By Dania P. Maxwell, for USA TODAY
1/16/2012
had an interesting article about 12 food trends we can expect to see in 2012.
One is something couponers already knew -- Drugstores as food stores.
That's right CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid have become a great source for cheap staple items that fill our stockpiles. It's number 10 on the list.
Here are some of the others:
LIST.
6. Gluten-free gets respect
The craze for all things gluten-free is turning up some better-tasting options for those who need to avoid this wheat protein. Star chef Thomas Keller, of The French Laundry (named "best restaurant in the world" in 2003 and 2004 by Restaurant magazine) , has launched a multi-purpose gluten-free flour blend called Cup4Cup. Gluten-free pastas and cereals were much in evidence at the show. Carbon's Golden-Malted pancake and waffle flour, a staple of restaurants since 1937, has now come out with a gluten-free version. "It was just the demand," says Becky Beckman, vice president of sales for the South Bend, Ind. company. It took six months of working on the mix of soy, rice and corn flour to get it right, she says.
7. DIY comes to food
The public fascination with how our food is made shows up not only in a hundred food shows on TV, but also kits that help people create foods that seem out of reach. These do-it-yourself food kits contain all the ingredients and detailed instructions, making the novice a pro in the kitchen.
"There's a real trend in people wanting to understand how their food is made," says Leslie Kozupsky, a longtime dairy woman and president of Roaring Brook Dairy in Chappaqua, N.Y. She sells kits to make mozzarella and butter that require only the addition of whole milk or cream. "So many people love cheese but they don't know how to make it, I give them everything they need to make it."
The trend extends to many traditional dishes as well. "We have members making pie kits, to make cooking easier," says Tanner. One example is Elizabeth Jean's Apple Pie Kit, which contains a pie tin, crust, spice pack, sliced apples and a pop-up pie timer. "Our research shows that 34% of people who buy specialty foods say they don't know how to cook them," says Tanner. The kits help guide even the most tentative cook.
8. The butcher is back
We're in a renaissance of the butcher, says Tanner. "The meat that's coming through supermarkets isn't really as flavorful" as it once was, so there's a resurgence of heritage pig and cattle breeds. Yet when people are paying a lot of money for their meat they want someone selling it to them who really knows the cuts and how to prepare them. Suddenly "it's cool to be a butcher. Back in the 1970s if you were a meat cutter you didn't go around saying 'I'm in the meat department at the supermarket.' Now people in their 20s are taking it as a career."
9. Food trucks
Food trucks are the hot new thing in cities across America. These "roach coaches" were once the haunt of construction workers. Now they've gone high end, gourmet kitchens on wheels that sell crème caramel, Thai food and hand-made creations as good as anything served in the finest restaurants, at a lower price point. They're big in New York, in Los Angeles, in Texas, in Portland, anywhere where there's a strong food culture, Tanner says. "It's a way for entrepreneurs who like to cook to get their product out to the public without having the expense of a restaurant." A mini trend to look for coming off of this one is popular food trucks coming up with products, "maybe their special salsa that they'll bottle and sell" in supermarkets.