Our latest article delved into what 2024 might look like regarding food trends. Clearly, health and convenience would be at the forefront of consumers’ minds. Regarding flavor, experts believe there would be an interest in using tahini specifically beyond its Middle Eastern roots.

 

In recent years, there has been substantial growth in the popularity of tahini, partially driven by food media and restaurants integrating it into mainstream culture. Social media and other platforms have fueled people’s interest in global flavors, leading to a surge in the appreciation of ingredients like sesame. Amy Zitelman, CEO of Soom Tahini, highlighted the versatility of tahini beyond its traditional use in hummus, noting its ability to enhance various dishes. At events like Expo East, multiple tahini brands showcased products ranging from dips and sauces to chocolate bars and vegan ice cream, reflecting the increasing demand for tahini among home cooks, chefs, and brands. This trend signifies a growing appetite for tahini and its diverse applications in culinary creations.

 

Tahini has a distinct taste that’s rich, nutty, and slightly bitter. It’s made from toasted ground sesame seeds and carries a deep, earthy flavor profile. Some liken its taste to nut butter but with a smoother texture and a more pronounced sesame seed taste. The bitterness can vary depending on the brand or the roasting level of the sesame seeds used to make the tahini. It also has a slightly savory and mildly sweet undertone, which makes it versatile for both savory and sweet dishes.

 

Check out these ideas for using tahini in unconventional ways:

 

Desserts: Incorporate tahini into desserts like brownies, cookies, or cakes. Its nutty flavor adds depth to sweets. Try making tahini-swirled brownies or tahini chocolate chip cookies.

Tahini-Crusted Fish or Tofu: Create a crust for fish or tofu by mixing tahini with breadcrumbs and spices. When baked or pan-fried, it adds a unique flavor and texture to the dish.

Stir-fries and Noodle Dishes: Use tahini as a base for stir-fry sauces or noodle dishes. Combine it with soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and a splash of vinegar for a flavorful sauce.

Tahini in Cocktails: Create unique cocktails by using tahini as an ingredient. Mix it with components like honey, citrus juice, and spirits like whiskey or rum for a nutty, creamy twist to your drink.

Tahini in Soups: Add a spoonful of tahini to creamy soups like butternut squash, carrot, or cauliflower soup. It can enhance the richness and depth of flavor in the soup.

Tahini’s creamy texture and nutty taste make it a versatile ingredient in savory dishes, elevating flavors and adding a unique twist to various recipes. So, if you’re looking for a new way to spice up your menu, tahini may be just the trick!

 

 

Sources

Foodinsttitute.com
rolandfoods.com
openai.com

With customer interest in global cuisines continuing to grow, restaurants are constantly challenged to develop dishes that deliver enticing combinations of flavors from across the globe. At the same time, menu trends like spicy condiments and superfoods are riding strong. By merging these trends with new players on the ingredient scene, restaurants can ride the waves of the latest trends and create unique eating experiences for their guests.

Below are some emerging ingredients and preparations that you can use to keep ahead of the global flavor curve:

Heat Seeking: Searching for the Next Spicy Condiment

The appetite for tongue-torching hot sauces shows no sign of waning. Now that Sriracha graces almost as many restaurant tables as ketchup, restaurants are looking for hot condiments beyond harissa and sambal oelek. Enter ajvar, a fire-roasted red pepper condiment from the Balkans that brings the heat. Preparations like this add smokiness, fruitiness, and a spicy kick to meats, sandwiches, and as a dip. An option to typical red pepper flakes is urfa biber, a Turkish dried chili pepper with smoky and raisin-like flavor notes. Use urfa bibier as a garnish on roasted meats, or in your own custom spice blends.

Go with Your Gut: Expanding the Range of Fermented Drinks

With awareness of gut health reaching mainstream status, fermented drinks like kefir and kombucha continue to grow in popularity. To stay at the forefront of this trend, try tepache, a fermented pineapple-based drink from Mexico. With added flavor from cinnamon and unprocessed brown sugar, tepache can be offered as a “mocktail” for guests craving unique flavors in their healthy beverages.

Origin Story: Exploring the World of Superfoods

The search for foods that improve physical and mental health grows daily as restaurant guests connect what they’re eating with how they feel. Ingredients like kale, beans, avocado, acai, and coconut often appear on top ten superfoods lists. A new contender from the Philippines is pili nuts, which resemble an oversized almond. Their status as a complete protein with a high mineral content launches them into the superfood category. They can be added to salads as a topping, incorporated into nut mixes, or ground into flour for baking.

Spice Hunter: Delving into Exotic Spices

Another way to add a global touch to your dishes lies in exploring exotic or little-known spices to create new flavor combinations. One such spice on the rise is grains of paradise, hailing from West Africa. With its distinctive taste and aroma of black pepper, cardamom, citrus, and florals, this intriguing spice can be used to flavor seafood, drinks, or sweets. Another exotic spice to sample is anardana, the dried seeds of pomegranate arils. They contain many of the same flavor qualities of pomegranate juice and can add a sour flavor and crunch to a number of dishes or cocktails.

Fruity Goodness: Sample Some Far-Flung Fruits

If you’ve never branched out from apples, pears, and grapes, it’s time to venture into the world of little-known fruits. Besides dragon fruit and jackfruit, which are appearing on a greater number of menus, take a look at calamansi, a unique citrus fruit from the Philippines. With a sour yellow flesh and a skin that’s bright green and sweet, this flavor powerhouse can add new dimensions to desserts, salads, and drinks.

If you want to amp up the Instagram factor of a plain fruit salad, give cucamelons a whirl. They look like tiny watermelons with a taste reminiscent of cucumber, and they provide a stunning visual quality to sweet and savory dishes, or as a cocktail garnish.

Incorporate some of these ingredients to bring a unique global twist to a number of dishes on your menu and add a new level of culinary innovation to satisfy the curiosity of new and existing guests.

A foodservice operator must always be on top of how to keep things innovative, fresh, and on-trend at their restaurant. A way to do this is to experiment with different ingredients to develop novel flavors and, in turn, memorable dishes that keep guests coming back for more. In the Synergy Test Kitchen, our chefs often incorporate new foods, spices and techniques for our clients and today we want to introduce you to an extraordinary item.

You’ve probably heard of black garlic – aged garlic with an earthy taste and sticky texture. You’re probably familiar with black rice, which has a mild and nutty flavor and believed to have many nutritional benefits. Have you’ve heard of black limes (also known as loomi)? Yes, there is such a thing! This lime isn’t naturally black; however—its black color comes after the lime is dried out in the sun (after it’s first boiled in saltwater). Now, this isn’t a new food. Black limes are often used in Middle Eastern cooking which is from where the black citrus fruit hails.

The big question: What’s it taste? The flavor is strong—citrusy, tangy, sweet, and tart. The second big question: How do you cook with it? In Persian cuisine, often black limes are used to add a sour flavor to stews and soups. You will also see black lime used to season fish and rice dishes. Used, whole or ground, the black lime can be a very versatile ingredient. Mixologists find creative ways to integrate into their cocktail menus like Lee Zaremba’s Devereaux Daiquiri, which features aged white rum, aguardiente, kiwi syrup, lime juice and shaved black lime garnish.

We love how creative some chefs are in their use of black limes. Grant Achatz infuses them in his Korean-style sauce used at his three-Michelin-star restaurant, Alinea. Jessica Koslow from Sqirl in Los Angeles adds dried limes to her chicken porridge.

So go ahead and try cooking with black limes! You can find them at Middle Eastern grocery stores, and apparently, it’s quite simple to make on your own, too.