Shrewd Food

From alcohol-free drinks to meat alternatives and ‘healthy’ meat, Shrewd Food looks at health food trends for 2020 and, yes, it’s more plant-based foods than ever.  

PLANT-BASED FOODS   
Plant-based foods will become even more popular in 2020 because eating more plants is good for your health and the planet, claims The Daily Mail. Happily, South African supermarkets have kept pace with this trend and are stocking all kinds of plant-based foods, meat alternatives and healthy snacks – and the choice will become even more varied this year. Already you can buy crisps made from dried veggies, lentils, quinoa and beetroot in local supermarkets. Now there are even chips made from sauerkraut, cabbage and sea vegetables on sale at Faithful-to-Nature, an on-line eco-friendly store. Who knows what you can buy this year! While this might sound exciting, remember it doesn’t necessarily mean they are healthier as they are highly processed foods. The Daily Mail suggests consumers should choose options that use only whole food plant ingredients and that are not genetically modified. So, focus more on veggies in thair natural state as well as fruit, beans and legumes, nuts seeds and wholegrains.  

ALCOHOL-FREE DRINKS 
Not designed to get the party going, but at least everyone will feel righteous – and you will get home safely, and probably earlier.  Whether you call them mocktails, zero-proof or spirit-free drinks, non-alcoholic beverages are becoming a staple at bars and restaurants.  Expect to see even more zero-proof drinks as hops-infused sparkling waters and alternatives to liquors meant to be used with a mixer (such as botanical-infused faux gin) continue to pop up everywhere.  

ALTERNATIVE BUTTERS
We all know and love almond, peanut and macadamia butters. But this year look out for watermelon seed butter (yes, really) and pumpkin seed butter. Good for you and of appeal to those on keto and vegan diets. Faithful-To-Nature offers pecan/macadamia nut butter, cinnamon/macadamia nut butter, a chocolate/macadamia nut butter, cashew nut butter (also a caramel salted version), raw cacao butter, as well as soya butter. From www.faithful-to-nature.co.za. Alas, no watermelon butter as yet. As for tahini butter, it’s available almost everywhere. It’s made from sesame seeds.

ALTERNATIVE SUGARS 
Items like pomegranate molasses and sweet potato nectar could be a new healthy – and chemical-free-way – for people to sweeten their baked goods and other foods next year, without having to use cane sugar or artificial sugar alternatives. I discovered pomegranate molasses on Faithful-to-Nature’s website, along with coconut blossom sugar, palm syrup, date syrup and agave syrup, but no luck with sweet potato nectar yet. 

ALTERNATIVE GRAINS
Like butternut, quinoa has became a ubiquitous part of everyone’s diet, despite it tasting of nothing much. Now we are looking for more variety this year. There is spelt (an ancient wheat, which can also be a flour), millet, bulgur and teff – see below under flour – and now farro. Farro is a food composed of the grains of certain wheat species, sold dried, and boiled in water. It’s often used as an ingredient in salads, soups, and other dishes. There is also freekeh, made from green durum wheat. It has a low GI and has heart-healthy nutrients. Whole-grain freekeh is a good source of fibre and ideal for those with diabetes. It’s used like quinoa or couscous. Founder Foods at Shop 6, 2 Village road, Kloof has an excellent selection of whole foods. It includes ancient grains, flours, beans, edible seeds, dried fruit and much more. Browse their online shop on  https://founderfoods.co.za  or visit the shop in Kloof.

STONE-GROUND/ALTERNATIVE FLOURS
Stone-ground flours are thought to be more nutritionally sound because they contain wheatgerm and bran. Incidentally, these are the parts that also have more flavour. Stone-ground flour is also preferred by many bakers and natural food advocates because of its texture, its sweet and nutty flavour, and the belief that it’s nutritionally superior and that it has a better baking quality than steel-roller-milled flour.
But alternative flours will become more trendy in 2020 as more people try diets that reject wheat flour – like going gluten-free or paleo – and consumers try to “boost their bake” with more protein and fibre. As a result, Amazon’s Whole Foods, an on-line store, predicts a mix of new flours for 2020. Like more interesting fruit and vegetable flours (such as banana!) and cauliflower flour sold in bulk in baking aisles. 
There is also millet, bulgur and teff (an incredibly healthy gluten-free flour made from an ancient seed from Ethiopia and Eritrea). Amazon Whole Foods also predicts more packaged goods – such as chips and snack foods – being made with alternative flours like Tigernut (a gluten-free root vegetable) and seed flour.
There are several stone-ground flour options available in both mainstream shops and health shops – nothing fancy like banana flour, though. Try Health on Broadway at 10A Swapo road, Broadway;  EarthMother Organic at 155 Helen Joseph Road, Glenwood (entrance is actually in Bulwer Road); The Glenwood Bakery at  398 Esther Roberts Road, Glenwood; and finally House of Bravo at 295 Florida Road, another wholefood and organic shop.

WEST AFRICAN FOODS
″Traditional West African flavours are popping up everywhere in food and in beverages,” according to Amazon Whole Foods, “with many brands looking to this region for its ‘superfoods’, which are said to boost health and longevity. Tomatoes, onions and chili peppers are a common base for many West African dishes, with peanuts, ginger and lemongrass all common additions.” The trend also means that moringa, a plant known for its health benefits (which is grown in KwaZulu Natal, in fact), and tamarind may be used more in 2020. The grocer also predicts the increased use of West African cereal grains, including sorghum, fonio (a cultivated grass), teff and millet.

