United Plates of America

A melting pot mentality stirred up and made ever-more interesting by global ingredients and influences is set for new levels of menu diversity, creativity, and excitement.

TREND 3

United Plates of America

GLOBAL ACCENTS BRING NEW FLAIR AND FLAVORS TO MENUS

With a diverse world converging on restaurant menus, Bottura’s and Bourdain’s sentiments (below and at right) underscore a trend that will forever change foodservice. Food is personal, an expression of who we are and where we come from. Faces in kitchens and names of restaurant owners increasingly reflect a global perspective, this trend met head-on by customers who similarly bring different backgrounds to America’s tables. All look to connect, commune, and strengthen bonds over food, sharing taste memories, changing menus and broadening palates at each step along the way. Hamburgers, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, and fried chicken sandwiches won’t disappear but even these stalwarts are fair game for new interpretations. Grilled Vietnamese pork burger with mint leaves, chilies, and makrut lime-lemongrass aioli, anyone?

“Food is everything we are. It’s an extension of nationalist feeling, ethnic feeling, your personal history, your province, your region, your tribe, your grandma. It’s inseparable from those from the get-go.”

— Chef Anthony Bourdain

“Cooking is about emotion. It’s about culture. It’s about love. It’s about memory.”

— Chef Massimo Bottura

THE DELICIOUS DIVERSITY OF NEW AMERICAN MENUS

Culinary innovation doesn’t happen by spinning a roulette wheel, chefs picking foods that interest them, or preparations that are easily managed in busy kitchens. The roots go back further, to dreamers and visionaries who turn bold plans into something real. As more chefs of color are finding means, access, and opportunity to open restaurants, the canon of American cuisine, once held close to familiar foods, is a full-blown feast of worldly influences. Snapshots of some of the hottest emergent cuisines show that any one of them is rich with ideas and inspiration.

AFRICAN CUISINES
Key traits: Complex though not necessarily spicy hot, African dishes are as apt to be stewed meats, often still on the bones as they are grain-based dishes. Vegetables are abundant, with roots such as cassava, manioc, and taro joined by different kinds of greens.
Ingredients to know: Millet, fonio, a gluten-free grain related to millet, palm oil or dende, groundnuts and peanuts, cassava, coconut milk, egusi melons, tamarind, peppers from sweet to incendiary, and complex spice blends including berbere and mitmita.
On the menu: Berbere-spiced roasted Cornish hen with sweet peas, rice grits, braising jus, and chive oil; egusi stew with melon seed and spinach; spicy shiro with mixed legumes, ginger root, rue, bishop’s weed, and garlic; vegan Dakar street sandwich with black-eyed peas and sauce of spiced tomatoes and onion served in a French baguette; mac and greens with cheddar, parmesan, and collards plus lobster, if desired.

APPALACHIAN
Key traits: Perhaps the original and truest American melting pot, the regional cuisine weaves together Scotch-Irish, German, English, and Indigenous influences along with touches of the Deep South picked up along the way. In some ways it is, in fact, a subset of Southern cuisine. Based on foods that are farmed, foraged, fished, and gathered from immediate surroundings, it retains a strong sense of place.
Ingredients to know: Shelly beans; Greasy Grits beans, heritage-breed country hams, rabbit, brook trout, okra, benne (sesame seeds), apple butter, greens, sorghum, hickory, berries, pawpaw, muscat grapes, cushaw squash, and black walnuts.
On the menu: Chow-chow pancake with soup-bean mayo, BBQ sauce, furikake, scallions, cilantro, and pickled red onions; whipped Spam with nori, miso pickles, yuzu hot sauce, and fried saltine crackers; wood-fired lamb ribs with Alabama white sauce, peanut relish, and pickled blackberries; apple stack cake with apple butter and hickory syrup.

BLACK AMERICAN
Key traits: Cuisines of Southern states were deeply influenced by enslaved Blacks who did the cooking, a truth until recently deeply buried in the commonly accepted narrative. Even when contemporized and made upscale, African, Caribbean, and Southern roots are abundantly clear as are creative touches that keep the food lively, contemporary, and relevant.
Ingredients to know: Turnip, mustard, collard and beet greens, bacon, smoked, pickled, and cured meats, pork, tomatoes, corn, grits, hocks, sweet potatoes, cabbage, cornbread, barbecue, turkey wings, and fatback.
On the menu: Red snapper tartare with peanut milk, chili, coconut, lime, and cilantro; yardbird brined and slow-fried chicken with smoked mash, braised collards, and honey-spice gravy; gizzards with dirty rice, chicken gravy, and celery; braised short rib with creamed spinach, potatoes, and caramelized onion gravy; fonio salad with tender herbs, chickpeas, and summer vegetables.

FILIPINO
Key traits: Crossover success for U.S.-based units of Jollibee was a clear sign that Filipino cuisine had serious momentum. Historically, it’s based on an amalgam of many influences including Malay, Arab, Chinese, and Spanish. With many preparations more balanced than spicy, the overall effect often is one of nuance and complexity that might even have a little umami-like funk for good measure. An array of table condiments is common for diners to create their own flavor experiences.
Ingredients to know: Coconut and palm vinegars, calamansi juice, pork, taro leaves, soy sauce, loganisa sausage, annatto, ube, coconut milk, banana ketchup, dried fish, patis fish sauce, ginger, garlic, and bitter melon.
On the menu: Combo sandwich of shaved pork adobo, loganisa sausage, and Chicago-style giardiniera; talaba with kusshi oyster, green mango, and mezcal; sinigang with king salmon, tamarind, and smoked roe; miki noodle with adobong itim, bacon loganisa; halo-halo with Asian pear granita, pandan, and leche flan.

