Since the onset of Covid-19, people started thinking more about how they consume food.
There’s no denying that 2020 was definitely the year of weird and crazy food trends fuelled by social media.
If you’re wondering which new trends came from lockdown cooking, and how they changed our relationship with food we have some answers from the experts.
Chef and restaurateur, Nick Liberato shares his picks.
Bread and desserts
Baking things like banana bread and focaccia have not only been interactive food activities with the family but also ways to burn some time, relieve stress and make use of things going bad, preventing food waste.
Home gardens
Now that people had more time on their hands, home gardens both in and outdoor, were not only therapeutic but took advantage of under-utilised space and cut down on costs of what was needed from the store.
Mixology at home
With bars being closed for so long, people were mixing it up at home making their own syrups and using what’s in the fridge to build the perfect cocktail or at least something that works at home.
Live cooking demos
Social media was more popular and interactive than ever. Most chefs were cooking online but there was a big boom of home cooks sharing their secrets and creating platforms of their own.
Cocktails to-go
I’m not sure why most bars were not doing this before but it’s a great way for someone to take the restaurant experience home and have a proper cocktail minus the labour and long waits.
According to BBC Good Food, these trends also continued to shape the way we think about food.
Celebrating seasonality
There once was a time when people only ate food that was in season. A time before people could access any ingredient, at any time of year. For many, this way of eating, as nature intended, made a comeback thanks to the lockdown.
Baking the internet
Throughout 2020, people’s social media feeds were flooded with images of beautiful banana bread, flapjacks, cookies, cakes, cinnamon buns, scones, and homemade bread.
For many, it was down to having more time on their hands to get stuck into a new (or in some cases, old but forgotten) hobby.
Not for everyone – some baked to give back to others, whipping up treats for key workers and vulnerable family members, others turned to baking as a means of therapy and stress-relief – nothing calms the mind like the mixing, kneading, and rolling of dough.
Recipe freestyling
So, you didn’t have the vinegar a recipe called for and used the brine from a jar of pickles instead – and it worked!
Even the purists amongst people learned to relax and go with what they had, happily making swaps and substitutes when ingredients were hard to come by, and making some pretty good discoveries along the way.