The Oil Impact

What is the biggest food trend so far in 2008? Unfortunately it is rising food prices. If you are a food producer or seller you have no doubt felt this impact on your bottom line. You may have even already made the painful decision to take price with your customers. On an even more personal level you have no doubt felt the impact on your own wallet as well, when it is your turn to be the consumer.

Why the dramatic spike in food cost? Well the most obvious culprit is sky rocking oil prices. Oil impacts the food chain in ways most of us never consider. Oil is a key ingredient in the fertilizers and pesticides that farmers use on crops - like corn, wheat and soy beans. It then takes oil to harvest and transport those crops to distribution centers and on to market. If those crops are then used to feed live stock more oil will be required to process and transport the meat. If the crops are used for processed foods (like hamburger buns, tater tots, or a box of corn bread mix) then more oil is used in the transportation and processing of those products. And don’t forget the oil that also goes into the production and transportation of all that beautiful packaging that encapsulates all the tasty food products we buy. Wow it takes a lot of oil to make a meal when I put it that way!

Since we know oil prices are unlikely to be headed south anytime soon (if ever) are there any things you can do to help your consumers (and your own family) with their rising food bills? Absolutely! You can offer recipes that deliver more bang for the buck. Offer up seasonal recipes that capitalize on locally available seasonal products (which cuts down on transportation costs). Produce cost typical aren’t as impacted as meat and processed foods prices so offer recipes that use generous amounts of fruits and veggies. Finally you can also offer Asian and Mediterranean style recipes that use meat, dairy and fish more as flavorings than main ingredients. Just remember to keep in mind the cooking skill level and available meal prep/cooking time for your key target demographic. Unless you are specifically targeting the most proficient and prolific cooks with your recipes, don’t get so gourmet (i.e. too complicated or time consuming) in your recipe offerings that you loose the interest of your key target market.

Spring Fever

Seems I am not the only one with spring fever these days. People are clamoring for more springtime recipes that they can use to create delicious dishes with all the newly sprung springtime fruits and veggies. I totally understand the craving.

Lately I have been delighted to find tray packs of fresh green English peas (shell-off) in the produce section of my local grocery store. They are clear sign that spring is officially here. Below is one of my favorite super simple recipes for these tasty green treats.

English Peas Go to Italy

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 medium slices pancetta (can substitute prosciutto)

1 tray pack fresh English Peas (shell-off)

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

fresh cracked black pepper

salt

*Pour olive oil into a medium to large skillet and place on medium high heat for 1-2 minutes.

*Dice pancetta.

*When oil is hot (but not smoking) add pancetta to pan. The pancetta should be gently sizzling. Saute for 2-3 minutes, stirring regularly.

*Add peas to the pan and stir together with pancetta. Continue sauteing for 4-5 minutes, stirring regularly.

*Pull rosemary leaves off the stems and add to the pan with peas. Add a very light sprinkle of salt plus a more generous helping of cracked black pepper to the peas. Stir to incorporate. Continue sauteing for 2-3 more minutes.

*Serve and enjoy!


Now if you are unlucky enough to be somewhere were you can't find fresh English peas yet you could substitute frozen green peas. I do not recommend using canned peas though - too mushy.

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's day offers an easy opportunity for another touch point with consumers. It is a great time to offer up simple semi-homemade recipes as children and fathers around the country enter the uncharted territory of the kitchen in an effort to make breakfast, dinner or treats for mom. Whether you are targeting consumers with email newsletters, a mailing, a splash page on your website, or other marketing vehicle, be sure to offer up some super simple quick ideas that even a cooking newbie can handle like Summer Garden Party Sugar Cookies . These delicious little cookies are perfect because dad can easily get the kids involved in cutting out the cookies, spreading the icing and decorating with fruit. Since dad starts with refrigerated cookie dough, as long as he can find a cookie sheet in the kitchen, he should be able to handle the task.

So remember, offering easy recipes are a great way to be a resource to your consumers throughout the year. And of course, don't forget to call your mom on this Mother's Day!

