Don't try this at home, kids
Here we are, back with the What's Hot & What's Not list. At this point if you aren't up to speed, just click on the What's Hot category to the right to see Nos. 1-40. The list was made up by asking chefs which foods, drinks, cuisines and techniques were hot, which were passe and which were perennial favorites. Those are the percentages after each item on the list in that order.
The most interesting to me of these ten is No. 48, sous vide (51 percent of the chefs surveyed thought it was hot, 38 percent passe, 11 percent a perennial favorite).
Right, perennial. My mom used to do it.
Sous vide, or vacuum cooking, in case you haven't heard the term, uses airtight plastic bags, a long cooking period, and a water bath at relatively low temperature to maintain the integrity of the food better. The problem is that botulism can develop in the absence of oxygen, so nonprofessional cooks have to be careful. Actually, professional cooks have to be careful, too. Here's the Web site if you want to know more.
Come to think of it, No. 43, dragon fruit (pictured), is kind of interesting, too. How could 38 percent of the chefs say it was passe?
41 Exotic mushrooms (e.g., morel, enoki, shiitake, truffles) 54% 15% 31%
42 Cuban Cuisine 52% 33% 14%
43 Dragon fruit 52% 38% 10%
44 Spanish Cuisine 52% 24% 24%
45 Caribbean Cuisine 52% 35% 13%
46 Smoked items (e.g., mesquite, hickory, oak) 52% 22% 26%
47 Quinoa 51% 38% 11%
48 Sous vide 51% 38% 11%
49 Fresh fruit/mixer cocktails 51% 28% 22%
50 Vegan dishes 51% 38% 12%
(Photo of dragon fruit courtesy of Fortune City)
Comments
Out of curiosity, I just looked up the base price of sous vide bath cookers, which as far as I could tell were nothing more than glorified crock pots with an accurate thermostat. The price, not surprisingly, was about £455. Heh, I definitely won’t be trying this at home any time in the near future.
Posted by: Through The Nose | December 27, 2007 9:01 AM
I'm sure a large portion of my home state of Florida would love to learn that 33% of chefs think that Cuban cuisine and 35% think Caribbean cuisine is passe. When I make Cuban food, people around here seem very interested in trying something new (to them). Maybe those chefs are just tired of having to make mojitos.
Posted by: Alyssa K | December 27, 2007 10:00 AM
I think the people surveyed have been watching too much Top Chef.
That sounds precariously close to battlefield MRE prep or Linda McCartney's boil-in-a-bag toficken and rice.
Posted by: Bobby Lovetron | December 27, 2007 4:08 PM