AnnieOakley
01-10-2009, 12:11 PM
Home cooking and potluck are the trends for '09 . Also fewer processed foods, lower carbs, and more veggies. The new ethnic: Peruvian.
By Dianna Marder
Inquirer Food Columnist
The watchword for 2009 is less, as in: getting by on less; using less expensive ingredients; eating out less often.
And more home cooking.
The trend will affect families at all points along the culinary spectrum. Bon Appetit magazine, for example, suggests its home cooks substitute truffle oil for more expensive truffles, while Wegmans supermarkets say sales of supplies for home baking and canning are way up.
"Over the last year, we've seen increased sales of baking ingredients such as flour, even over the spring and summer when flour prices were rising dramatically," says Josephine Natale, spokeswoman for the supermarket chain.
She says a recent spike in sales of salty snacks such as pretzels and chips is evidence people are entertaining more at home. And when folks buy more canned soups and frozen pizza, Natale says, it shows they're making more affordable meals at home.
In the prepared-foods section at Wegmans, dishes containing beef and fish are not selling as well as those with pasta. Wegmans' best seller in the prepared-foods category is rotisserie chicken.
But a run on canning jars and lids really shocked Natale.
"Our sales of canning supplies would have been up over 100 percent compared to 2007, if we'd had more to sell," she said. "And apparently this has been the case nationwide."
The surveys and reports that go into making predictions for the year point to continuing consumer interest in eating locally grown food (organic, too, if that doesn't get too pricey). Don't expect us to revert to an all-processed-foods diet.
Instead, we'll be looking for cheaper cuts of meat such as hanger steak, flatiron steak, and short ribs - and doing more braising. Better dust off that slow cooker.
Fish-lovers will seek out less expensive choices, such as branzino and Arctic char, and that's a good thing for people concerned about over-fishing. And the more fish we consume, the more we'll want and need a certification system to ensure safety.
This could be the year we take the advice of health experts and reserve the largest part of our dinner plates for vegetables, reducing our reliance on protein and carbs.
We'll have to think outside the meat compartment for our proteins, too. We'll look for more sophisticated ways to use eggs, cheese, peanut butter, tofu, seitan, sardines, nuts, beans and quinoa.
But don't expect to see a whole lot of people become vegetarians, said Bill LeBlond of Chronicle Books.
"People don't really want to cook with tofu and seitan," LeBlond says. "Vegetarian cooking can be difficult and time-consuming."
Sure, if we lose our jobs, we may have more time to cook. But as long as we're employed, we'll be working harder than ever - doing the jobs of our laid-off colleagues, LeBlond says. So, anything that makes shopping and cooking more convenient will still be needed, LeBlond says.
For home entertaining, we may see an uptick in sales of fridge-to-oven-to-table containers in which to carry our contribution to the neighbors' potluck dinners.
Food also will be called on to serve our gift-giving needs in 2009, whether it's a gift of cookware for someone's birthday or homemade fudge for Valentine's Day.
Chances are, kids won't be the only ones toting lunch boxes in 2009. More adults will carry their lunches to work, for the sake of cost as well as quality. And while their lunches will likely be leftovers, adults will look for carriers that don't scream "I'm so broke, I have to bring lunch from home!"
In 2009, we'll continue to expect our food to do more for us - such as aid in digestion, thwart illness, stave off serious diseases, maybe even make us happier.
http://www.philly.com/philly/restaurants/20090108_Home_is_where_the_food_is.html
By Dianna Marder
Inquirer Food Columnist
The watchword for 2009 is less, as in: getting by on less; using less expensive ingredients; eating out less often.
And more home cooking.
The trend will affect families at all points along the culinary spectrum. Bon Appetit magazine, for example, suggests its home cooks substitute truffle oil for more expensive truffles, while Wegmans supermarkets say sales of supplies for home baking and canning are way up.
"Over the last year, we've seen increased sales of baking ingredients such as flour, even over the spring and summer when flour prices were rising dramatically," says Josephine Natale, spokeswoman for the supermarket chain.
She says a recent spike in sales of salty snacks such as pretzels and chips is evidence people are entertaining more at home. And when folks buy more canned soups and frozen pizza, Natale says, it shows they're making more affordable meals at home.
In the prepared-foods section at Wegmans, dishes containing beef and fish are not selling as well as those with pasta. Wegmans' best seller in the prepared-foods category is rotisserie chicken.
But a run on canning jars and lids really shocked Natale.
"Our sales of canning supplies would have been up over 100 percent compared to 2007, if we'd had more to sell," she said. "And apparently this has been the case nationwide."
The surveys and reports that go into making predictions for the year point to continuing consumer interest in eating locally grown food (organic, too, if that doesn't get too pricey). Don't expect us to revert to an all-processed-foods diet.
Instead, we'll be looking for cheaper cuts of meat such as hanger steak, flatiron steak, and short ribs - and doing more braising. Better dust off that slow cooker.
Fish-lovers will seek out less expensive choices, such as branzino and Arctic char, and that's a good thing for people concerned about over-fishing. And the more fish we consume, the more we'll want and need a certification system to ensure safety.
This could be the year we take the advice of health experts and reserve the largest part of our dinner plates for vegetables, reducing our reliance on protein and carbs.
We'll have to think outside the meat compartment for our proteins, too. We'll look for more sophisticated ways to use eggs, cheese, peanut butter, tofu, seitan, sardines, nuts, beans and quinoa.
But don't expect to see a whole lot of people become vegetarians, said Bill LeBlond of Chronicle Books.
"People don't really want to cook with tofu and seitan," LeBlond says. "Vegetarian cooking can be difficult and time-consuming."
Sure, if we lose our jobs, we may have more time to cook. But as long as we're employed, we'll be working harder than ever - doing the jobs of our laid-off colleagues, LeBlond says. So, anything that makes shopping and cooking more convenient will still be needed, LeBlond says.
For home entertaining, we may see an uptick in sales of fridge-to-oven-to-table containers in which to carry our contribution to the neighbors' potluck dinners.
Food also will be called on to serve our gift-giving needs in 2009, whether it's a gift of cookware for someone's birthday or homemade fudge for Valentine's Day.
Chances are, kids won't be the only ones toting lunch boxes in 2009. More adults will carry their lunches to work, for the sake of cost as well as quality. And while their lunches will likely be leftovers, adults will look for carriers that don't scream "I'm so broke, I have to bring lunch from home!"
In 2009, we'll continue to expect our food to do more for us - such as aid in digestion, thwart illness, stave off serious diseases, maybe even make us happier.
http://www.philly.com/philly/restaurants/20090108_Home_is_where_the_food_is.html