Pancakes, pickles, prepared meals tops in 2021 food trends

Whether home-cooked, dine-in or takeout, food — glorious food — was one of the few pleasures we could depend on in 2020.

Food sustains the body and nourishes the soul. Somehow, a bite of something delicious makes a bad day, or a bad year, just a little bit better.

Good or bad, certain foods and fads trend every year, and 2020 was no different.

Is anyone still drinking dalgona coffee, the whipped latte that was all the rage last spring? Are you still furiously baking sourdough or banana bread?

Are you still making pantry meals from the staples you stockpiled in the early days of the pandemic? Did you do any “igloo dining” in a heated tent in a restaurant parking lot?

Was your Thanksgiving turkey 10 pounds instead of the usual 20, as regular guests declined to gather? How many hot chocolate bombs did you drink at Christmastime?

Trends come and go, so what can we expect in 2021?

Some pandemic-driven changes in eating habits probably are here to stay, said Mark Henry, executive chef at Westmoreland Country Club and former owner of Chef Mark’s Palate restaurant and catering business.

“The whole concept of open food service, buffets, shared platters, shared condiments, all those things are gone,” he said. “Even when there’s an all-clear, I think it’s unlikely we’ll see a whole lot of that type of service any time soon.

“Obviously, more people are eating at home,” he said. “To-go is huge right now, and people have learned to do normal, simple dishes at home. It’s kind of nice that people are exploring their kitchens more, and I think the market will demand a slightly higher skill level.”

The Sprankle’s Neighborhood Market stores have seen the effects of that, said Randy Sprankle, founder of the chain and owner of its Leechburg store.

“People now are looking for the supermarkets to provide them with the things they were buying in restaurants,” Sprankle said.

While many people are looking for quality ingredients for their own cooking, others want prepared foods that taste homemade.

“The grab-and-go foods and meal solutions, we can’t seem to find enough space for them,” Sprankle said. “We’ve been concentrating on those areas because, let’s face it, everybody sells cans of beans.

“Shoppers are really receptive to that home-type cooking from the store,” he added.

What’s ahead

“For me, I think we’ll continue with increased access to to-go, family meals and individual servings in containers,” Henry said. “There continues to be a trend toward fresh and local and antibiotic-, GMO- and gluten-free.

“Cost is not as big a deal as it used to be,” he said. “People care more about quality, source and handling than about price point.”

As for the popularity of individual foods, Henry said, “Pickled and fermented items are still going strong. The quality of meat is a big deal.

“Mushrooms are a big right now,” he said. “Western Pennsylvania is recognized around the world as one of the greatest places for mushrooms. There’s an encyclopedia of interesting, beautiful fungus out there — trumpets, morels, whatever.”

And that’s not all. Here are eight food trends the internet is talking about for 2021.

Breakfast

With more people working and learning from home, there’s more time for breakfast. Gone are the days of grabbing a granola bar and a cup of coffee on the way out the door. Or skipping it altogether.

Now there’s time to scramble a couple of eggs, build a breakfast sandwich or cook a pot of oatmeal.

Even cold cereal is trending upward. Earlier in the year, Kellogg Co. reported an uptick in sales and profit forecast as homebound consumers found a few extra minutes to enjoy a bowl of cereal in the morning.

Pancake boards

Speaking of breakfast —who doesn’t love a fluffy pancake (or silky crepe) slathered in butter and drowning in syrup, maybe with a few strawberries and a dollop of whipped cream? So, say goodbye to charcuterie and hello to the pancake board.

Here’s how to do it:

• Start with a large serving board.

• Whip up a batch of your favorite pancakes and spread them out across the center of the board.

• Add side dishes like scrambled eggs, bacon or sausage, hash browns or home fries.

• Fill in the board with toppings like syrups, honey, fresh fruit, whipped cream, peanut butter, Nutella or anything else your little taste buds desire.

Not into pancakes? Boards of all kinds — from hot cocoa to potatoes — also are trending.

Going old-school

As Henry said, fermented foods are going strong. Quick pickles are easy to make at home. There’s also a renewed interest in canning and preserving that should carry over into the new year.

It ties in with people getting more comfortable in their kitchens and with the interest in eating fresh, local and healthy. It’s also a way to use all that produce from the farmers market, the community supported agriculture subscription or the summer quarantine garden.

Classy condiments

Ketchup, mustard and mayo are great, as far as they go. The focus on food as a fill-in for other entertainment experiences extends to exploring new flavors to accent the dishes we’re making at home.

“Whether you make your own chimichurri or sauerkraut or buy chili crisp by the bag-load, adding pre-prepped flavor to simple ingredients means dinner comes together easier and is often more exciting to eat,” chef and cookbook author Vivian Howard told Food & Wine.

Comfort foods

In times of uncertainty, people tend to fall back on the familiar. Few things are more comforting than rich, creamy, homemade mac ‘n cheese, for example.

In 2021, though, look for simple, tried-and-true dishes with healthier, gourmet elements.

Convenience

Fast food, restaurant takeout, meal delivery services, supermarket prepared foods, take-and-bake kits and meal kit subscriptions all look to retain their popularity in 2021.

Kombucha with a kick

The fizzy, fermented beverage made from black or green tea has been trending for years. Its probiotic qualities are good for a variety of tummy troubles and its antioxidants boost the immune system. Studies show that green tea increases calorie burn, reduces belly fat, improves cholesterol levels and helps control blood sugar.

Regular kombucha naturally has a small amount of alcohol produced by the fermentation process. Now the buzzier version is competing for popularity with IPAs and hard ciders and seltzers.

It’s all part of the trend toward preferences for lower-ABV cocktails, industry experts say. Sales of hard kombucha grew from $1.7 million in 2017 to more than $12 million in 2019, according to the trade group Kombucha Brewers International.

Online cooking classes

“Baking With Lucy” was way ahead of the curve. Early in the first pandemic shutdown, Mary Ellen Raneri of Latrobe started the series of live Facebook cooking sessions starring her mother, Lucy Pollock, and her vast recipe collection.

At first, Raneri was just looking for a way to keep herself, her husband Phil Raneri and Pollock in touch with friends. The sessions quickly went viral, with thousands of viewers watching from around the globe, and have continued even after Pollock’s November death at 98 from covid-19 complications.

Everyone from home cooks to celebrity chefs like Gordon Ramsay and Rachael Ray got in on the trend, as did food magazines and websites.

Cooking classes tie in with the dining-at-home trend and the desire to make it a more satisfying experience — along with the need for socially distanced human connection.