I suppose it is our innate sheep-ness that's at the root of following trends. We can act like a group of 4 year olds I observed once in a pre-school classroom. I was scouting for 4 year old boys and girls to appear in a television commercial my partner and I were producing. I went to a pre-school in Portland, Oregon to observe the children for cuteness, intelligence, awareness, maturity all the things which contribute to "talent" and "directability".
The teacher was instructing her students on the days of the week. She listed off Monday, Tuesday and then she raised her eyebrows and opened her mouth holding the position until someone came up with the correct answer "wednesday". But no wednesday came. Instead one enthusiastic young mind shouted as she raised her hand "January!" In a split second several little hands shot up in the air all declaring "January", "January", "January" as the third day of the week.
Enter the food scene. I believe in was 1981 when I first became aware of the foodie version of the pre-school syndrome. Introducing "rosemary!" In 1981 rosemary, a wonderful and powerful herb (check out it's medicinal properties) got on chefs' radar. Suddenly chefs were raising their spoons shouting "rosemary, "rosemary", "rosemary" and the plant was in everything. My limit came when I was served rosemary carrots at a restaurant in Boston. The herb was found in not only in carrot dishes, but salads, potatoes, every meat under the sun, ice cream and tea. Then, almost as suddenly as it came on the scene, it left the scene relegated once again to the lamb herb it had always been.
The next trend I recall centered around sun dried tomatoes. How many of these tart chewy olive oil soaked morsels actually lay out in the sun is under speculation but the name works. Gourmet magazine and all of its counterparts filled pages with recipes calling for sun dried tomatoes. What started out as the perfect recipe of tangy sun dried tomatoes on pizza with salty mozzarella cheese and parmesan, a combination that got all of us hooked, turned out to include sun dried bits in salads, scrambled eggs and sauces then degenerated to sun dried tomato relish, sun dried tomato asparagus, bread, spread, dip and schemer. When they ended up dropped into a bowl of green beans I left the party.
Next came the feta fan club. Paired with its sibling the sun dried tomato, feta's debut was respectable. But separate them and each makes for a weak star. In separate camps, their perfect balance of salt and tang collapses. Feta is just too salty for some dishes as sun dried tomatoes are too tart and tough for others. But that didn't stop the gourmonds. Feta got melted, crumbled, whisked, and pickled. In the end, we learned that feta and its counterpart make better supporting actors than leads.
Sometime after feta's reign we fell in love with chocolate all over again. Fast forward to the present where chipotle still holds court.
Chipotle peppers are jalapenos that have been smoked. They typically are canned in an adobo sauce which has the appearance of mole' sauce but is much less complex.
I toss a can of chipotles in my blender to puree them. After placing the mixture in a zip lock bag it goes into the freezer where I can always chip off a tablespoon of so when needed.
Like stars before it, chipotles can be found in any number of recipes. There's chipotle in chocolates, chipotle chicken sandwiches at more than one fast food restaurant, and it just may be that chipotles are the only food trend to get a restaurant chain named after them. (correction, I do believe yogurt competes for the honor).
Still, this simple innovation, once introduced at the right time rose to stardom faster that a trip to the water faucet after one's first big bite of chipotle sauce. And while we are still running into recipes calling for smoky jalapeno spark I've moved on to the question......
What will be the next food celebrity? There is no end to possibilities. With thousands of ingredients it could be anything but my prediction lies in an up and coming cousin of the chipotle.
While shopping for a tequila tasting/Mexican food class a friend and I were about to teach I found myself in the spice section of a grocery store. Looking for pure ancho chili powder I spied a jar of smoked paprika. I've seen recipes for this already and bought some instinctively thinking it might come in handy for my class.
The beauty of this as a transition away from chipotle is it has many of the benefits and one big advantage. Smoked paprika carries the delicious smoky flavor we love in chipotle. It is a beautiful sienna, redder than chipotle but in the family of color. It's main strength lies in its weakness.
Paprika is mild in the picante world whereas chipotles can make smoke shoot out of your ears. You can pour on the paprika for as much smoke flavor as you want without worrying about tearing up your guests or your children. This makes smoked paprika more accessible to the growing population of elders' sensitive digestive systems. What better formula for a trend?
So, my prediction's on the paprika for best spice in a leading role. I can see it starring in eggs, soups, dips, sauces, chocolate, ice cream, vegetable dishes, fruit concoctions and my favorite snack, pop corn. In other words, in all of the food groups.
And even if my prediction falls short of the Oscar of cuisine, smoked paprika will be my star ingredient for sometime. Or, until some smart little tid-bit stands out among the shelves, catching my attention. When this happens, the starlet will inhabit its own place on my pantry shelf elbowing its way past the rosemary, jar of sun dried tomatoes, marinating feta, chili chocolate bars, chipotle sauce and smoked paprika jar. For I too can be a fickle friend to any trendy ingredient.
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