With the summer in full swing, this is an exciting time of year in the restaurant world. CHEF consultant Andrej Prokes, former Executive Sous Chef at The Ritz London and Sous Chef at The Fat Duck in Bray, gives The Staff Canteen his take on the hottest trends to watch out for...
As a chef, summer has always been my favourite time of the year. Market gardens are blooming, produce is fresh, and many ingredients are in season.
Growing up, my parents and grandparents had a farm, and I remember helping to forage for ingredients. In summer, the countryside was awash with gooseberries, strawberries and kohlrabi, and this is where my passion for fresh, seasonal food comes from. For me, it’s about having a passion, bringing that alive on the plate, and telling diners a story.
‘Ten-mile menus’ and the rise of micro sourcing
This summer is all about local, sustainable cooking – consumers are becoming more environmentally aware in terms of food miles and engaging with their local communities. We are seeing more restaurants growing their own vegetables, buying local meat, and supporting micro-breweries and English vineyards.
For me, this is exciting – to have respect as a chef you must have a passion for the ingredients you work with, and really understand their environment and heritage.
Farewell to three courses
Sharing is another major trend emerging this summer. More and more, we are taking inspiration from the continent – seeing restaurants move away from traditional three course menus to a more fluid communal serving style, with smaller snack size dishes that are shared amongst the group. In fact, research shows that the number of snack size dishes on restaurant menus rose by 60% last year, and this is set to continue this summer. Consider splitting your menu into centre of plate items and small plates to allow you to promote and upsell sides separately.
(www.bighospitality.co.uk/Business/Restaurant-food-trends-summer-2016)
Veggie innovation
“Not so long ago, vegetables were considered a side order, but now we are seeing chefs such as Alex Bond innovating to make vegetables the stars of dishes in their own right.
Consumers are also starting to take more responsibility for their health and there is larger recognition of the role of vegetables in diets, demonstrated by the ‘5 a day’ campaigns, and headline advice that suggests over a third of a healthy diet should be made up of vegetables and fruit.
(Government Eatwell Guide)
Alain Passard was of course one of the leaders in this movement when he shocked the food world by removing red meat from his three star restaurant, L’Arpége in Paris. The development of plant-based styles of cooking is showing that vegetables, beans and pulses can be just as good as any piece of meat.
King of the Grill
The barbecue trend shows no signs of slow down and aficionados are fast becoming a group with serious spending power and serious appetites. It started with the authentic, heavy flavours of the deep south with robust joints of meat cooked ‘low and slow’. But I’m increasingly seeing a new spin on this trend with the development of lighter style dishes incorporating ingredients such as chickpeas and quinoa.
The trend presents an opportunity for chefs to evolve from deep and heavy BBQ dishes and add these elements to lighter dishes that still pack a punch of flavour.
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