Ugh! These trends should stay in 2019
New food and drink trends fly past us every week—and past you too, since we love writing about them. But as far as we’re concerned, some trends can really stay behind in 2019 forever. From bowls to hybrid meat, these are the trends we don’t want to see anymore this year.
Hybrid meat
Marcus: “You see it more and more at the butcher’s and in the supermarket: ‘hybrid’ meat. Not really vegetarian and not really meat either. So, basically, neither here nor there. It sounds chemical and contrived too, just like it tastes. Sausages, burgers and steaks made up of 50% meat and 50% vegetables, intended to tempt guilt-ridden meat quitters. As if you stop smoking and switch to e-cigarettes. I’d much rather have a delicious, good-quality 100% veggie burger (my favorite is the one from To Maat from the Bollenstreek: the vegan cheese-and-onion burger, delicious on a bun with lettuce, pickles, tomato and honey-mustard dressing). Or a genuinely juicy classic burger made with honest-to-goodness beef.”
Champagne beer
Marcel: “Beer is beer. Champagne is champagne. Keep it real, people, keep it real.”
Mindfoodness
Lauretta: “Apparently—bear with me—it is ‘a psychological process that ensures you regain the freedom of your body and eating habits’. What exactly that means? Your guess is as good as mine. There are even entire clinics and courses for binge and emotional eaters. But why? Eating an entire bag of Maltesers during your favorite Netflix series or ordering the entire McDonald’s menu at 1 a.m. should be allowed every now and then, right? A twee trend that can happily stay in 2019. Bye—never again!“
Eating from a bowl
Sabina: “I’m completely done with the bowl trend. Dogs eat from a bowl. That’s because they don’t use cutlery, but simply bury their snouts in the kibble. Cutting things in a bowl: impossible. Serving something from a bowl: doesn’t work. Just try eating eggs Benedict or entrecôte neatly from one of those dishes without wiping everything across the tablecloth or using your fingers. As far as I’m concerned, we can start right after the fireworks: no more serving food in bowls, unless it’s soup.”
Shared dining
Delilah: “It hasn’t been a trend for ages and is unfortunately completely ingrained, but I still fervently wish it would disappear—and quickly: shared dining. I HATE being a party of two and getting three ravioli—I hate that instead of simply being able to enjoy a plate of food carefree, I have to start negotiating at the table. Make it stop.”
Oat milk
Adeline: “If you want special milk in your coffee, just drink it black. I find it all very complicated, those double and single shots with oats (pronounced: haaafurrrr).”
Truffle abuse
Steffi: “Well, an obvious one, of course: truffle abuse. Truffle-flavored Philadelphia. Oh, give it a rest. It smells more perfumed than the average Douglas. The same goes for truffle mayo, truffle chips and all that other truffle junk. Stop, enough, I don’t like it.”
Concept restaurants
Sharon: “Exhausting: going out to eat at a concept restaurant. You sit down at the table and the serving staff first has to explain the concept. That’s already a bad sign, because a good concept needs no explanation. Along the same lines is ‘the experience’, which is of course just English for ‘experience’, and that’s pretty awful too. Can we just make it about the food itself again? I’ll create the experience myself. Thanks in advance! Having said that: hopefully we’ll all be able to go out to eat again soon. And I fervently hope that all the concepts survive this coronavirus crisis too!”
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