Meat + Poultry - February 2016 - 67

Flavors and formulations venture into
uncharted territories and enhance ethnic trends
BY D O N N A B E R R RY | m e a t p o u l t r y @ s o s l a n d.c o m

A

ccording to the "What's Hot" culinary
forecast from the National Restaurant
Association in Washington, DC,
international flavors continue to influence the
menus of all types of restaurants, with African
flavors being the hottest new cuisine to be
explored by chefs around the country. Middle
Eastern flavors are also gaining traction, with
both ethnic cuisines identified as a mover and
shaker (up 5 percent or more from the 2015
forecast).
This annual survey of nearly 1,600
professional chefs explores the top menu
trends for the coming year. And while African,
Latin American, Middle Eastern, Southeast
Asian and Mediterranean are the top-five
ethnic flavor trends, what the chefs have
also identified as being hot is for recipes to
be authentic. In other words, more culinary
experts are using traditional cooking methods
and real herbs and spices to deliver the ethnic
flavor, versus a flavored seasoning blend
concocted in a laboratory. The chefs also
recognized opportunities in ethnic fusion
cuisine, where flavors and foods from two
cultures come together in unique ways. Think
teriyaki tacos and peri peri veal parmesan.

CULTURE CAPTURING
The Spotted Monkey, a recently opened
Latin American-Asian restaurant in Chicago's
Financial District, is all about ethnic fusion.
The concept provides diners a new approach
to enjoying ethnic specialties, with many
based on meat and poultry. It's the result of
proprietor Amy Le working with her diversely
staffed kitchens during the past four years
since she became a luminary of the Chicago
food-truck scene. Le listened to her colleagues
reminisce about their varied hometowns and
native cultures, from El Salvador, Guatemala
and Puerto Rico to Korea. Le herself, who is of
Vietnamese descent, grew up working in her
mother's Chinese restaurants in St. Louis.
This multicultural inspiration is reflected
in the Spotted Monkey's menu, which features

Le's signature bacos, which are bao-style tacos
(Asian steamed buns filled with Latin-seasoned
protein) in varieties such as guajillo pork,
panang curry chicken and ropa vieja beef.
"We're paying homage to the familiar foods
that people would be eating in their mothers'
kitchens and grandmothers' homes," Le says.
They are familiar foods with a twist.
Other specialties include picadillo, a cuminspiced ground beef and potato stew sweetened
by raisins, which is a traditional comfort food
in countries such as Cuba, Mexico and the
Philippines; and phozole, a hybrid of a Mexican
pozole and Vietnamese pho broth.
"I want people to escape for 30 minutes out
of their day to be transported to someplace
that welcomes them with the smells of rich
stews simmering over a hot pot and having
someone ask how their day is going," Le says.
Such ethnic flavor trends present an
incredible growth opportunity for processors,
as today's consumers are exploring new ethnic
foods when eating out. They also increasingly
want to enjoy these tastes in the comfort of
their own home.
"In 2016, saving time is often about new
attempts to buy time, beyond convenience.
Consumers are more willing to outsource
aspects of their lives, such as shopping for
food and preparing it," says Daphne KasrielAlexander, consumer trends consultant,

"I want people
to escape for
30 minutes
out of their
day to be
transported to
someplace that
welcomes them
with the smells
of rich stews
simmering
over a hot pot
and having
someone ask
how their day
is going."
- AMY LE

TOP 5 ETHNIC FLAVOR TRENDS
IN FOODSERVICE for 2016
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

African
Latin American
Middle Eastern
Southeast Asian
Mediterranean

Source: The National Restaurant Association, What's Hot in 2016 chef survey
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