I still enjoy a cheese fondue occasionally.

Banoffee Pie is another one (I make the toffee bit with evaporated milk which is supposed to be unsuitable).

Lemon meringues were all the rage in the 70s (I used to think they were dead sophisticated and I still like a well made one... horribly elusive now)

The fad for sun-dried tomatoes dampened down rather than died, they make a marvellous addition to the kitchen cupboard as an emergency addition to a sandwich when you're running low on the fresh stuff. A strange fad as they aren't something I ever ate in Spain (ņoras - dried capsicum peppers - are the norm, although I do once remember seeing a sheet out in the noon sun covered in drying tomatoes. I also remember the flies.) I'm not sure who in the Mediterranean is supposed to eat large quantities of them.


We got the Japanese equivalent of the fondue set as wedding present - it's a big cast iron thing that lets you make takoyaki balls. Making takoyaki at home was a fad in Japan a couple of decades ago. When I can find the right recipe you can bet I'll be making these into part of the Chez LapLap repertoire.

There's a trend that comes and goes for making okonomiyaki for friends, it took me a few years of failed rubbery attempts using a number of flawed recipes before I finally hit paydirt, but I'm not going to let go of this one. One of the best recipes you can make in 10-15 minutes.

I'm not sure what food fads there've been in Spain (it's the song and dance crazes that stick indelibly - here's the latest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku34NOwoij0 the joke wears very thin very quickly ). I remember in the late 80s/early 90s there was a time when little flecks of truffle seemed to be added to everything. It's been about 4 years since I spent any significant time in Alicante, on my last visit I noticed a massive boom in Kebap takeaways. Flavoured crisps are also growing in popularity. I look forward to the upcoming obesity data with great interest.