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Food Trends: July 2011

This month we look at hot wild game, raw bacon, new testing to reveal counterfeit foods and more industry trends.

by Denise Shoukas

Wilder Game on the Menu

Consumers are game for exotic meats, not only for their excellent taste profile but because they often offer less fat and more protein than more commonly eaten varieties. Options have expanded from ostrich, bison and rabbit to more unfamiliar fare like elk, kangaroo and Canadian Mipkuzola, an air-dried wild Arctic muskox. Lance Appelbaum, chief executive officer and founder of New Jersey’s Fossil Farms, which began as an ostrich farm in 1997, has expanded to more than 200 choices of farm-raised wild game and heritage meats. “We have seen that more consumers want these types of meats,” he says.

Bison is still the best seller at Fossil Farms, which also has a retail store, but the company has also begun importing kangaroo direct from Australia, and sourcing emu and yak from small Midwestern farms. The yak, or Himalayan Mountain Beef, holds promise as the next big thing in meats. “It is a very lean meat that is especially popular with body builders for its low-fat content,” Appelbaum says.

An Easier Cherimoya

Does a fruit that tastes like a combination of pineapple and banana with hints of strawberry, papaya and citrus sound appealing? Scientists at U.C. Davis are hoping the answer is yes. Cherimoya, a fruit from South America, has been around a long time but hasnít yet gained the popularity of the banana. Its biggest problem? Huge seeds that make it hard to get at the succulent flesh. But researchers are hoping to remove that obstacle by a creating a seedless version of this fruit. Through studying a seedless sugar apple, a close relative of the cherimoya, the scientists have identified the gene responsible for its seedlessness, which growers could apply to the exotic fruit. Even with the new discovery, the process could take years. But once they perfect it, you can expect to see the seedless fruit grown in warmer climates such as California and Spain.

Raw Bacon

This may not be what the “raw” movement was intending, but there’s a new bacon from La Quercia that needs no heat, establishing it as the first raw bacon. La Quercia’s new Tamworth bacon is salted, dried and smoked, akin to the technique for making other cured meats. “It is cold smoked with applewood, using only pork, sea salt and spices- no nitrates, nitrites or vegetable substitutes,” says Kathy Eckhouse, chief culinary officer and co-owner with her husband Herb.

The pair works in partnership with Russ Kremer in Missouri, who raises Tamworth pigs, which are an endangered heritage breed known as “the bacon pig” because of the sweetness and tenderness of the meat and the quality of the fat.

The bacon is already on menus at Michelin-starred Vie in Western Springs, Ill., and Bricco in Harrisburg, Pa. Eckhouse suggests serving it uncooked or lightly cooked as part of a salumi platter; laying it atop hot bread; or wrapping it around scallops.

Ice Cream as a Health Food?

Healthy Ice Cream Researchers have recently picked ice cream as the ideal vehicle for functional ingredients such as fiber, probiotic bacteria and antioxidants all in one product. According to research conducted by U.S. food chemist Ingolf Gruen of Missouri University, ice cream is a strong choice as it offers ingredient stability as a frozen product. The team is experimenting with Fiber-Sol2; acai puree for the antioxidant boost; a probiotic strain called Lactobacillus rhamnosis; and a prebiotic called inulin, to stimulate the growth of beneficial intestinal microbes. Taste tests are currently underway.

Chain Menus Go Local

The locavore movement has gone mainstream. According to Mintel Foodservice, an international supplier of consumer and product intelligence, the “local” claim on U.S. restaurant menus has grown by 13 percent in the past year alone, while national chains have begun focusing on including indigenous ingredients and foodways. For instance, Burgerville, Vancouver, Wash., a quick-service restaurant, serves Oregon and Washington berries, meats, cheeses and vegetables. East Coast fried-chicken chain Popeye’s has channeled its New Orleans roots with a menu that emphasizes Louisiana spices, sugar-cane-sweetened tea and Cajun and Creole-inspired dishes. Changes like these will please the 58 percent of restaurant goers looking for locally grown products, and aid the movement away from overly processed food.

Ignorance Is Bliss

When enjoying certain foods, people put on blinders. According to Harris Interactive, consumers are less likely to check nutrition labels of biscuits, cakes, chocolate and confectionery compared to other food categories because they perceive these as indulgence foods. The survey found that 54 percent checked cake labels and 52 percent checked pizza; 69 percent checked dairy products and 67 percent checked canned food labels. Gender differences were also found: Females are consistently more likely to check or read labeling than males, but only marginally so, according to the report.

D.C. Exhibit: What’s Cooking, Uncle Sam?

Pie If you’re in Washington, D.C., for the Fancy Food Show, don’t miss the National Archives exhibit, “What’s Cooking, Uncle Sam?: The Government’s Effect on the American Diet.” The show explores our nation’s complex love affair with food and walks the audience through the government’s extraordinary efforts to change American eating habits, noting its successes and failures. Covered in the exhibit are Revolutionary War rations, the perspective of Depression-era farmers, Upton Sinclair’s original letter to Theodore Roosevelt on the hazards of the meatpacking industry, Uncle Sam’s “wife” Aunt Sammy’s Radio Recipes, Cold War cultural exchanges, Jacqueline Kennedy’s menus for State dinners and other historical treasures.

This article was featured in the July 2011 issue of Specialty Food Magazine. See other articles in this issue at: July 2011 Specialty Food Magazine.