Top foods for the fashionable
Instagram, the picture sharing social media site, is having what fahion people would call ‘a major moment’.
Cooler than Facebook, easier on the eye and more superficial than Twitter, since it launched in 2010 a jaw-dropping 30 billion, yes billion, photos have been shared, averaging 70 million per day.
The rise of Instagram (and other image-led social sites like Pinterest) have brought with them the obessesive photographing and posting of food pictures, now dubbed ‘food porn’. Superfood salads, elaborate birthday cakes and protein-packed smoothies are now snapped just as much as fashion, beauty, interiors and travel. And as food becomes more photographed than designer outfits, jewellery and accessories, you can expect food trends to come and go just as quickly as fashion. So here are the eight trendiest foods, for now…
1. All bow to the avocado
The undisputed heavyweight champion of on-trend foods, there is nothing outwardly sexy about the avocado but it has been the dominant presence at the top of the fashionable food chain for some time. Avocado is an odd one for the fashion world to embrace as the green fruit is notorious for its high fat content.
However, the avocado is universally loved for it’s health benefits – including Vitamin K and C. It contains no saturated fat, despite being one of the fattiest plant foods in the world and the fashion world go bonkers for photographing it on sourdough toast with well over 2million #avocado posts on Instagram alone.
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2. Move over kale ...
It’s cauliflower’s turn. In 2014, every fashion editor was snapping staff lunches and hashtagging #kale but the once trendy cabbage is now already passé. 2015 is the year of the cauliflower, which will sound ridiculous to anyone who has been eating it all along. This year however, it’s cauliflower, but not as you know it. Loved for it’s anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and digestion benefits, cauliflower has historically had a bad time - either boiled down to a watery mess or covered it artery clogging cheddar cheese. This year expect to see it on menus sautéed or roasted and in it’s newest, and most fashionable form - ground down to make ‘cauliflower rice’ as an alternative to the ‘evil’ carbs. (See also courgette spaghetti).
3. Say hi to acai berries
Fashion types love discovering something new and exclusive, and the purple acai berry was, until recently, a well-kept secret known only to the Amazonians.
So why is everyone raving about acai? The superfood berry is packed with amino acids, as well as vitamins A, B, C and E and minerals potassium, calcium, magnesium, copper and zinc. Just some of the claims made about the wonder berry are its fat-burning, anti-ageing and metabolism-boosting benefits.
The only cool way to consume your acia is in a bowl - topped with fruit, served with porridge or eaten in pureed form like ice cream – just don’t forget to take picture before you take a bite.
4. Still big on burgers
It’s not only health foods that are clogging up your Instagram feed. Burgers have had a renaissance as we realise that fast and filling doesn’t always have to mean junk food. Foodies are obsessed with sourcing their meat so knowing where (down to the name of the farm) your beef comes from is the first essential for a fashionable burger. After that it’s about making your burger gourmet – sliders with lobster and pulled pork fillings, brioche buns and served with a side of trendier polenta chips or sweet potato fries. Drool.
5. Doughnuts, cronuts and and dessert mash ups
Continuing the indulgent trend, the hybrid dessert fad rages on. We have already seen the birth (and sudden death) of the cronut (a croissant/doughnut mix). Soon after we made way in our lives (and our waistbands) for the Brookie (brownie/cookie), Duffin (doughnut/muffin), Cragel (croissant/bagel) and Scuffin (scone/muffin). Despite all these new marriages, the simple doughnut still holds its own on social media, simply because everything sweet, sticky is super photogenic. Sadly for cupcakes, their days are over.
6. Don’t freekeh out
Good grains are another big food story area for 2015. We’ve embraced bulgar wheat and salads sprinkled with chia seeds but now the grain being billed as the ‘new quinoa’ is here. Say hello to freekeh, a nutty tasking grain that can be used in salads, soups or to make stuffing.
Barley and spelt are already fashionable staples but watch out for lots more exotic grains like this in 2015, including the much-hyped Ethiopian export, teff.
7. Gluten free everything
It’s easy to blame Gwyneth Paltrow for all of life’s little irks but this one might actually be her fault. Paltrow’s war on gluten has gone mainstream and now street food stalls boasting only ‘gluten-free’ pasta, breads, biscuits and cakes are popping up everywhere, while almost every decent supermarket now has a gluten free aisle. Coeliacs have known about gluten-free for ages, but it’s become fashionable primarily because it eliminates that bloated food baby feeling you usually get after a pizza or pasta. There has been some controversy on the stated health benefits of the craze, now worth billions in the US alone, but ‘free-from’ is here to stay.
8. Is it so long sushi?
Continuing the huge ‘Asian invasion’ trend that has already seen an influx of Chinese, Japanese and Korean fashion and beauty brands, now food from the East is going West. Sushi has long been the staple of the fashion set but not noodle-based soups, broths and ramen dishes are set to take over this year. Another loved Asian ingredient (which we have plenty of in Ireland) is seaweed that will be turning up as a garnish on broth and in stir-fries, or as a healthy snack. Other Asian dishes including the Korean fermented cabbage delicacy, kimchi and Japanese matcha tea will be big news this year.
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