Darina Allen's foods to watch out for in 2018

So what’s hot and what’s not on the 2018 food scene?
Darina Allen's foods to watch out for in 2018

So what’s hot and what’s not on the 2018 food scene?

There appears to be several strong general trends. Even though there’s a definite backlash against clean eating, veganism is still on the rise.

Uber Eats reported a 400% rise in vegan searches in 2017 and sales of vegan cheese increased by 300% in Sainsbury’s in the same period. Requests for meat free veggie burgers (that bleed from beetroot juice!) continue to rise. The flavour is apparently great and it ticks all the boxes for the growing demand for “cruelty free protein”. Vegetables are set to be the “new meat”.

The concept of Meat Free Monday is gradually becoming more mainstream, though I have to say I can’t see the Irish chaps abandoning their beef habit in favour of a char-grilled cauliflower steak anytime soon. The supercool brunch boom continues to build and the avocado toast craze is undimmed even as the avocado farmers struggle to supply the phenomenal demand.

The health and fitness trend continues to drive market share and foods that promise better or brain function and enhanced performance are still vaporising off shelves.

The growing body of research linking our gut health with our mental and physical wellbeing has piqued people’s interest, consequently foods that promise to improve gut and digestive health are a huge trend. Pickled, preserved and fermented foods are filling up fridges and making your own sauerkraut and kimchi is becoming mainstream among the young health conscious. Here at the Ballymaloe Cookery School we now have a “Bubble Shed” where all the fermented foods are made and on-going experiments and classes are conducted. See www.cookingisfun.ie for details of our next fermentation course.

For foods that promote a healthy gut microbiome, natural, organic and biodynamic foods, farmhouse cheeses and organic raw B2 milk from a small herd of heritage breeds seek out Dan and Anne Aherne’s beautiful creamy milk at Mahon Point Farmers’ Market (Thursdays) and Midleton Farmers’ Markets (Saturdays), or visit the Ballymaloe Cookery School Organic Farm Shop for raw milk from our small herd of Jersey cows.

There’s a growing awareness and reaction to “food waste” issues. Chefs are now serving the underused cuts of meat, so expect to see more oxtail, tongue, pigs ears, crubeens (pigs’ feet) and a further interest in “nose to tail eating” and “root to shoot”, where every scrap of vegetable is used rather than just the familiar section offered on the supermarket shelf.

Watch the “grow some of your own super-food movement” gather momentum in both urban and rural areas, not just for economic, social and lifestyle reasons but for mind-blowing fabulous nutrition. Check out GIY www.giy.ie, Good Food Ireland www.goodfoodireland.ie or treat yourself to a copy of Grow Cook Nourish, my latest tome, which was originally called “For God’s Sake Grow Some of Your Own Food”.

It may surprise you to learn that more health conscious millennials are limiting their alcohol consumption. The rise in booze free, homemade mocktails, fruity cordials and fizzy sodas reflects this definite super cool trend. Chefs are buying land, growing fresh produce on their roofs or in their backyards and buying directly from local farmers and artisan food producers, will use local coast or grocers within walking distance. Amazon has taken over Wholefoods, watch this space.

Foods to watch out for in 2018

1. Street food-inspired dishes – dosa, tacos, toastadas, falafel, shawarma, bánh mì, gyros, arepas, satay, empanadas, ramen, pupusas and noodle dishes.

2. Veggie carb substitutes – zoodles (zucchini noodles) and cauliflower rice is still up there.

3. Homemade or housemade condiments – artisan pickles, mustard and ketchup.

4. Buddha bowls – a bowl of greens, beans, veggies, grains, nuts and seeds with a dressing or favourite sauce – eat mindfully…

5. Chinese dumplings, wontons and steamed buns.

6. Poke – bowls of sushi rice, essentially sushi without the fuss, a raw fish salad with lots of yummy toppings on top (everyday food in Hawaii).

7. Ancient grains – farro, spelt, and quinoa of course, but also kamut, emmer, teff, sorghum, freekeh in salads, breads and biscuits.

8. Jackfruit — a hot new vegan ingredient, the largest tree fruit on the planet, nutritious, delicious with a texture and flavour of pulled pork when cooked.

9. Smoked absolutely everything –black pudding, tomato and tofu.

10. Goat meat, wild boar and more wild game in season.

11. Seaweed – all type of algae, sprinkled on, and added to, almost everything from salad and bread to ice-cream.

12. Wild and foraged foods –look out for Winter cress, pennywort, watercress, all in season now.

13. Ethnic dips and spreads and condiments beyond sriracha, zhug, harissa, peri peri, sambal, shichimi togarashi, pixian chilli bean paste and jocguang.

14. Savoury jams and jellies, not just bacon jam – try tomato jam, carrot jam, apple and seaweed jelly.

15. Heirloom fruit and vegetables, not just tomatoes and potatoes.

16. Imperfect, ugly produce, organically produced, “root to shoot eating”.

17. Bone broths are still huge.

18. Mushrooms are morphing into a superfood, even being added to coffee.

19.Regular readers will know that I’m a huge fan of Jerusalem artichokes, another brilliant super delicious and a versatile winter root, highest in inulin of all vegetables and certainly on trend.

