LapLap

I'm guessing that neither of you are keen on home made packed lunches.

We usually dress ours with zingy nuoc cham (fish sauce, lime juice, chili, etc) or ponzu (a citrus soy sauce dressing). Since it suits our tastes and preferred seasonings better than couscous it has become a kitchen staple. Wouldn't make it more than twice a week though. For those of us who are big rice eaters it's a really handy alternative.

I'll definitely be buying quinoa in 20/30 years time.

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There's no room in my heart for cup cakes and my husband despises them. My 5 year old loves the "idea" of cup cakes but never eats more than two or three bites before becoming disinterested. (Have found that a lot of my friends' children also find it an effort to sustain an interest in the cakes, or just like to lick off the frosting). My daughter's appetite for macaroons and fine French or French/Japanese patisserie never diminishes with each bite in the same way, she'll finish those off with no problem.
I make muffins at home (am working through a Dorie Greenspan baking book) and LapChild calls them cup cakes. She eats them up and tells me I make the best "cup cakes" in the world, and that's despite our proximity to the Primrose Hill Bakery (one of London's best cup cake makers). It's a relief that the current fad hasn't conditioned her into demanding a layer of sugar and butter on the top.

Young kids are usually a good barometer for working out whether food is a fad or whether it's going to stick around long enough for them to eat and enjoy as an adult. I'm betting that cup cakes will become sort of retro treat (like jam tarts) at parties in the coming decades, am not optimistic that they will completely disappear.

jewels421

1. Things I'd be fine with being on their way out: Cupcakes, the everything-bacon-is-awesome trend.
2. Trends I love and hope stick around: Quinoa, kale, fro-yo shops, hard cider (major uptick in craft ciders here on the west coast in the past few years -- since I don't like beer, this has been a big boon for me).
3. Trends I actually think will die out: Fro-yo (thought this is cyclical, probably -- remember TCBY in the 80s?), cupcake shops (obviously), macaron shops, all of the cronut-type things, artisanal toast.

Interesting that maybe the sweet things are the most "trendy" -- they peak and then crash.

fwoomp

?????

That's a bit of a leap from, "I hate quinoa," to, "Well, you must hate homemade packed lunches, then!" I've never found myself short of lunch options, starting with an extra portion of the previous night's dinner. This was true even in the time before quinoa.

Also, it's not the taste of quinoa, which is pleasant, but the texture that I can't stand. Too bad...taste is easy to mask with strong condiments, but there's really no help for texture.

bensyd

Quinoa is rubbish.

Let me add kale to the list of fad foods I can live without.

LapLap

Not really. It wasn't that you said "I hate quinoa" but you agreed with "quinoa you are no longer welcome" in a thread cataloging "food trends on their way out".

I personally don't like cilantro/coriander nor do I like cumin, but I get that other people do.
If you were keen on making home made packed lunches you'd understand that, for those of us who don't hate the "puchi puchi" popping bubble texture of quinoa, it makes a very welcome, convenient and nutritionally valuable addition to our lunch boxes. I pretty much weaned my offspring on the stuff, easy to eat with diced cucumbers, green beans, tomatoes and mashed avocado. Wouldn't have given her truffle oil or a Rosewater & Parmesan foam (come to think of it, a truffle flavoured Pierre Herme macaron is the only kind she's ever spat out)

crabbing

no later than the early 1990s, actually (and i think it originated in taiwan in the 80s).

sbrower

I can't believe that Krispy Kreme lasted for more than 6 months.

BamaVol

I'm guessing they will continue to show up until cooks run out of applications like using the for hamburger buns or deep flying them on a stick at state fairs. I saw a glazed donut bread pudding on a menu this week.

pseudoswede

Sometimes they have time to add extra sausage and meatballs to your order, too.

pseudoswede

I have yet to find a decent cider in the US. Do yourself a favor a look for this Swedish brand in your local (American) liquor store...



Company website

Dadaluma83

Well, one chinese food restaurant owner in San Francisco is tired of the gluten free, all organic, craze, and wrote a sign telling those hard to please dietary requirement people to shove off.

I definitely approve, will eat at his place next time I ever end up in SFO.

Really the gluten-free craze is my number 1 want to go away fad. It is so bad things that don't even have gluten in them are being labeled as such. Now I am not even completely sure what gluten is, I think it is in bread, dough, and such but today I brewed a cup of bigelow cinnamon tea, and it was labeled gluten free.

No idea why tea or cinnamon would have gluten in it in the first place. Reminds me of a story I read somewhere of someone mentioning they saw gluten free salt once. If gluten is not in something in the first place, why label it gluten free? To draw in the business of people in on that fad? Where do you draw the line of labeling things that were never in it in the first place? Why not label the salt battery acid free, or sugar free, or something?

Anyway here is the article of my favorite restaurant owner in san francisco.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...customers.html

Jenbel

Love Rekorderlig! Favourite (mass-produced*) cider so far (although the Scottish Thistly Cross with Elderflower is also terribly morish). Just right balance of not too sweet, not too dry and doesn't taste of chemicals (Magners, looking at you).

*I've spent time in a little country pub in Somerset. Favourist ever cider was a guest cider on tap there. Something to do with pigs, but can't recall what. So gorgeous though.

cblaisd

The package of jelly beans I'm currently eating proudly proclaims "0g Trans Fat." Because I know that that's really important when selecting one's jelly beans. And I chuckled at the line of PopTart knockoffs that I saw that LOUDLY proclaimed that they were "ORGANIC"! After all, if my PopTart isn't organic, I don't want it.

bensyd

Orchard Pig?

CDTraveler

So how do you two feel about diabetics? Cancer patients? People on anti-depressants? Those who keep Kosher? Vegetarians? Or do you just save your scorn and sarcasm for those with celiac disease, non-celiac gluten sensitivity or autism? How about fibromyalgia patients?

So Dadaluma83 admits to not even knowing what gluten is, but can't grasp why foods like cinnamon tea would be labeled gluten-free. Ever considered maybe checking things out before ripping into them? Gluten, for those who don't know, is a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley. Cinnamon tea often contains that mystery ingredient "natural flavorings" - which are frequently made from barley, and may contain gluten! Under the recent labeling laws, some foods are now labeled "gluten-free" to indicate that they are prepared in an environment free of cross contamination. Did we clear that up for you?

The overwhelming majority of people who follow a gluten-free diet do it for medical reasons, and it has to be 100% gluten-free, because as little as what's in a couple bread crumbs can cause major health problems. So, yes, we might ask questions about ingredients, prep area and possible cross contamination issues because we're not willing to become seriously ill just to avoid annoying the ignorant.

Large population studies suggest that up to 3% of the U.S. population may have celiac disease and up to 15% some form of gluten intolerance. In some European countries the rate of celiac is estimated to be above 8% The gluten-free food industry is projected to significantly grow over the next decade, or at least the Wall Street Journal thinks so, so those who are so very offended by the existence of safe foods for people with life threatening medical problems may just have to cope.