PLANT- BASED FOODS NOT ONLY MADE FROM SOYA
In 2020, the trendiest brands are slowing down on soy, which has traditionally dominated the plant-based protein space. Instead of soya, Amazon Whole Foods says brands will use grains, mung beans, hempseed, pumpkin, avocado, watermelon seed and golden chlorella, which is a type of algae. Some of these products can “mimic the textures of yogurt and other dairy products,” says Whole Foods. Over the last year our favourite supermarkets have been stocking all kinds of new plant-based foods and meat alternatives, without using soya. For instance there’s the much lauded and delicious meat alternative. Beyond Meat; namely Beyond Meat burgers and Beyond Meat sausages. They’re made from pea protein isolate, expeller-pressed canola oil, refined coconut oil, rice protein and other natural flavours, including apple extract and beet juice. As said above, this doesn’t actually mean its healthier, as they are highly processed.  

RETHINKING THE KIDS’ MENU
Millennial parents are raising a generation of little foodies. Amazon Whole Foods staff members report they frequently see kids reaching for California Rolls alongside their parents at the sushi bar and they’re not the only ones taking note of young adventurous eaters. Restaurants and food brands are upgrading old-school kids’ menus to include things like non-crumbed salmon fish sticks, organic chicken nuggets, pastas made from alternative flours and more. (I personally would like to see the end of chicken nuggets or chicken strips and chips, so ubiquitous on kiddies’ menus in South Africa). Local restaurants need to get with the programme and offer kids something more interesting – and nourishing. 

HEALTHY MEATS
Butchers and meat brands won’t be left out of the ‘plant-based’ craze in 2020. Amazon Whole Foods says. “But they’re not going vegetarian.” They predict meat that is “better for customers and for the planet” will rise in popularity this year, adding plant-based ingredients to meat products. 

SUSTAINABLE & REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE 
Regenerative Agriculture was the buzzword of 2019.  In keeping with the eco-friendly movement, consumers and retailers want to know who is producing their food and how it’s being produced. This means a continued preference for farmers with a holistic attitude to farming that includes focusing on soil regeneration and biodiversity as farmers, scientists and consumers continue to pay attention to how land use could improve the environment and fight climate change. Expect to see more brands using regenerative practices, says Whole Foods.
Regenerative Agriculture is a system of farming principles and practices that increases biodiversity, enriches soils, improves watersheds, and enhances ecosystem services. It’s guided by four principles: improving soil and water systems, making holistic decisions, developing reciprocal relationships between stakeholders and continually growing and evolving farms and communities.

Durban is the only city in South Africa that can boast it’s own signature dish: Durban curry. Now Erica Platter and Clinton Friedman have just published another book celebrating the city’s  culinary treasure, Durban Curry Up2Date is the HOTTEST book off the press right now. By Ingrid Shevlin, who ended up at two book launches.

Erica Platter was at one of the many launches promoting her book about Durban curry when she overheard two women talking. One said words to the effect of: “Why is this white woman writing about curry”. To which her friend responded, “Well she did it, didn’t she”. And so she did. Again.
Erica Platter’s first book, Durban Curry – So Much of Flavour, was so popular if was reprinted three times before finally selling out. It was also placed second in the Best Book of the Year category in the prestigious Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2015. No mean achievement.
But the public was insatiable, it seems, for more curry stories so rather that reprint it for a fourth time she and Clinton Friedman decided to publish a brand new collection of recipes. Clinton is her “publishing partner, image maker and everything-else designer”, as she puts it. The book is Durban Curry: Up2Date. Up2Date is the rather evocative description for the potatoes ideal for use in curries.
Erica describes her book as more about “food stories” than recipes – although there are recipes, of course. But, if you think Erica dreamed up all the recipes, she didn’t. It’s  a complitation of recipes from some of Durban’s best known curry chefs, chefs with a penchant for all things spicy, foodies, and homecooks. Or that she is passionate about curry. She isn’t particularly, although she is passionate about food in general. But what she is really passionate about is acknowledging the contribution made by Durban curry to our cultural heritage and its uniqueness to Durban. Not always a given it seems.

With Col’tempo Salami settling into their new premises, foodies will be able to meet Hylton Rabinowitz and, occasionally, his son Paul, two people passionate about their products, and food in general. And, of course, buy artisanal cured meats and handpicked deli items. Ingrid Shevlin checks out Col’tempo

Col’tempo Salami, the purveyors of meat cured the traditional Italian way, has a new home in Florida Road. Well, not exactly in Florida Road, but just off it in 8th Avenue. This is good because it’s an oasis of calm and good food while still close to the bustle and hustle of Florida road. And there’s plenty of parking. Hooray. Of course, it may not be as peaceful when the foodie hordes discover it and realise that Col’tempo is more than makers of simple, real food, as they put it.  No, it’s a homage to food in the form of the aforementioned meats and to its deli items, luxurious and hard-to-find ingredients, all of which have been handpicked by Hylton Rabinowitz.

Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, a TV show on Netflix hosted by American chef, author and columnist  Samin Nosrat, will change your attitude to food. After watching it you will be overwhelmed by the need to leap off your couch …  and get cooking. It’s that inspirational. (Don’t miss recipes below)

I  love salt. I love sweet/salty combinations, salt sprinkled over fruit, in food naturally, and pops of flavour from flakes of smokey salt, or coarsely-ground Himalayan salt, sprinkled over food after cooking. And who can resist biltong. That true ode to salt.  Salt makes just everything taste better. Salt makes the world go round.
And I’m not alone in my passion.
This is what Chef Samin Nosrat, dark-eyed-and-haired, embullient in personality and generous of spirit, says  about salt:  “Salt enhances flavour, and it has a greater impact on flavor than any other ingredient. Though salt also affects texture and helps modify other flavors, nearly every decision you’ll make about salt will involve amplifying and deepening flavor. Add it in the right amount, at the right time, in the right form, and your food will be delicious.”
Who could have said it better.