20. We’ll hear more of lesser known herbs – borage, sweet cicely, chervil, hyssop, lemon balm, lemon verbena, papalo and also here to fore unknown edible flowers: forget-me-not, dahlias, crysthanamums, cornflowers and daylilies.

21. Activated charcoal and green dusts – think matcha, ras el hanout, shichimi.

22. Ethnic kids dishes, sushi, teriyaki, tacos, tostadas.

23. Mac and cheese, porridge, scrambled eggs and French fries are all getting a makeover, perfect bases for all manner of toppings and additions.

24. Turmeric — the super charged anti-inflammatory, both fresh and in dried form in everything and anything.

25. Homemade charcuterie, sausages, guanciale, blood puddings.

26. Mill your own flour and heritage grains.

27. Eggs from rare breed chickens and non-traditional breeds of poultry. Blue/green shelled eggs from Aracuna hens, Marrans, Leghorns and Light Sussex’s.

Rory O’Connell’s Homemade Tomato Ketchup

It’s easy to make homemade tomato ketchup, everyone will love it. We used Cox’s orange pippin apples and had exactly the same maddening consistency as the real thing. The result is irresistibly delicious.

Makes 5 – 6 bottles (8fl ozs per bottle)

1.6kg (3½ lb) tomatoes, peeled and chopped

450g (1lb) eating apples, peeled, cored and chopped (weigh after peeling and coring)

450g (1lb) peeled onions, chopped

450g (1lb) sugar

450ml(16fl oz) cider vinegar

1 level tablespoon Maldon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

6 black peppercorns

6 allspice/pimento berries

6 cloves

Place all the ingredients in a stainless steel saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for approx. 1 hour or until it has the consistency of a regular ketchup. Stir regularly as it cooks to avoid sticking.

Allow to cool for 4-5 minutes. Liquidise to a smooth puree. If the consistency is a bit thin, return to the saucepan and cook to reduce a bit further. Remember it will thicken as it cools.

Pour into sterilised glass bottles and store chilled.

Pan Fried Haddock with Slivered Garlic, Fresh Turmeric, Chilli and Spring Onions

Serves 4

4 x 110g (4oz) portions of fresh haddock

salt and freshly ground black pepper

extra virgin olive oil

2-4 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly slivered

1 thumb sized piece of turmeric, peeled and julienned

4 spring onions - 4 heaped teaspoons approx., separate the white and the green.

Worcestershire sauce

1 green chilli, seeded and thinly sliced

To serve

4 segments of lime

1- 2 tbsp coriander, shredded

Season the fish with the salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Heat a little oil in a wide frying pan, over a medium heat. Cook the fish on the flesh side until golden. Flip over and cook until crisp and golden on the skin side.

Meanwhile heat a little oil in a second pan. Add the slivered garlic, turmeric, sliced chilli and white part of the spring onion. Cook gently for a couple of minutes, until tender and golden at the edges. Add a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce. Add the green parts of the spring onions. Toss for a couple of seconds.

To serve:

Transfer the fish on to four hot plates. Divide the mixture between the plates. Sprinkle with the coriander and add a segment of lime.

Forager’s Soup

Serves 6

Throughout the seasons you can gather wild greens on a walk in the countryside. Arm yourself with a good well illustrated guide and be sure to identify carefully, and if in doubt, don’t risk it until you are quite confident.

50g (2ozs) butter

110g (4ozs) diced onion

150g (5 ozs) diced potatoes

250g (9ozs) chopped greens — alexanders, nettles, wild sorrel, young dandelions, wild garlic, borage leaves, wild rocket, ground elder, beech leaves, chickweed, watercress

600ml (1 pint) light chicken stock

600ml (1 pint) creamy milk

75g (3ozs) chorizo or lardons of streaky bacon

extra virgin olive oil

wild garlic flowers if available

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. When it foams, add potatoes and onions and turn them until well coated. Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper. Cover and sweat on a gentle heat for 10 minutes. When the vegetables are almost soft but not coloured add the hot stock and boiling milk. Bring back to the boil and cook until the potatoes and onions are fully cooked. Add the greens and boil with the lid off for 2-3 minutes, until the greens are just cooked. Do not overcook or the soup will lose its fresh green colour. Purée the soup in a liquidiser. Taste and correct seasoning.

Heat a little oil in a frying pan. Add the diced chorizo or lardons of streaky bacon, cook over a medium heat until the fat starts to run and the bacon is crisp. Drain on kitchen paper. Sprinkle over the soup as you serve. Use the chorizo oil to drizzle over the soup also and scatter a few wild garlic flowers over the top if available.

Recipe taken from Grow, Cook, Nourish by Darina Allen, published by Kyle Books.

Hot tips

The Restaurant Association of Ireland has just announced a series of Skillnets grant-aided training programmes for the Restaurant and Hospitality Industry, funded through the Department of Education and Skills. Contact www.rai.ie, 01-6779901.

From the sea

Zita Dennehey of Wild Atlantic Way Products: Located in West Cork where she harvests her carrageen, kelp, sea spaghetti, and more, Zita sells them at Mahon Point Farmers’ Market on Thursdays, and on her website

. Also look out for “This is Seaweed” from Paul O’Connor, see www.thisisseaweed.com

From the soil

Wild Irish Sea Veg: A family-owned company established in 2009 by the Talty family, see www.wildirishseaweeds.com for the list of their stockists throughout the country.

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