Between the restaurant industry's rapid expansion and the explosive growth of household artisanal kitchens, the year ends asking, 'Just how much food are we eating?' Here's what we've seen in the food trends of 2016
DECONSTRUCT TO RECONSTRUCT
This is the time when descriptions on the menu may simply read "lasagna", or "strawberry cheesecake", but what is served barely resembles what is ordered.
Thanks to a culinary approach of deconstruction -- the idea of breaking apart elements of a traditional dish and putting them back together in a different form -- many classic dishes now appear in more intriguing, playful guise.
On a global level, deconstructed cuisine is not new and has for quite some time gained a reputation by some old-school epicures as a nonsense cooking stunt. But in Thailand it is one of 2016's most popular kitchen crafts with modern-day chefs.
Not only are we witnessing the de- and reconstructed renderings of Western delicacies (basically lemon tart, carrot cake, coleslaw and the Bloody Mary). But there are also a good number of time-honoured Thai fares that have been adapted to boast new, fancy and world-class presentations.
Today, soothing tom yum goong may be a platter of brochetted seafood with a jellified sphere of consomme and phad Thai could be towering layers of crispy rice-flour sheets and condiments. While a common local dessert tang Thai nam kathi could be represented by an unfamiliar-looking jumble of melon balls, grated coconut and candy molasses.
PRIMITIVE KITCHEN
What do black quinoa, finger lime, White Park beef and Argentine parrilla wood-fire pit have in common? They are all ancient culinary heritages rediscovered and favoured in 2016.
Many chefs are looking to the past in forging the future of food. Their appreciation focus is on the likes of heirloom grains that haven't been crossbred or genetically modified. Heritage cattle breeds give steak aficionados more exotic dining alternatives. Indigenous vegetables, coupled with their outlandish looks and surprising mouthfeel, provide diners with both visual and gastronomic thrills. And rustic-styled cooking tools and techniques give a glorious touch of genuineness to the food.
Thus, more often than not you will find chefs introducing diners to some Alpine or back bush ingredients imported from their homeland, or explaining how they cure meat using a method their great grandfather perfected years ago, or a brand new barbecuing device, which is a reproduction of what was used in kitchens in the last century.
CHEESY PLEASURE
Macaroons are so last year despite their very sweet, whimsical and multicolour charms.
Ask millennials what they wanted to snack on in 2016 and Japanese cheese tart (which might also refer to Japanese-style double fromage cheesecake) would definitely be a frequent answer.
Never-ending queues of diehard cheese tart fans have become a very common sight at many shopping malls. There are more than a dozen dessert brands in Bangkok that sell the sumptuously sweet and creamy cheese-centric delicacies.
The majority of these desserts originated in Japan, made with dairy products from Hokkaido prefecture. They include Osaka-based Pablo, Otaru-based LeTao, Sapporo-based Bake, Sendai-based Me & Cheese and Yufuin-based Milch. While home-grown establishments such as Kyo Roll En have also come up with their version of the popular treat.
THE BEEF STRIKES BACK
The craze for beef in Thailand's gastronomic scene has never been this astronomical. As amazing as it seems, more and more people are willing to spend half of their monthly salary on a steak.
Culinary lexicons such as "wagyu", "marbling score" and "A5" have replaced common terms like "beef", fatty" and "top-grade", even at the household level. While in the restaurant scene -- fine dining or else -- red meat is now seen by many proprietors as a quick and secured road to business success.
Bangkok, which a few decades ago was short of beef-centric eateries, boasts a continually growing number of steak joints. Meanwhile, intensely-marbled cuts of imported beef, which can cost up to 20,000 baht per kilogramme, has become a butchery highlight at upscale markets.
It has also come to the point when restaurateurs have a very close relation with cattle farmers in order to make sure they regularly get the beef supply they need. A number of chefs try to craft their own beef ageing process and curing chambers or develop a smoking oven so that their beef is treated "properly".
ARTISAN GONE HOUSEHOLD
It may seem rather ordinary in this day and age when restaurants boast about their homemade pickles, bread, cheese and soda because some of your friends, too, have perfected these techniques at home.
The artisan movement has not only built its strong influence in restaurants but serves as a healthy pastime among food lovers and homemakers, alike. For them, home cooking is not a chore but a trendy lifestyle.
Especially for the millennials who, equipped with their mobile devices, want to foster their food from scratch. These house-chefs take pride in milling, fermenting and preserving their food. With the help of social media and modern-day technology, they are growing their own salads, baking their own bread, kneading their own pasta, whipping up mayonnaise, curing sausages and carbonating soft drinks -- all in house.
