Every year there are new trends that appear, some celebrated, others hated. With 2015 fast approaching, we take a look at some food trends from 2014 people are anxious to see the back of, and people’s food trend predictions for the New Year.
This year one trend which has had a lot of publicity is the square plate, after MasterChef judge William Sitwell said: “Square and rectangular plates are an abomination. Food should be served on round plates and not a right angle in sight.”
We took to Facebook and Twitter to find out which 2014 trends you are 
hoping fade away next year.
Chris Handley said: “Burger and BBQ joints, it is so tired.”
Tom Aikens, chef proprietor of Tom’s Kitchen and Tom Aikens Restaurant, agreed that burger bars are something he would like to see stay in 2014, saying: “No more burger cafes, kale, edible soil, salt caramel or quinoa.”
Edible soil has become increasingly popular in the last year, with many restaurants serving food in realistic looking soil to make the dish look more interesting. These trends are expected to give way to new trends next year, which we also asked you about on social media.
David Colcombe said: “I want to see localisation continuing and the continued use of the whole animal when cooking.”
Using the whole animal in cooking, otherwise known as nose-to-tail cooking, has become very popular in 2014, with dishes containing ingredients like pigs noses and tails appearing in lots of restaurants. A list of 11 future trends has been published by American company Baum and Whiteman, international food and restaurant consultants.
Here are just a few of their predicted trends:
Technology takeover: mobile apps to order your meal before you arrive, tablets that let you pay tableside, using face recognition software to locate customers in crowded bars, electronic payment information being used to allow wait staff to know the names of customers along with what they ordered last time they were at the restaurant, and more is said to be implemented next year.
More adventurous flavours: flavours like savoury yoghurts and ice cream, different flavours of hummus ranging from seaweed to Thai chilli, and ‘ndjua, a spreadable sausage, are all apparently to be popular in 2015.
Neurogastronomy: this is the emerging science of manipulating our perception of how food and drink tastes. Different lighting, sounds and smells are said to affect how food tastes to us, and this science is going to be used more next year, according to Baum and Whiteman’s study.
The move from sugary tastes to more bitter tastes: the study says that food like bitter dark chocolate and bitterer coffee will be used more in dishes in 2015. Combinations of bitter, salty, spicy and sweet are also said to be popular next year.
Michael Caines, who runs a number of restaurants, including the restaurant at Gidleigh Park, said about food trends: “To be honest, people have done a lot of things over the past year that have been quite interesting. Everybody’s fallen in and out of love with lots of things; there’s been a focus and obsession with Spanish food, then Scandinavian food. Alongside this there is that molecular cooking element that has gone on.”
“You’ll always have food trends, I was trained by some great chefs and they taught me to cook with food that had flavour that was in season and that’s what I’m trying to do.”
“You can always be a bit fashionable but at the end of the day you’ve got to understand what you’re doing, you can’t just put everything in the water bath and expect it to taste good, although water baths do play an important part in a modern technique of cooking.”
Another chef who thinks that food trends play an important part in the culinary industry is Tom Kerridge, chef patron at The Hand and Flowers, who said: “Food trends are great. I don’t follow food trends because we’re so ingredient-based at The Hand & Flowers, but I think food trends are really important.”
“The moment KFC or McDonalds start doing ‘pulled pork’ you know it’s been a good trend. Good food will always out so trends can be really important. It’s a dynamic industry and we’re constantly learning. Food trends are a big part of that.”
What trends will you be happy to see the back of, or are looking forward to, in 2015? Let us know in the comments below or over on @canteentweets.
By Samantha Wright
