New year, New plate: Culinary trends in 2019

Each day, the F&B industry sees a new trend emerging. Whether they sound appetising or not, 2018 saw quite a few of them gain international popularity. The question is, what one might expect in the coming year and what their benefits might be. 

According to Surya Narayana, the Executive Chef of Hilton Chennai, a clear transition can be seen in 2019, from food to ‘satiate hunger’ to food for health. “Over the past four years, I travelled extensively through many Southeast Asian countries and fell in love with the people and the style of cooking. I would like to draw inspiration from their cuisines and translate that into my kitchen,” he says. He wishes to curate detox diets and nourishing ones, based on the concepts he observed abroad, such as zero-oil cooking through steaming, grilling and baking. “Southeast Asian countries also use the freshest of produce, which I would like to practice as well,” he adds.

Secondly, the chef wants to include the tribal cuisines of India — out of personal interest — into five-star food. He shares, “I observed what they eat and how that could be a reason behind their high immunity levels. I’ll try to source some of the ingredients and present it stylishly.”

Taj Coromandel’s Executive Chef Sujan Mukherjee agrees with him. “Authentic and regional cuisines of India should definitely be revisited; not just in restaurants but in your kitchen at home too. By this, I don’t mean people can flick recipes off the internet calling it ‘Indian’ cuisine or grandmother’s recipes. They have to be genuine without compromising on the taste,” he says. “Since people are well-travelled now and know what exactly the local cuisines taste like, it’s a bigger challenge for restaurants to maintain the authenticity of heritage recipes,” he adds.

As for world cuisines, the influence of Japanese and Peruvian cuisines apart from Mediterranean and Egyptian food can be expected. “They are healthier as the dishes are highly nutritious and low in spices. Moreover, the cooking methods are easy so ingredients from these cuisines will be commonly available next year,” he says.

In an effort to ensure he doesn’t serve his guests any adulterated food, Chef Surya has taken on a rather interesting project. “I have approached non-commercial vendors from various villages in India to procure homemade masalas, chilli powder, coriander and jeera powders and certain grains. Many individuals are also replacing processed foods like maida with bajra flour, which I will also implement,” he explains.

One food trend that should be banned is using liquid nitrogen in cooking, stresses Chef Surya. He says, “We live in artificial world and are forgetting our health but focusing on showing off with food. Liquid nitrogen is nothing but a chemical substance that I fully oppose. The other one is roadside carts using monosodium glutamate (MSG) while cooking.”

It’s for such reasons that people could opt to eat at home more. “Awareness about the chemicals added in food is increasing. Moreover, when everyone’s trying to have the best of produce delivered to their doorstep, why would they want to eat junk outside? It could also mean that home delivery services will have the upper hand over restaurants, if they tweak the options available with healthier alternatives,” notes Chef Sujan.