“Fast Food Will Witness A Vegan Twist”
In today’s day, consumers are well cautious about what they eat and what health benefits their food has. For all such reasons, vegetarian food is catching on and vegan food is gaining more popularity. It will exceed the market expectation for certain. It’s inevitable that we’ll see more culinary talent trying their hands at fancy plant-based cuisine.
Experimenting with vegan or plant-based food trends may not be easy, as the market is not equipped with as many choices, since the demand is low. Sourcing and making of all such products will surely be a task. We will be experimenting with some of the most popular eating trends, such as burgers, shawarmas, kebabs and more as it might make it easier and more palatable for the consumers to try something new, in a familiar form. Mock meat too will be a huge trend.
“In-House Ingredients Will Be Big In Asian Restaurants”
This is a trend that is really going to be a game-changer in 2022. More restaurants are now opting to do things in-house rather than store-bought! Think in-house sauces like ketchup, mayo or aioli, house-made bread and nut butter, cheese, syrups for cocktails and mocktails.
This leads to a MAJOR reduction in food cost, absolutely fresh flavours as no preservatives are added, optimum use of staff and a unique USP for the menu as everything is made by hand, and crafted for the restaurant. Asian restaurants have also trashed store-bought curry pastes like Thai curry pastes and sriracha etc and are making their own pastes, purées & sauces!
“Zero Waste Cooking Will Become A Long-Standing Practice”
The concept of zero-waste cooking is simple – it involves using every aspect of an ingredient to ensure there’s no (or minimal) food wastage. As we continue to become more and more aware of the effects of food waste, we aim to adopt a sustainable lifestyle in the coming years which will lead to the popularity of this concept. Moreover, this can be practised not only in restaurant kitchens but home kitchens as well.
From using ‘ugly vegetables’ to the scraps of fruits and vegetables, this concept can give any dish an interesting twist. Considering the minimal lifestyle, a lot of people are choosing to adopt these days, this will soon become a long-standing practice for restaurants and people everywhere.
“Culinary Skills From Small Hamlets Will Be Adopted”
I think Indian food is it. It’s just waiting to explode. And by Indian food, I mean the yet undiscovered wealth of knowledge from North East India to small little villages in Andhra Pradesh.
The lockdown brought out the creative side of people. Everyone also started picking mom and grandma’s brains about what they used to cook. There are so many secrets there that need discovering. Ours is such a diverse nation with food that differs by even a kilometre. Accessibility to different ingredients from all over India has made experimenting even more fun, and these home chefs have made it possible for the rest of us to see what is actually cooked in peoples houses.
The key here is to use elements that work. Doing something for the sake of it defeats the purpose altogether. It’s important to understand how a certain state or even a sect uses these ingredients correctly. We as a country need to explore what is out there and it is our responsibility as chefs to showcase India in the best way that we can to our customers.
“Local Produces Will Be The Key Ingredients”
With the recent Covid-19 situation, importing of ingredients took a very big hit. As Plato rightly said, “Necessity is the mother of all inventions.” Chefs in India started looking for ingredients locally produced which when cooked well, can yield world-class products. Collaboration between producers and chefs during 2019 and 2020 have resulted in some phenomenal products which have made their way into many trial menus.
Now in 2022, it will start showing up on many restaurant menus. For example, cheese was one of the majorly imported ingredients but now there are many small creameries that are making great cheese right here in India. So I feel that 2022 will be the time for local produce to shine. At Café Panama, we produce our own ricotta with great quality milk and use it in some dishes. Apart from that fermented chilli sauce served with our tacos is made from Sankeshwari chillies. A lot of dependency on imports has been reduced in the last few years and chefs are experimenting a lot with local ingredients.
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