From Hippie to Hip - Brown Rice Becomes Fashionable Again

In the 1960's and 70's brown rice was a popular whole-grain staple with the hippie era counter-culture. In the 80's and 90's it virtually disappeared from menus in favor of the more flavor-neutral white rice. Today the former hippie culture food is making a comeback thanks in part to the increasing interest in more nutrient rich "good" carbs.

So what is brown rice exactly? It is basically minimally processed rice. The outer inedible hulls are removed from the grain but the bran and germ are left mostly or completely intact. (To get white rice the bran and germ are stripped off leaving only the starchy flesh of the grain.) Brown rice is not always truly brown. "Brown" is more of a processing term referring to the bran which is left on the grain.

Brown rice has a lot of advantages over its paler younger brother. It is packed with more nutrients (fiber, antioxidants, etc) than white rice and it is much more flavorful. Thanks to popular mainstream restaurants (like P.F. Chang) consumers are becoming reacquainted with the tasty nutty flavor of brown rice. And thanks to popular diets (such as the South Beach Diet) consumers are actively looking to add more whole grains into their meal routines. So as you are building your recipe library think about including some recipes that call for brown rice. This flavorful ingredient edition will make for a deliciously on-trend meal that cooks can feel good about serving to their families and friends

Celebrating Cinco de Mayo

Most people think Cinco de Mayo is Mexico's Independence Day. It actually commemorates the Mexican victory over the French in the Battle of Puebla in 1862 (Mexican independence came later) and is celebrated as only a regional holiday in Mexico. Cinco de Mayo is more widely celebrated in America where it has come to represent more of a celebration of Mexican pride and history. Regardless of what decent you are from, Cinco de Mayo is a great day to celebrate with some delicioso Latin American cuisine.

The Latin American food trend is a very hot, up and coming trend. Flavors and ingredients like lime, tomatillos, chili peppers, corn meal, chorizo, adobo, yuca and queso fresco are popping up on menus even in non-Mexican themed restaurants. One of my favorite "new" spices to use when I am cooking at home is chipotle peppers or chipotles in adobo sauce. Chipotle chile peppers are smoke-dried jalapenos. You can buy them as a dried spice (in the spice aisle) or you can get them whole in a can (in the ethnic section of the grocery store). Whole chipotle chiles in a can usually come packed in adobo sauce. This deep red flavorful sauce is made with tomatoes, vinegar and spices like garlic, onion, cumin, lemon pepper and achiote powder.

Need a little inspiration on how to use chipotles to add some Latin American flare to your menu tonight? Try sprinkling the dried chipotle chile pepper powder over french fries or popcorn. Or dice 1-2 chipotle peppers in a adobo sauce and add to spagetti sauce, chili or meatloaf. If you really want to mix things up and try something new, try adding the chipotle peppers in a adobo sauce to an alfedo sauce (it is obviously a non-traditional use and may sound a little strange, but it truly delicious - I promise you!). Whether you use the dried spice or the chipotle peppers in adobo, you will be adding a wonderfully smoky spice to your dish. If you worried about things getting too spicy, just scrape out and throw away most of the seeds before adding the chiles to your recipes. And of course, don't forget to serve some refreshing cold beverages like margaritas or cervezas to cool everything down.

Mother's Little Helper - A Jar of Spagetti Sauce

The cover story for this month's issue of Saveur magazine is dedicated to the quest for the perfect Ragu sauce in Bologna, Italy. There are numerous recipes for delicious sounding, slow-cooked, authentic Italian Ragu dishes - most taking about 3 hours or more to prepare. The very thought of those rich and meaty sauces over fresh-made pasta is enough to make my mouth water in anticipation. While reading the article I started trying to mentally schedule a day when I could devote the 3 to 4 hours needed to make the perfect saucy pasta dish for friends and family to enjoy. After a few minutes of contemplation over the scheduling manipulations that would be required to free up the 4 hours of cooking time needed for my pasta feast, I was forced to admit scheduling defeat. (Scheduling is so hard when you are trying to do it all from Career Woman, to Family Manager to Domestic Goddess!) So maybe I will have to leave the creation of the perfect home-made pasta feast in the capable hands of one of the local Italian restaurants (at least for now), where my only time requirement will be the hour or so to sit and enjoy dinner.

