4. Spices as Culinary Change Agents
Spices are applauded as culinary change agents with chefs relying on them to add nuance, pop, pow, and lingering layers of flavour that define dishes.
Spices and spice blends, especially those with global pedigrees, are red-hot for flavour-forward fine- tuning—a task they handle with operational ease.
Flavour is pretty much where it’s at when it comes to food trends, consumers are not shy about expressing preferences for big, bold food and drink sensations and never more so than when the journey takes unexpected directions. Whether in solo acts, complex mixes, or as support players in flavour bases and sauces, spices are easy access points for diners that, according to research firm Datassential11, deliver low-risk/ high-reward ways to have new experiences.
Source: 11. Dataessential’s Foodbytes 2024 Food Trends
Datassential’s11 Menu Adoption Data chart for spices and flavour-dense ingredients shows that spices along with super-concentrated flavour bombs such as tamarind and yuzu often move with supersonic speed from on-the-fringes inception to the kind of ubiquity that shows widespread acceptance by consumers.
Most of the world’s culinary regions have spice blends that add easy intrigue across dayparts.Spotted on menus, these blends don’t insist on staying true to origins, their flavours are also complementary to other cuisines:
Africa: Berberé, dukkah, harissa, ras el hanout, Durban curryAsia: Togarashi, furikake, gomasio, Szechuan seasoning
Europe: Fines herbes, vaudevan, herbes de Provence, quatre épices India: Chaat masala, panch phoron, garam masala, curry blends
Latin America: Adobo, chili powder, jerk seasoning, Tajín Middle East: Baharat, advieh, hawaij, za’atar
North America: Cajun blend, pumpkin-pie spice mix, poultry seasoning
