Trendy Foods: Should We Love Them or Hate Them?

The Late Night Gourmet

The Late Night Gourmet

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TastyReuben posted something on the Tahini challenge thread about being shamed some 15 years ago for not being one of the cool people who loved hummus. I did not feel motivated to start a thread about hummus (obviously he's totally uncool for not loving it! :laugh: ) but rather about trendy foods in general.

Despite the provocative title, I'm less interested in general ideas about whether we should love or hate something when it becomes trendy. My brother has a friend in Manchester, and I recall the two of them having a sneering disdain for bands once they became popular. Both of them loved U2's first 2 albums, but started to hate them once they released their breakthrough album, War, because they started to find worldwide popularity. I found this hilarious: the music was still great, but his friend Richard would talk in derisive tones about them becoming stadium stuffers. It was their impression of them that had changed - because of their popularity - not the quality of their music.

So, here, I want to talk about things that have been trendy, whether you've gotten swept up in the trend, and whether you found yourself liking or hating them more or less because of the trendiness.

I will list 3 that spring to mind that run the gamut of what I'm talking about:

Vinegar Shrubs

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Did I buy because it was trendy? Yes. I admit I wouldn't have bought it if I hadn't heard about how great they were.

My impression? I still don't really "get" these. I remember seeing them at a favorite beer place, and I bought two similar to the above. Okay...they're vinegar, but they're mild enough that you're not just drinking straight from a bottle of apple cider vinegar from the market. Yes...they're okay. But, with each sip, I found myself having to decide whether I wanted to pour the rest of it out, or keep drinking to see if I would start to appreciate it. I kept drinking because I had paid the money, and I was raised to not waste things.

Do I want to have another? I can happily live the rest of my life without ever having another.

Coconut Water

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Did I buy because it was trendy? No. I didn't even realize they were trendy at first. I thought, when I saw it, "what a great idea!"

My impression? I genuinely like unsweetened coconut water. I love the subtle sweetness of it.

Do I want to have another? I don't make a point of buying it. I have passed through markets hundreds of times and never even thought about it. Now that I've started this thread, I think I will have to give it a look next time I am at the market.

Salted Caramel

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Did I buy because it was trendy? I'm not totally sure. I remember hearing about how great it is, and I did decide to try it because of the popularity. I think that qualifies as a "yes".

My impression? My first bite was - oh, this is weird. The salt is hurting the sweetness!! The second bite was - hey, this isn't so bad. The third bite was - OH. MY. GOD. Holy crap is this good!!

Do I want to have another? The only thing holding me back from having a pile of salted caramel every day is health concerns. I consider it to be absolutely brilliant.
 
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epicuric said:
Wow, this needs some thinking about, great thread The Late Night Gourmet. First impression is that I must be guilty of this - War was the first album I ever bought!
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Loved that album...and the fact that we both used the term album means we both bought it on vinyl. :okay:

I won't bother to tell you what they thought of The Joshua Tree. :laugh:
 
I am skeptical of the so called superfoods. Mostly because they feel like a marketing stunt and always come with a hefty price tag. If these are superfoods, how come they only start being popular now? And the health benefits they claim, have they been validated by science (have to admit I never deep dived in this)? On top of that superfoods are always something exotic with unusual names. Broccoli and cabbage are probably superfoods as much as goji berries but they're not so heavily marketed as such (I wonder why...:whistling:). Superfoods are a hate for me.
 
Good thread, LNG. As someone who loved RUSH in the 70s, didn't like them in the 80s, but loved them again later, I can understand the band metaphor.

I don't like hummus, which seems to be on the backside of trendy. But, I honestly judge a food by its taste. By that, I mean MY sense of taste. If it is trendy, and I like how it tastes, I'm fine with it. One caveat, if it tastes good but is stupidly expensive, I'll try it, as long as someone else is paying, but I'm not going to go back for more on my dime.

To this day, I have not eaten kale, which has been really trendy for a while -- that may be fading. If it were put in front of me, I'd eat it, but I'm not going to use my limited funds to buy any, based on what I've heard about it.

So, if it tastes good, and it's trendy, I'm fine with it.

CD
 
After a bit of thought, I will pitch this in for consideration. Three categories of trendy:
1. Big businesses trying to create new income streams
e.g. wacky new flavours of existing products - cider (Rekorderlig), crisps/chips (Walkers/Lays) even ketchup (Heinz)
2. Craft producers bringing novelty products to market - i.e. your Twisted Shrub (never heard of shrubs before, but I want some now!)
3. Travel induced trends (discovered on holiday) - hummus, halloumi, za'atar etc.

The first category I avoid like the plague. Sorry, your goji berry and lotus blossom flavoured gin and your roasted ptarmigan and tarragon flavoured crisps are not for me. However, I am all over the latter two categories. I love trying genuinely innovative craft produced stuff, and I love immersing myself in local food when on holiday. If that includes trendy stuff then so be it.
 
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