Looking at the must-eats of autumn
With summer coming to a close, barbecues are being put away for the year and leafy green salads are being replaced with heartier fare for the colder months ahead. Food trends come and go; there seems to be a different “superfood” every few months. To help you with keeping up on what’s hot in the kitchen, here are the top food trends for the fall.
Heating up the hot beverages
Including spices in autumnal drinks is nothing new, cinnamon and nutmeg can both be found in hot apple cider and pumpkin spice lattes—two drinks that have become closely associated with the fall. Starbucks is looking to bring another spice to the mainstream drink market with the introduction of the “chile mocha” to their line of specialty drinks. While ancho chili peppers have been included in warm beverages before, like hot chocolate and coffee, the adoption of the chili pepper by the global caffeine titan that is Starbucks may indicate that coffee chains will be turning up the heat in the near future.
Pumping up pumpkin spice
Love it or hate it, the pumpkin spice latte has become an integral part of autumn’s culinary lineup and pumpkin flavoured foods are showing up in full force as the weather turns colder. From breakfast options like pumpkin pie Pop-Tarts and pumpkin spice Cheerios, to Tim Horton’s pumpkin spice donut, there are plenty of options for sweet and spicy snacks during hardcore study seasons. If pumpkin doesn’t suit your palette, there’s also an influx of apple spice treats to snack on if you’re still looking for a spice-filled—albeit pumpkin-free—treat.
Soups on!
Juicing may prove to be a thing of the past as soup takes the mantle of getting food into you in a liquefied form. Juicing can sometimes discard the natural fiber found in fruits and vegetables, so soups can provide a more filling, meal-worthy option. While blending up a tasty frozen concoction is a perfect way to beat the heat during summer, when it’s time to settle down with that textbook you need to finish by Friday, a nice bowl of soup may be just what you need to give you the energy to finish off those last few chapters.
The need for mead
The craft brewing scene has taken off in recent years, with fifty new breweries opening in Ontario last year. Festivals are springing up across the province and craft breweries are enjoying a boom in business, while larger domestic corporations are seeing stagnant or declining sales, according to CBC News. While craft ciders have also been benefitting from the rise in sales of locally brewed favourites, 2016 is looking to bring mead as the new favourite to liquor store shelves across the province. No longer just for Vikings, mead is a fermented honey beverage that is enjoying a rise in popularity as the weather grows colder and consumers are looking to swap out their wine spritzers for a more filling draught. Meaderies have already started to pop-up around North America, and 2016 could prove to be the year when this sweet and filling beverage may re-establish itself in the modern drinking world.
Hearty and healthy
As students start up their semesters and deal with all of the assignments and essays that come with university, it’s important to make sure that the food we’re consuming to fuel our bodies is both delicious as well as nutritious. Using squashes instead of traditional wheat-based noodles for pasta dishes can be an excellent way of throwing more nutrients into your favourite casserole dish. Sweet potatoes are also becoming a popular and healthier alternative to the traditional potato varieties, and can be used in everything from shepherd’s pie to fries and chips.
With a future full of essays, assignments, group projects, and midterms on the way, cooking may not be high priority on anyone’s list. It’s definitely easier to swing by the local pizza place and pick up a slice, but not nearly as rewarding as coming home to that crockpot full of butternut squash soup. If you can find the time and the appetite, try your hand at staying contemporary in the kitchen with these fall trends.
Photo by Mariah Bridgeman/The Ontarion.