Chefs on culinary trends they really can’t stand anymore
Culinary trends are constantly changing, with new ingredients and techniques stealing the spotlight. They are not always met with equal enthusiasm, as became clear from our survey of Dutch chefs, including Michelin-starred chefs. Some culinary trends they really can’t stand anymore. Fake meat and the use of decorative flowers, among other things, meet with resistance.
Although trends such as the crompouce and strange ‘inception snacks’ are popular with a broad audience, many chefs are critical. They would rather focus on flavor, quality and authenticity than follow fleeting hypes. It makes sense, too; many chefs place great value on pure dishes and prefer seasonal, local ingredients and traditional cooking techniques. No meat from a lab, but honest-to-goodness meat!
Stupid culinary trends
Shared dining, decorative flowers, fake meat and other misery: according to our chefs, these culinary trends can really be taken off the table.
Yornie van Dijk (Basiliek*)
“Flowers for decoration and not for flavor.”
Niven Kunz (Triptyque*)
“Things like the crompouce. Personally, I also don’t like excessive use of molds and cutters; there could be less of that too, as far as I’m concerned.”
Marleen Brouwer (Noor*)
“Fake meat and fake fish, and 3D-printed meat.”
Yuri Wattimena (YANO)
“Tuile (crunchy molds, ed.).”
Jord Althuizen (Black Smoke)
“In the BBQ world, making a ‘chicken-thigh cake’ was a thing. You put parboiled pasta and chicken thighs in a cake tin and smoked it on the BBQ. I’ve detested this ever since it first emerged.”
Tim Golsteijn (Restaurant Bougainville*)
“Those stupidly shaped croissants, filled buns and Instagrammable things with sweet junk for tourists.”
Casimir Evens (Odile)
“Hamachi.”
Thomas Val (Wils*)
“The air fryer. It’s just a small oven that works slightly faster. If you want to deep-fry something, just do it in oil, or even better: beef dripping.”
Leonardo Pacenti (Toscanini)
“Being patronized at the table, when the food is explained endlessly.”
Arie Visscher (Café Visscher)
“Sharing dishes. I just want my own plate. Arie doesn’t share food.“
Also read:
