Food Business News - May 7, 2013 - 25

Flavor Trends

America’s
next favorite

ethnic ﬂavor
Peruvian, Nordic and Middle Eastern ﬂavors vie to achieve mainstream attention

orecasting which emerging ethnic Aji amarillo is a yellow pepper that may
flavors may reach mainstream be used to add spice to a dish. Aji panca
food and beverage categories may is a long, thin red chili pepper used in seabe likened to handicapping horse races. food and rice dishes. Aji limo is a pepper
There are favorites, long shots and that often gives ceviche its spicy flavor.
also-rans, and winners are most often Small and thin, the red pepper is considdetermined not by skill or talent but by ered one of the spiciest within Peruvian
circumstance and luck.
cuisine. Rocoto is a red, apple-size pepper
Product developers are looking for the that is traditionally stuffed with ground
next chipotle, a flavor profile that has tran- meat, topped with fresh cheese and baked.
scended market segments and consumers
“The Peruvian thing is catching on,”
are equally comfortable seeing on a quick- said Christopher Warsow, corporate exservice restaurant menu or on the label ecutive chef for Bell Flavors & Fragrancof a retail food product. Three
es, Northbrook, Ill. “It caught on in white
ethnic cuisines that may lead
to the next chipotle flavor are
Peruvian, Nordic and Middle
Eastern.
There are a variety of factors that brings a cuisine to
the forefront. The spread of
Peruvian restaurants throughout the United States com— Barbara Zatto, director of culinary for Mi k Americas
Mizkan
bined with increased interest
in the ancient grain quinoa has
cuisine
cloth fine dining while ago and
ni
ning
ile go nd
spurred interest. With Nordic cuisine, the table cloth, fine dining a while ago and
emergence of Noma in Copenhagen, a res- is starting to show up in different prodtaurant rated as one of the top five in the ucts. The cuisine features a lot of flavors
world, has spurred interest. In the case of the American consumer may enjoy. Some
Middle Eastern flavors, the many military consumers are looking for the next hot
personnel returning from the conflicts in pepper, spicy thing, and there are a lot of
the region are seeking flavors they may peppers used in Peruvian cuisine that are
flavorful and bold.”
have discovered while overseas.
Barbara Zatto, director of culinary for
“We’ve been talking about some of
these cuisines for several years,” said Kara Mizkan Americas, Mount Prospect, Ill., calls
Nielsen, a “trendologist” for CCD Innova- Peruvian cuisine the “hot trend of 2012.”
“What is so popular about Peruvian food
tion, San Francisco. “They are in the early
is there are so many influences on the cuistages, but there is interest.”
Peppers are central to Peruvian cuisine. sine — Chinese, Japanese and Spanish,”

she said. “When you think of flavor, I’d say
aji amarillo stands out. There are also a
couple of red chilis that are central to flavor. Then there is ceviche, a lot of which
is cubed instead of sliced. You also tend to
see more chilis and herbs in dishes.”
Ms. Nielsen said there is still a distance
to go for Peruvian flavors to garner consumer attention.
“I haven’t seen some of these flavors
outside of Peruvian restaurants,” she
said. “Consumers are not familiar with
them yet and there may be issues with
(ingredient) supply. Some of these peppers are hard to grow, and if
there is not a decent supply it
will be difficult to do anything
with any kind of scale. There
are a lot of opportunities with
Peruvian cuisine, but it still
has a ways to go.”

W
What is so popular about
Peruvian food is there are so many
Peru
inﬂuences on the cuisine — Chinese,
Japanese and Spanish.

May 7, 2013

Interest in new Nordic

The emergence of Noma, the
Copenhagen, Denmark, restaurant that
ant ha
rant that has gained global attention, has
helped spur an interest in Nordic cuisine.
The restaurant’s frequently changing menu
features a variety of flavor combinations,
including onion and fermented pears, beets
and plums, potatoes and bleak fish roe, and
beef rib and lignon berries.
Referring to the cuisine as “new Nordic,” Ms. Nielsen said it is relatively new
to the fine dining space. But she does
see some applications that may translate
to the United States, such as open-faced
sandwiches with smoked fish and capers,
a combination of roasted red pepper and

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