Put a bunch of media types together, let them talk about trends and what do you get? Buzzwords, hot buttons and a lot of hype.
Last week, participants in the International Food & Lifestyles Media Conference at the Palmer House tossed around some words and phrases you probably won’t find in Websters and Funk & Wagnall’s. But listen in case someone asks you about light brown meals. Heaven forbid you should tell them you don’t like brown rice, thank you very much!
– Nutriceutical: Foods your mother told you were good for you-broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, carrots-are now elevated to this lofty-sounding position.
– Light brown cuisine: It’s back to meatloaf, roasts and stews-all of those brown foods-only in a lighter, updated style for the ’90s.
– Retro restaurants: This is easy and not particularly new. Just ask Ed Debevic about the allure-and profit margin-of serving meatloaf and mashed potatoes in a sleek setting.
– Managed meal: This is managing to get dinner on the table even if it means calling for a pizza delivery.
– Cuisine blurring: Aging baby-boomers who can’t read menus? Nah. This is the trend of combining several cuisines into one dish. Hipsters will tell you Pan-Asian started it but we all remember what gringos did to tacos a long time ago.
– Remedial cookbooks: Reading for the lost generation-those who didn’t learn to cook at mother’s knee.
– Speed scratch cooking: This is taking what Betty Crocker found out a long time ago and applying it to dinner instead of cakes. Cooks like to add ingredients to convenience foods as if they really cooked something. So go ahead and add a little extra cheese to your frozen pizza. Then say you “managed” your meal.
