2018 SPECIAL ....18 Things to watch out for in 2018

 18 Things to watch out for in 2018

The NEW YEAR gestures towards a more healing, natural and flavourful journey ahead

FOOD

1 DRYNUARY: After ‘No Shave November’, Drynuary is the latest fad to have gone global. Put simply, it means ‘Dry January’. After a long spell of carousing, people are opting to usher in the New Year by staying off booze for the first month of the year.

2 FARM-TO-TABLE IN A FARM: Farm-to-table is no longer about eating organic produce in restaurants. Plucking your own veggies at a farm and having a chef prepare impromptu dishes is the new fad. Family visits to farms in and around your city or vacations at a farm-turned-resort will be big this year. A smaller trend in this will be “Cowshed Chomp”. Cow’s milk, ghee and cheese, name it and you have it. This year visit milk farms to see the entire milking process and enjoy fresh cheese and ghee churned out right in front of you.

3 VEG STEAKS: You don’t need to be a carnivore to enjoy a steak in 2018. Expect eggplant, cabbage, mushroom, tofu and cauliflower steaks to adorn your plate.

4 MOCKTAIL MANIA: Non-alcoholic beverages are just the thing you would like to try out this year. From condensed fruits as ice cubes and sugar-free fizzy drinks becoming the norm, you might be raising an alcohol-free bubbly in 2018.

With vegetarian food becoming popular, chefs are working overtime to dish out healthy hogs that will be more than just grilled and peppered paneer.

5 TRUFFLE TREAT: Truffle started making a presence on menus in 2017 and is expected to be a dominant force this year. Expect your pizzas, pastas and raviolis to come decked up with truffle shavings and oils or expect your bread to be accompanied by truffle butter. Yum!

6 DESSERT DIET: Espousing your plans of going sugarfree this year will be chefs dishing out sugarfree desserts. Expect healthy desserts with superseed flour and alternative sugars lending a sweet touch.

7 FRUITY FIZZ: Aerated fruit-flavoured drinks will flood the shelves of your grocery store. Every beverage company is experimenting with fruity sodas and has already announced aggressive plans for the year ahead. Craft sodas — a handful of bottles prepared using organic fruits and natural ingredients — is the soda trend to watch out for.

8 NATURAL SYRUPS: Rather than artificial sweeteners, expect maple, honey, date, watermelon, peach and orange syrups to adorn your tables or be used extensively in cocktails and mocktails.

9 FINE DINING CAFÉ: Sounds like an oxymoron? That is exactly the concept top restaurateurs are betting big on for 2018. Finely plated dishes that can be enjoyed in a café setting without any dress code!

10 TRAVELLING RESTAURANT: You need not travel far and wide to grab a bite at your favourite restaurant or chat with your dearest chef. Prepare a list of your top restaurants across the globe and keep a lookout if they are hosting a popup in your city.

11 PERUVIAN ASIAN: After Chinese-influenced Peruvian cuisine and Chifa and Japanese influenced Peruvian Nikkei dishes, this year you will see Asian tacos and chipotle. A lot of Latin American and Asian fusion dishes will be the flavour of the year.

12 POLITICALLY CORRECT FOOD: You need to read about the regional and local sensibilities when you go out looking for your favourite food.

13 GUT FEELING: The focus of the feast this year is gut and so one expects to see fermented food being big as a main course, starters or as condiments. Many chefs are expected to proudly dish out fermented ingredients such as yogurt, salsa, hummus and fermented fruits and veggies and their gut-friendly features as star additions to their dishes.

HEALTH

14 READ THE LABEL: You want your poultry products to be free range, lamb to be grass fed and milk to be organic. More and more consumers are demanding the nature and source of their food be disclosed clearly on the labels.

15 HEALING SPICES: Historically, spices were always a great way to flavour food without adding calories and increase intake of antioxidants. But more recently, inflammation and chronic stress have become so common that people are returning to healing naturally with spices like pepper, turmeric and cinnamon.

16 SLEEP-INDUCING FOODS: Sleep disorders are getting bigger and so is the need to sleep better and more peacefully. Amongst many other wellness practices, one trend that will be big is turning to sleep-savvy food. Miso soup, oatmeal, pistachios, prunes, chamomile tea are all pillow-friendly foods.

FITNESS

17 KENZAI: This is a sciencebased overall fitness program designed for busy people. The popularity of it lies in having a customised plan that works best for you by consulting experts in the field of nutrition, exercise & measuring progress. These are short duration programs designed such that there is a new exercise routine every day and a new nutrition plan every week, adapting quickly to your changing body and mobilising body fat. This keeps things interesting & fun on the road to fitness.

18 POUND FITNESS: A fun and exhilarating way to sweat it out with drumsticks called “rip sticks”. It’s a rhythmic high intensity workout which has fast gained popularity for its ability to torch up to 900 calories in 45 minutes. Even those not musically inclined will find the routines simple to follow and find the short bursts of high intensity at regular intervals stimulating.

— Ritu Srivastav, wellness expert

Amin.Ali

TNN31DEC17