It is hard to believe another decade is turning into the next. The brave new future we called the 2000's has already played out it's course, as we flip through our iPhone touch screens. This decade popped its cork with people partying it up like it was 1999 during the swelling Dotcom boom and ends recovering from the hangover of global economic meltdown.
But what were we eating and drinking for the past ten years? People in the 1960's may have imagined our futuristic first 21st Century decade to be lived in Jetsons body suits swallowing entire 5 course meals in the form of a little pill. Instead it seems the people of the 2000's became more interested in real, good food with honest ingredients, flavors and origins than ever before.
Top 10 Food and Trends of the 2000's
1) Cosmos
This sophisticated take on vodka cranberry in a martini glass was being sipped on by cool fashion editors and city bar hoppers at the dawn of the century, but they became pop as soon as Sarah Jessica Parker and her Manolo clad crew got a hold of them on "Sex and the City." In 2010 they are still around, vacillating somewhere between new classic, girl power icon and sour has-been.
2) Miniature Versions of Entrees & Desserts as Hors D'Oeuvres
How many mini burgers, mini pulled pork sandwiches, mini mac n' cheeses, mini spare ribs, mini grilled cheeses, mini quiches, mini ahi tartares, mini pizzas and mini key lime pies have I eaten at cocktail parties and weddings? No catering menu in the 2000's would have been complete without miniature versions of entrees and desserts. Brides and event planners could hardly resist them, like Japanese school kids can hardly resist those little miniature plastic versions of hamburgers and bento boxes.
3) Comfort Food
All decade long the hottest restaurant chefs from New York to Miami have been serving up plates of reinvented American comfort food dishes like fried chicken, meatloaf, catfish strips and especially macaroni and cheese. Whether in a chic, trendy restaurant or a greasy spoon joint, comfort food may be in or out of fashion, but it will always hit the spot.4) Fair Trade Coffee
So apparently way back in the 1980's, coffee supply had flooded the markets and prices were super cheap thanks to substandard trading practices and working conditions for growers. Some Dutch people decided to start up fair trade certification to artificially raise prices and improve grower wage conditions. Fast forward to the United States in the 2000's, and every coastal urban city dweller with a Macbook and a do-good conscience demands their fair trade latte in the morning. The button wearing appeal may fade, but at least some strides have been made for coffee growers globally.5) Organic, Local and Sustainable Eating
From the first time food was machine sealed in cans through the Space Age evolution of natural ingredients into inventions like margarine and Twinkies, processed food was a momentously growing snowball. Greenhouse gas spewing airplanes and trucks allowed us to get food from any part of the world within a few days. National cravings and mass marketing made us mutate our livestock with supplements or over harvest them from the ocean. Then we realized that obesity and cancer had become an epidemic. The environment is feeling the effects of our greedy consumption in the air, water and land. In the 2000's we affirmed that our bodies really do look and feel better when we eat food in its natural form and in healthy proportion. We accepted the value of real produce and meats not grown or raised in toxic or inhumane circumstances. We realized that the less our food travels not only does it leave a smaller carbon footprint, but it tastes better too. We learned to choose seafood that we know is not in short supply. Organic, local and sustainable eating is not just a trend of the 2000's but the way of surviving the future.5) Rise of Home Chefs & Foodies Thanks to Food TV and Blogging
Closet cooks and aspiring culinarians in every shape, size, age, gender and location have it better than ever in the 2000's thanks to the era of Food Network and the Internet. Whether you are a food television fanatic or not, what would our popular consciousness be now without Rachel Ray, Emeril Lagasse, Paula Deen, Iron Chef, Bobby Flay, Giada de Laurentis, Top Chef, Barefoot Contessa and Tyler Florence? Everyone can be a food critic or star home chef on their own now with Yelp, Youtube and blogs. Sure modern chefs have been inspired to cook and entertain since Julia Child and before, but no time before was there such a popular elevation of participating in the art of cuisine and showing that passion off to the world.6) Spicy and Savory Desserts
A favorite with chefs in the 2000's is marrying spicy and savory flavors into desserts. The ancient Mayans and Aztecs knew long ago that chocolate tasted amazing with the hotness of chili in it, but now you can find chocolate matched successfully with bacon, sea salt, pink peppercorns, lavender, balsamic vinegar, goat cheese, wasabi and potato chips. Savory desserts have been explored by chefs' imaginations to chart new territory such as blue cheese panna cotta, pumpkin pie with caramel curry sauce, tomato granita and olive oil ice cream.7) Pairings
Wine pairings. Chocolate pairings. Whiskey pairings. Absinthe pairings. Pairings are nothing new, but they have definitely enjoyed a renewed vogue on menus in the 2000's. Chefs and bartenders get creative exercising their chops, and we all leave the restaurant with a bigger, broader world of culinary experience.8) Cupcakes
Babycakes and Magnolia in New York City....Kara's Cupcakes delivery truck in San Francisco....these pastry makers made them insanely popular. Cupcakes are the 2000's sweet, frosted fashion icon. They have become like the new version of people in the 80's wearing legwarmers drinking Tab soda. Girls love cupcakes, guys love cupcakes, gays love cupcakes, kids love cupcakes, brides love cupcakes, office workers love cupcakes, we all love cupcakes.
Babycakes and Magnolia in New York City....Kara's Cupcakes delivery truck in San Francisco....these pastry makers made them insanely popular. Cupcakes are the 2000's sweet, frosted fashion icon. They have become like the new version of people in the 80's wearing legwarmers drinking Tab soda. Girls love cupcakes, guys love cupcakes, gays love cupcakes, kids love cupcakes, brides love cupcakes, office workers love cupcakes, we all love cupcakes.
9) Street Food
The taco truck that downtowners go nuts for on Thursdays or the tamales lady who comes into dive bars on Saturday night are nothing new. Collectively we came out in the open to celebrate our love and admiration for the quick, delicious treats of the streets in the 2000's. Local list makers like the SF Weekly have whole categories on this every year. Anthony Bourdain and that other Zimmerman fellow televise weekly travels where they eat local fried crickets on the streets of Mexico City and organ meat from Saigon alley grills. Street food was a hot topic in the 2000's, and my guess will continue be close to our tummies and hearts as long as there are streets.
10) Updates on Outdated Classics
