Modern fashion affects absolutely everything: interior, wardrobe items and even cooking. Today, burgers and seafood salads fill the shelves of shops, and tomorrow gourmets are calling everyone to eat the so-called superfoods. Some trends come and go, while others are in no hurry to go to the bench. It's a pity. Novate.ru tells what products, dishes and culinary trends have already set everyone's teeth on edge.
1. Rolls from everything in a row
In recent years, Japanese cuisine has been gaining more and more popularity: noodles, sushi, ramen and other dishes have taken pride of place in restaurant and home menus. As a result, Russian housewives try to "understand" their favorite dishes, turning them into rolls. However, if you wrap chicken, crackers and an iceberg leaf in nori, Caesar salad will not turn into a national dish of the Land of the Rising Sun.
However, if we take, for example, the California and Philadelphia rolls popular in Russia, then they are very indirectly related to traditional cuisine, since they were invented in America about 40 years ago, albeit by a Japanese chef. Interestingly, in Japan, rolls are used not so much as an independent dish, but as a decoration. Also, it is not customary to put a large amount of various fillings in them, as we do - the Japanese are limited to one single ingredient, in addition to rice and nori, for example, salmon.
2. Mini food
Baby carrots, baby potatoes, microgreens are not specially bred dwarf plant varieties, but a common marketing ploy. People want to pay for anything unusual that is in fashion, but they don’t think about what these products really are.
For example, the baby carrot was invented in 1986 by Mike Yurosek as a farm gimmick. The fact is that most of the carrots that he grew in his garden were too ugly, and therefore did not sell. As a result, Mike popped a few vegetables into a kidney bean slicer, cut them into identical 2-inch slices, ran them through a peeler, and voila - the perfect mini-carrots that have been a hit ever since.
As for baby potatoes, these are ordinary young potatoes, which were harvested ahead of schedule. With microgreens, everything is also extremely simple - it is a fast-growing vegetable watercress, which is a "relative" of ordinary cabbage. As you can see, there is no magic here, only the trick of the manufacturers.
3. Decorating with balsamic sauce
You've probably noticed that for several years in a row, a large number of restaurant dishes were decorated with a thick dark brown sauce prepared with balsamic vinegar. In his "company" they served steaks, fish, salads, regardless of what ingredients were included in it. Even desserts sometimes deserved the attention of this versatile sauce, which looked ridiculous to say the least. The fashion for such a serving has long gone, but the chefs in some restaurants clearly do not even know about it. Perhaps there would be nothing wrong with this if the tart and pronounced aroma of balsamic did not tend to clog the smell and taste of the dish itself.
This component should be used where it will be appropriate, that is, in the cooking process, and not in decorating dishes. For example, the sweet and sour taste with hints of grapes and wood goes well with Mediterranean cuisine such as fish. You can also use it to create a glazed crust on meat, prepare a delicious marinade. But it is better to refrain from decorating the plate with this element.
4. Edible foam
Molecular gastronomy appeared and began to develop in the 80s of the last century, but gained real popularity only in the 21st century. Dishes of the so-called "scientific cuisine" are quite difficult to prepare: they require strict adherence to the temperature regime and may look completely different from traditional ones. For example, borscht, created according to the rules of molecular cuisine, can visually resemble a ball of dense jelly, although its taste will not radically differ from a classic Ukrainian dish.
It is very beautiful, fashionable, unusual, but only if done without a catch. For example, more recently, familiar dishes have been disguised as molecular ones with the help of edible foam. However, it does not always look appetizing. This element is quite peculiar and if done without observing the basic technologies, then it will resemble a spit rather than a beautiful detail.
5. Black food
Remember the famous black ice cream that was at its peak in 2017? At that time, charcoal was added not only to it, but also to coffee, burger dough and other popular dishes. It looked unusual, so it’s not surprising that the dishes were in great demand. However, the black tongue after consuming such foods was not the only problem - seemingly harmless coal could harm health, causing food poisoning.
6. Raw meat dishes
Carpaccio, ceviche, tartare, mettbretchen - these and other dishes made from raw meat that have not undergone heat treatment are present in almost all national cuisines. They are often served in expensive restaurants and are on the list of gourmet favorites. However, these meals can be unsafe. The fact is that raw meat often contains microbes and parasites that cannot die, given the lack of heat treatment of the food.
The most dangerous are chicken, lamb, pork - if they are not well fried or cooked, there is a risk of contracting the same toxoplasmosis. In 2013, American scientists conducted a study that determined the salmonella content in poultry meat. According to its results, chicken contains 3.9%, minced chicken - 18%, turkey - 2.3%.
Note: You can eat raw meat dishes only if the main ingredient is beef or venison - in these products, the likelihood of containing microbes is minimal. If you want to cook such a dish at home, be sure to disinfect the meat using shock freezing.
7. "Italian" cuisine
The situation here is about the same as with Japanese cuisine. There are a lot of variations on the theme of Italian dishes, but in most cases they have nothing to do with the national cuisine of this sunny country. Pizza is especially popular in Russia, and therefore it was she who underwent the greatest culinary attack. Everything is used as a filling for it, from French fries, pineapples and ending with chocolate. However, Italians themselves oppose this diversity. Their menu contains only "margarita", which is rarely ordered from us because of the meager content, and "marinara". The latter does not include seafood, as one might think from the name. Italian chefs use only tomatoes, garlic, onions, aromatic herbs like basil, olives and Parmesan cheese. As you can see, there is no meat, seafood and other "Russian" ingredients here.
Spaghetti Bolognese, which everyone considers Italian, suffered no less than pizza. In fact, there is no such dish in Bologna. Italians generally believe that meat sauce does not go well with this type of pasta.
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