Go Big with Bitter and Sour

Hot and spicy are so yesterday. Add a jolt of sophisticated bitterness and the acidity and funk of pickled and fermented ingredients to recipes for true on-trend flavor.

TREND 10: FLAVOR

Go Big with Bitter and Sour

These sophisticated flavors are on the rise as chefs and consumers alike increasingly appreciate and crave them in signature-level recipes.

BITTER AND TART BRING BALANCE AND IMPACT

While bitter and sour flavors may have kept our early human ancestors from consuming foods that were poisonous, unripe, or spoiled, today’s chefs understand the important role that bitterness and acidity play in creating balance and craveability in recipes.

Consumers are also getting on board, embracing both the flavor and the perceived health benefits of bitter and fermented foods.

Bitter is on 5.8% of U.S. menus, up 12.2% over the last four years.¹

BITTER IS BETTER

Vegetables: Following in the path of kale and Brussels sprouts, a whole new class of bitter vegetables, from broccoli rabe to dandelion greens, collards, radicchio, and endive, are on the rise.

Coffee, Tea, and Chocolate: The naturally astringent bitterness of these ingredients in their naturally, unsweetened state is useful in both refreshing beverages and complexly flavored food.

Citrus Peel: The zest of lemons, limes, oranges, and grapefruit can bring depth to both savory and sweet foods; the juice of grapefruit is also naturally bitter.

Condiments: Mustard, horseradish, wasabi, Worcestershire, and many hot sauces pack a punch of bitterness as well as varying levels of spice, flavor, and heat.

Spices: Ginger, turmeric, peppercorns, caraway, celery seed, chiles, cilantro/coriander, and cinnamon all have bitter elements in their flavor profiles, which can be manipulated and controlled to create distinctive recipes.

Beer: The popularity of hoppy, IPA-style (India Pale Ale) beers, which can be strong and quite bitter, points to the important role that bitter flavors play in beverages.

Cocktail Bitters: Originally developed as patent medicines, bitters consist of various aromatic herbs, bark, roots, and/or fruit infused into neutral spirits, and are used as a flavoring agent in cocktails.

Spirits: As Americans become increasingly thirsty for all things bitter and low-alcohol, Italian aperitivo liqueurs and digestifs have become more popular. Campari and Aperol are two of the most well-known, but the number of imports is increasing.

SOUR IS SWEET

Acidity can be important in recipes. Vinegar, citrus and other fruits (including tomato), wine, and buttermilk can all be used to bring flavor and balance to food through the introduction of acid, but the real news is in pickling and fermentation. Although both pickling and fermentation are among the oldest food preservation methods on the planet, there is growing interest in both as a preparation technique.

Pickling is a method of preserving fruits, vegetables, and other foods by soaking them in a brine or vinegar solution. According to Datassential, interest in farm-to-table cuisine and old-fashioned, artisanal skills has led a number of chefs to pickle their own vegetables at the height of the growing season.

It’s not uncommon to see a wall of jars with colorful pickled cucumbers, carrots, asparagus, beets, and more behind the counter or in the open kitchen. These housemade pickles can be used in on-trend dishes like street tacos with pickled red onions, a Southern fried chicken sandwich topped with housemade bread-and-butter chips, or a globally inspired rice bowl brightened with curry-scented pickled cauliflower. Pickles are also being merchandised on meat-and-cheese boards, and on their own as a snack or shareable.

Pickled is on 29.0% of menus, with an increase of 39.6% since 2015²; fermented has 3.8% U.S. menu penetration, representing four-year growth of 28.8%.³

Fermentation, on the other hand, is a chemical process of converting natural sugars in the presence of yeast and other micro-organisms. It is commonly used for alcoholic beverages such as cider, beer, and wine; for leavening dough; and for natural and specialty fermented products such as kombucha, kimchi, yogurt and kefir, and sauerkraut. Many of these products have a distinctive sour or even funky flavor that is much appreciated by adventurous food lovers. They’re also fuel for growing consumer interest in probiotics.

The popularity of fermentation today is seen on many menus that highlight global cuisines, each of which has its own iconic fermented specialties and condiments. These include Korean (kimchi, gochujang), Middle Eastern (yogurt, labneh), Indian (dosa, lassi), and Japanese (miso, dashi) cuisine. It taps into the growing appetite for probiotics (kombucha, kefir).

Fermented foods are in the Datassential Adoption Stage, with appearances at trendy restaurants and in specialty grocers.⁴

Menuing Ideas

Experiment with using coffee in food—use it in a rub, glaze, or marinade for meats, for instance, or add it to smoothies or shakes. It can also be used as a cooking medium for oatmeal, or to add depth to chili, beans, or stews
Remember that on-trend cooking techniques like smoking, searing, and charring introduce pleasantly bitter flavor elements
Add pickle brine to Bloody Mary mix, and garnish the finished drink with pickled vegetables on a toothpick skewer
Take a page from the Vietnamese banh mi and tuck quick-pickled carrots, onions, and radishes into sandwiches, as well as salads
Heighten flavor and umami in a variety of recipes with fermented Asian fish sauce
Use yogurt in a sauce to provide a gentle contrast for spicy foods

Do you make your own fermented foods or beverages?

^{Sources: [1] Datassential SNAP! Bitter (2019). [2] Datassential SNAP! Pickled (2019). [3] Datassential SNAP! Fermented (2019). [4] Datassential Menu Adoption Cycle, Macro Trends (2019).}