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Consumers Crave Bigger, Bolder Flavor Combinations
March 24, 2011
2 Min Read
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ROCKVILLE, Md. Market research publisher Packaged Facts and the Center for Culinary Development released its Extreme & Edgy Flavors: Culinary Trend Mapping Report" that reveals consumers want more from their culinary experiences, including bigger and bolder flavor combinations that deliver exciting new sensory experiences.
Using their signature 5-stage Trend Mapping® technique CCD and Packaged Facts identified seven emerging and accepted flavors from three primary sources that are transporting consumers to new flavor places.
1. From the Wild. Fine-dining chefs are playing with two new ingredients found in forests and along water banks.
Aromatic Douglas Fir tips are adding delicate, citrusy and woodsy flavor to meats, sauces, cocktails and desserts.
Sea Buckthorn, a noted superfruit and common ingredient in Chinese medicine, provides a tangy punch and bright orange color to sauces, cocktails and beverages.
2. From Global Cuisine. Foreign ingredients are finding their way to more places across the U.S. food landscape, bringing their extreme and edgy flavors with them.
Exotic Japanese Yuzu, a variety of lime, has a distinctive floral, tart flavor that chefs and mixologists are applying to Japanese and other fine dining cuisines as well as cocktails, marinades and sauces.
Puckery Tamarind, found in Latin, Indian and Southeast Asian foods like Pad Thai, hides out in many common condiments but is being used more openly in chutneys, simmer sauces and beverages.
Chocolate and Chile, an age-old combination in Latin America, has moved up the Trend Map® and is now appearing in brownie mixes, womens magazine recipes and popular lines of chocolate bars, adding warming heat to beloved chocolate.
Wasabi has become mainstream, evolving from a sushi accompaniment to being a full-fledged flavor profile for snacks, condiments and more.
3. From the Past. Bitter flavors have traditionally dominated in medicinal foods due to barks, roots and herbs used to heal. These same ingredients flavor Cocktail Bitters, Italian Amari aperitif spirits and Bitter Beers, all popular today in bar and cocktail culture, and a sign of consumers accepting bitter flavors more easily.
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