From fermented vegetables to sherry’s second coming: The biggest food trends of 2021

As lockdowns go on, we continue to find joy in the simple pleasures of life, with sustainability and well as flavour feeding the food movements of the moment, says Clare Finney

In a pickle: preserving has become the name of the game (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

While lockdowns rage on and any sense of normality remains a distant dream, there is one thing we can certainly rely on and that is the cheering power of excellent grub.  

Back in March, many of us turned to the comfort of food, and of baking in particular, as a mindful distraction. We tended to sourdough starters and indulged in banana breads and even made our own pasta from scratch.

As we look forward to 2021 it’s clear that our food tastes remain humble. Gone are the days (for now) of extravagant and elaborately complex meals and in are the simple pleasures of watching vegetables ferment at home or embracing a hearty stew. And, unsurprisingly, the trend we saw gain momentum late last year of embracing local businesses and produce remains strong.  

Get ahead of the curve and start tucking into the biggest food trends of 2021.  

A sprinkling of seaweed

Not just a pretty garnish, seaweed is an amazing repository of health benefits: iron; B vitamins; manganese; copper; zinc; potassium; and iodine, which supports thyroid and cognitive function; Anna Daniels of the British Dietetic Association explains to Waitrose.  

With Veganuary now in full swing, it’s little wonder sales are up by 23 per cent compared with last year: “Vegans find it useful as a source of amino acids, calcium and omega-3 essential fatty acids,” Daniels says. It’s also versatile – and flavoursome. Gone are the days when ‘seaweed’ meant crispy cabbage from your local Chinese takeaway.  

Waitrose sell anori seaweed, for use as a garnish, while Whole Foods offers Bladderwrack, Cornish Kelp and Sussex Kombu Seaweed – all of which can be used to add a savoury depth to stir fries, soups, casseroles and stews.  

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Anything but actual coffee

Still drinking your coffee from a mug? How quaint. Allow me to introduce you to coffee a la 2021, aka coffee served in anything but a mug.  

Wholefoods is predicting – and even selling – coffee-flavoured bars, granolas and smoothie boosters. The Collective has introduced coffee yoghurt to its range – available in Waitrose, Sainsbury and Tesco – and in good news for espresso martini lovers everywhere, brewers Stateside and in the UK are starting to introduce coffee to alcohol “at source” as it were, with the energetic beans percolating their way into vodka, gin, bourbon and beer.  

Time for bottarga 

2020 reminded us of the importance of many things, and one of them was Nigella, whose book Cook Eat Repeat (and series of the same name) has been a ray of light in the interminable darkness of lockdown. It’s thanks to her that an ingredient that is commonplace in many cuisines but has been sadly lacking in British cooking is set to take centre stage.  

The salted, cured fish roe – which when grated takes on a similar flavour and texture to that of parmesan – crops in several of her recipes as a means of adding that umami richness. It doesn’t come cheap, but it keeps indefinitely, and a little goes a long way towards enriching and enhancing your cooking. The bottarga from Vallebona is particularly impressive – and worth investing in, given that it is made by a Sardinian family who are the only one on the island still using ancient methods to salt, press and air dry the roe.  

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Sherry’s second coming

Sherry. The word alone conjures up memories of being sat in my grandfather’s living room, fiddling with a stale cheese biscuit. Fortunately, sherry has moved on – or rather, we have, in our perceptions of this traditional tipple.  

“Sherry is incredibly versatile”, says Richard Corrigan Jnr of Bentley’s Oyster Bar & Grill in Mayfair. “You could have many different types hiding in your house but generally you will have three styles of sherry lurking around: dry (fino, manzanilla); nutty/richer/darker (amontillado, palo cortado, oloroso); and sweet sherries (pedro zimenez, moscatel).”  

Pairing sherry with food has proved increasingly popular at Bentley’s, while over in Kings Cross sherry flights have been taking off in recent years. “Dry sherries are great with oysters and clams,” says Corrigan. “Darker varieties work well with terrines and smoked salmon and try pairing a sweet sherry with blue cheese”.

Preserving and fermenting

Just when you thought it wasn’t possible for the world of fermenting to get bigger, it expands once more, like the gas in a Kilner jar full of cabbage. The triple trends of our having more time on our hands to experiment in the kitchen, looking to capitalise on seasonal gluts and reduce our food waste have created a perfect storm for sauerkraut, kimchi, pickles and preserves.  

UK social media mentions of preserving and fermenting are up by 28 per cent and according to Waitrose, searches for “pickling” are 222 per cent higher. Check out the books and/or virtual courses of Olia Hercules, Alissa Timoshkina and Rosie Birkett to get into this new, ancient trend.

Eastern European food

Happily, the trend for all things fermented and pickled has paved the way for Eastern European cuisine in general. Chef and cookbook author Bettina Campolucci Bordi, whose mother is Bulgarian, says “I’ve noticed a rise of Bulgarian and Georgian food, just like in recent years Ukrainian and Persian dishes have been gaining traction.” Her bean soup, based on her mother’s traditional Bulgarian recipe, has proved increasingly popular among her followers. “Served with a chunk of bread, it’s nourishing comfort food at its best.” 

Several books have successfully shone a light onto the vibrant, nourishing and varied joys of the cuisines of Eastern European countries, upending the preconceptions around cabbages and potatoes. Try Summer Kitchens and Mamushka by Olia Hercules, Salt and Time by Alissa Timoshkina, Happy Food by Bordi and Caroline Eden’s Black Sea.  

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Old meat, new tricks

Following hot on the cloven hooves of retired dairy cows are retired mothering sheep, otherwise known as cull yaw. Inspired by Spain’s Ibérico pig farmers, restaurateur-turned-farmer Matt Chatfield realised the most exceptional flavour came from animals that had walked a long way in their life and put on good quality fat at the end of their lives.  

Applying this principle to mothering sheep at retirement age (six years plus), which are due for the abattoir, Chatfield grazes them on rich pasture and woodland coppices for around 10 months, creating the most mouth-watering, fat-marbled mutton.  

This isn’t just about flavour, though, any more than chefs’ growing appetite for retired dairy cow is. The sustainability argument for redirecting dairy cows and mothering sheep into quality meat is undeniable, beneficial to both the environment – in that it maximises the return on the resources which have gone into rearing and sustaining the animal – and the farmer, who will get far more from selling these animals for human consumption than they will pet. As chef Brad Carter of Michelin-starred Carters of Moseley points out “more and more chefs and restaurants are choosing the older, more sustainable animals for their menus”.  

A love of local

Be it gin, seafood, wine or vegetables, more and more people are turning to British produce. Searches for “buy local” are up 39 per cent on UK-wide social media, as people have striven to support local independent producers and farmers – particularly since the pandemic has struck. For example, Waitrose reports that sales of British seafood have tripled over the last six months. “Clams, cockles, mussels and oysters are back,” it writes in its annual trends report, whilst sales of British-grown fruit and vegetables have soared – at least amongst those who haven’t procured their own vegetable patch.

“The appetite among the British public to support homegrown produce is on the rise” agrees two Michelin-starred Chef Mark Birchall – and it doesn’t stop at the table. “Our Moor Hall gin, made in partnership with Lancashire distillery Goosnargh, has been a sell-out success. Loyal customers want to support our restaurant along with another local business whilst enjoying a drink at home.”