sweet Ninja’ at Shiro, Bengaluru

·          ‘The Caffeine Kick’ at Silver Beach Café, Mumbai

·         ‘Activated Charcoal Martini’ at Bodega Cantina-Y-Bar, Kolkata

·         ‘Coorg Jager’ at 212 All Good, Mumbai

Poké Me!
Forget about ceviche. Leave aside sushi and kiss that carpaccio goodbye for there’s a new hot… err, we mean cold alternative on the scene. Welcome to the tropical world of the Hawaiian wonder—poké! Luscious cubes of fish, generally lean tuna sit, atop a bed of rice in a bowl that is then anointed with sesame oil, lemon juice and topped with pickled vegetables and scallions with a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds to finish this one dish wonder off with. Ah bliss…

Who’s Doing It?

·         The Poké Bowl at Bastian, Mumbai

·         Chilli Tossed Tuna Poké at Toast & Tonic, Bengaluru

·         Andaman Island Tuna Poké Bowl at 212 All Good, Mumbai

·         Spicy Salmon Poké Bowl at Yuuka, St. Regis, Mumbai

·         Ahi Tuna Poké With Seared Albacore at Ellipsis, Mumbai

The ‘Glocal’ Restaurant
This hybrid species of restaurant is one that flirts with international flavours, textures and presentation styles, but with a strong and conscious focus on procuring produce that is fresh, healthy and most importantly local. A farm-to-table concept given a shot in the arm by a menu that features new world cuisine that is the hot favourite the world over. A sort of stylish food with a conscience, if you will!

Who’s Doing It?

·         Toast & Tonic, Bengaluru for its ingenious use of hyper local ingredients in its New York East Village-inspired dishes.

·         212 All Good, Mumbai for its promise to create incredibly wholesome food and drinks that are shy of preservatives and embrace everything that is good for your gut and for its onsite herb garden that encourages diners to pluck herbs that they can then add to their dishes.

·         Farmer & Sons, Mumbai for its focus on delicious, comfortable and clever dishes using local direct farmer-sourced produce with a focus on excellent flavours and textures.

Betel Mania
Paan, that de facto, post-prandial indulgence for most of us Indians, that promises to alleviate everything from digestive problems like acidity and gas to freshening one’s breath, has been enjoying a makeover of epic proportions and finding itself in a host of desserts and drinks that each seek to give it some serious ‘high street’ cred, and thus turning over a new leaf (pun intended!) for the betel leaf.

Who’s Doing It?

·         Paan Martini Cocktail at The Sahib Room & Kipling Bar, St. Regis, Mumbai

·         Paan-stuffed Gujia at Kava at the Fairfield Marriott, Lucknow

·         Bambaiyya Paan Kulfi at Jeon, Hotel Sea Princess, Mumbai

·         Paan Mojito at Dhaba, The Claridges, New Delhi

·         Gulkhand and Vanilla Ice-cream Paan Shot at Punjab Grill, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru.

(An edited version of this article appeared in the January 2017 issue of Hi!Blitz Magazine, India)