Food Trends for 2007 and Beyond

Suddenly, in the depths of the otherwise peaceful evening, a tale idea stirred across my imagination. I sprang to my feet with exuberance.

In artistic abandon, I tossed aside the initial article which i had penned for today's column. My thoughts raced ahead in support of a daunting new idea.

Today's column will explore newer and more effective taste trends for 2007 and beyond.

Trends are an indication of the direction that the society is moving towards. From the curious student of life and sociological perspective, it's fascinating to look at how cultural trends evolve through periods of history. We all experience "AHA" moments which help us to higher understand the times by which we are living.

Food trends, like other trends of the society, paint an image of interconnection.

Here is my take, a kaleidoscope view for a moment, of some current and/or future trends which i envision will flavor the culinary landscape later on days.

Vintage Cuisine

We might find a revival of foods which were popular within our parents and grandparent's day, however, these food types that I've labeled Vintage Cuisine will excite the palate with new twists in presentation and interpretation. The artery-clogging components will still be lightened up in fresh and exciting ways. Slow-roasted meals with rich depth and intriguing flavors will end up increasingly popular and you will be interpreted with techniques that merge the goodness from the garden with global tastes inside a continually evolving synergy and fusion.

The Slow Food Movement continues to pick up speed. Tried and tested rustic-flavored farmhouse favorites like pot roasts, shepherds pie, savory stews, cassoulets, meat loaf, lamb and veal shanks, along with other succulent slow roasted meats and vegetables will tickle our tastebuds.

Regional, Local Ingredients

We might find a continued movement towards locally produced agricultural products. Neighborhood farmer's markets and regional green markets that sell organic products continues to find popularity since the "in place" for conscientious shoppers. There's a trend to wish to know where our food originates from. We want to understand how our meals are grown, plus some of us such as this writer, wish to understand the landscape and realize that contaminated water isn't flowing down a hill to the fields in which the crops are growing.

After watching news reports that some bagged spinach leaves, green onions and alfalfa sprouts had turned deadly with E.coli bacteria, we started asking more questions in our food purveyors. Consequently, we will see the development of smart-packaging technology that'll be debuting sometime in 2007. This new technology allows a big red 'X" to look on a bag of produce when the bag contains E.coli, salmonella or other strain of bacteria present within the bag.

Fusion Cuisine

We might find more flavorful interpretations from the fusion between regional and global cuisine. It is a small world, in the end. Creative cooks will explore the endless possibilities that fusion cookery offers. Watch out for South American, Spanish and Mediterranean foods to become especially hot trends.

Multi-Tasking Antioxidants and gratifaction Boosting Foods

Antioxidant foods which are packed with multi-tasking nutritional dividends will still be popular. You want to know what our foods can perform for us. What goes on inside our bodies whenever we eat a particular food? The war on trans fats continues and we will be aware of the components and additives which are slowly killing us one spoonful at any given time. We are increasingly empowered to see the ingredient lists on the package and google what they are called of things that we don't recognize.

Passionate Cooks with Great Entertaining Personalities will still be the face of food television

Paula Deen, Rachael Ray, and Ina Garten are three faces that are presently synonymous using the Food Network. However, using the boom of cutting-edge technology products, the options for a great cook having a great personality on video are available.

Home Entertaining Trends

The art of entertaining well in your own home will continue to be a power connecting friends and family in inspiring ways. We will have more ways that entertaining and hospitality may be used for a greater common good. An ideal example of this really is being done by Florida's new Governor Charlie Crist who's opening up the Governor's Mansion to everyday folks for informal discussions about Florida's future.

As is usually the case, I've many more delicious and festive suggestions to share. For any continued dialog about Food Trends for 2007 and beyond visit my newly set-up Taste Trends blog at tastetrends.blogspot.com/

Kathi Dameron is really a free-lance writer and also the owner of Kathi Dameron & Associates, a writing boutique that does creative, content-rich writing and blogging assignments. She is available at 850-422-3599 or at askkathidameron@aol.com