By KATHIE SMITH
Toledo Blade Food trends will likely take a decided turn from edgy, pricey choices. Because of the slow economy, whether dining out or cooking in, consumers will be leaning toward the comfortable, the safe, the less expensive and the local.
High-end selections will be intentional and specific.
Comfort food will be evident on restaurant menus as much as in home cooking.
According to
Mintel Menu Insights, which forecasts restaurant trends for 2009, comfort food is often connected to times of economic recession, and it is what people crave when they're feeling down.
Restaurants will make comfort food new by increasing the use of slow-cooked, slow-baked, slow-grilled, braised and poached foods.
Even fast-food chains are showing this trend -- for example, the
Long John Silver chain, known for fried entrees, now is advertising Freshside Grille, offering grilled fish including salmon and tilapia.
According to the market research firm Information Resources, 53 percent of consumers said they are cooking more from scratch than they did just six months ago.
That's good news for small-appliance firms such as
KitchenAid, which makes stand mixers that can be used for everything from grinding grain and meat to kneading dough, slicing vegetables and even making ice cream.
Eating fresh foods is even ringing true for today's kids and teens. A Mintel survey indicated that 42 percent of children and teens reach for foods that give them more energy. About 35 percent purposefully eat foods that are rich in vitamins and nutrients.
Approximately one-fourth try to eat foods that are low in fat, and 22 percent look for low-in-sugar foods.
The
National Restaurant Association survey of more than 1,600 professional chefs -- members of the American Culinary Federation -- seems to concur with this. Local produce, bite-size desserts and healthful kids' meals are among the top trends.
Consumers want to know where their food is from and how it is grown and processed.