There was another interesting shorter article in Saveur this month, titled "Mother's Little Helper". Deputy Editor, Dana Bowen, talked about her mother, a second generation Italian-American woman, and her surreptiticious use of Ragu-brand pasta sauce as a basis for her own legendary "homemade" Italian sauces. Dana even mentioned that if family and friends were coming over for dinner her mother took great care to throw the store bought sauce jars away in the outside trash cans so that no one would spot the confederates to a true "homemade" meal in the kitchen trash. I wonder if Dana realizes that while her mother was bring old world traditions over to America she was also modifying those traditions to work in an increasingly fast pace society. Her mom's creative uses for store bought pasta sauces as a basis for her own variety of Italian dishes made her an early adopter of the semi-homemade cooking trend which is all the rage in American kitchens today.

Today's cooks are more sophisticated in their tastes but less proficient in their cooking skills than past generations. What they want is slow cooked authentic deliciousness when they dine out and simple dinner solutions that taste homemade for busy meals at home. If you want to appeal to the masses, simple recipes using pre-made ingredients that generate healthy interesting meals in a hurry are just the ticket. Be sure to mix it up with an interesting selection of ethnic dishes as well as simple versions of familiar classics for the broadest reach on usage occasions and the widest appeal to consumers.

The Latin American Trend

Cinco De Mayo is almost here. What better time to talk about trends in Hispanic cooking....or at least trends in the types of Hispanic foods average America is eating. In the 1990's fast casual Mexican restaurants were extremely popular. No matter what the name of the particular restaurant was over the door, you knew before you even looked at the menu generally what was going to be offered to you - various combinations of similarly seasoned beans, meat, cheese and rice with tortillas or chips. Today those types of Mexican restaurants continue to be ubiquitous through out America, however the true emerging trend is Hispanic-influenced foods. According to Datassential's Food Bytes e-Gazette, 44% of restaurants now offer what they call a "Mexican-Inspired entree" (think of menu items like a tequila lime salsa burgers or a prime rib sandwich with a zesty jalapeno mesquite spread).

Following behind the Mexican-Inspired trend is a new trend towards Latin American foods which would include dishes from Mexico but also foods from the many other Latin American countries located in North, Central and South America as well as the Caribbean. New menu items being seen are things like Cuban sandwiches; chimichurri sauces* (popular in Argentina) and ceviche (a popular dish in Peru). In fact a Datassential survey showed that 22% of Americans were very interested in Brazilian foods, which makes it only slightly less popular than Thai.

So as you are thinking about recipes to add to your library it is definitely time to add a few dishes with a Hispanic twist. These could be things like Chipotle Chicken Alfredo or Spicy Lasagna made with habonaras. And if your target consumer is a little more progressive you can start adding in some more exotic Latin American dishes like Brazilian Rice Pudding or a flavorful Puerto Rican Stew. Fruit flavors like coconut, mango and pineapples are also a part of this trend so things like Coconut Infused Rice or a Pineapple Mango Salsa Grilled Chicken are more great menu options. May is a great time to debut your new Latin American-inspired dishes! So grab a margarita if you need the inspiration (or mojitos if you prefer), put on your salsa shoes and say ole! You won't want to miss this deliciously sassy trend!


Notes:
*Chimichurri sauce is a thick herb sauce or condiment popular in Argentina. It is made from olive oil, vinegar, and finely chopped parsley, oregeno, garlic and onion and then seasoned with salt, cayenne and black pepper.
*Ceviche (also spelled seviche) is fish that has been "cooked" with lime juice. Often ingredients like tomatoes, onion and green peppers are added to the marinade.