INDIGENOUS
Key traits: While the roster of foods presented by Indigenous chefs is curated so it aligns with today’s taste preferences, menus often are built around truly native ingredients—the foods that sustained generations of Native Americans. At the same time, many Indigenous chefs make a point of eschewing foods such as cane sugar, beef, chicken, and pork not originally from this land.
Ingredients to know: Wild rice, dried beans, freshwater fish, game, pecans, walnuts, maple and hickory syrup, cranberries, native persimmons, wild game and game birds, berries, mushrooms, and wild greens.
On the menu: Hand-harvested wild rice with currants and root vegetables; cedar-braised bison with chili and maple vinegar; grilled forest mushrooms with pickled mustard seeds and mustard greens; game tartare of bison with duck egg aioli, pickled carrots, sumac, aronia berries on a corn tostada; honey-lavender fry bread; salad of local greens with cactus pear and pomegranate vinaigrette with candied native pecans, cotija cheese, sweet onions, and cranberries.

THE LAYERED LOOK GOES GLOBAL

Sandwiched in among ham and cheese, BLTs, burgers, clubs, and patty melts are between-bread concoctions that are familiar on one hand and at the same time leveled up with a worldly perspective. As seen here, fusion rules with a fascinating hand.

“Jewban” Sandwich: The name says it all, a union of Cuban and Jewish roots that finds pulled pork, corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, ballpark mustard, and Russian dressing all playing nice on grilled rye bread.

Torta Veracruzana: A meatless take on the Mexican sandwich, easily made vegan as desired, finds a grilled patty of black beans and mushrooms stacked together with fried plantains, onions, feta cheese, and poblano mayo.

Roasted Turkey: Its culinary passport stamped multiple times, this has house-roasted turkey on focaccia made spiffy with serrano-and-citrus-spiked slaw, sesame-miso aioli, cilantro, toasted almonds, and a sprinkle of furikake for a funky finish.

Cambodian Cauliflower: Spiced and grilled “steak” nestled in a soft roll that’s thickly coated with Chinese and Thai eggplant spread and further amped with chili-soy sauce.

Pork and Greens: Pan-roasted pork loin shaved into a sesame seed roll is covered with grilled rapini, a melt of provolone, Calabrian-chili oil aioli, and pan jus.

MaidWrong: Midwesterners may recognize parts of this variation on the Maid-Rite, a loose-meat sandwich of ground beef, melty Muenster cheese, ballpark mustard, and steak sauce on a big, soft bun. Reaching to Italy for inspo, a pile of agrodolce onions tops it off.

Duck Confit Baguette: Rich, silky French duck confit on a baguette gives nod to American ingredients with cranberry relish and a shower of finely cut, crisp cabbage. A side of pickles are destined to be tucked in.

Fried Chicken Sandwich: Cutlets, marinated in buttermilk and gochujang, are made crisp with Japanese panko and served on a brioche bun glossed with Indonesian sambal. Chinese bok choy, pickles, and radishes freshen the finish. Abandoning its Asian flavors, ranch dressing is the final flourish.

^{Click here to read Tracking Sandwich Trends: New Trends in Takeout and Delivery are Driving Sandwich Sales and Menu Creativity}

Cheat Sheet: Ingredients and Trends To Watch

Lots of protein in bowls and wraps—guy focused and often with ‘power’ in the name.
Power Pancakes with 18 grams protein per order, made with rolled oats, barley, rye, chia, flax, and whey protein

Reducetarianism is a newly coined word that gives a name to what many nutritionists advocate: “Eat meat, just less of it.”
Thai Pad Ped of broccoli, red peppers, tomatoes, onions, cilantro, garlic, and hot chili sauce stir-fried in beef broth

Brown sugar is hardly new but it’s capitalizing on old-fashioned appeal in fresh ways.
Brown Sugar Cream-Topped Cold Brew Coffee

Ube, also called purple yam, is equally accommodating in savory and sweet preparations, its deep purple color a hallmark.
Ube Pandan Cake with alternating layers of green pandan and purple ube cake with whipped cream frosting

Yuzu, a Japanese citrus sometimes described as tasting like a hybrid of lemon, lime, and grapefruit. Its pulp is used for marmalade, the juice for marinades and sauces, and peel for the spicy condiment known as yuzu kosho.
Raw oysters with yuzu kosho mignonette

Fermented peppercorns, generally white or green peppercorns that are picked fresh and then fermented for an umami-like flavor punch.
Cacio e Pepe Pasta with Indonesian fermented pepper and wild spring ramps

Buddha’s Hand is a type of florally fragrant citron distinguished by long fingers. With no pulp, its rind is used similarly to other citrus fruits.
Spaghetti Alla Chitarra with Buddha’s hand and bottarga

Korean Rice Cakes, also called tteok, available in oval coins and long cylinders, are often used in spicy street foods and stews.
Cheese and Bacon Tteokbokki, a stew with bacon, tteok, fish cakes, spicy sauce topped with mozzarella and marinated boiled egg

Za’atar, a Middle Eastern spice blend based on sumac and amped up with toasted sesame seeds, salt, oregano, thyme, and/or marjoram.
Labneh Dip with hyssop and za’atar

27% of consumers are eating more unique types of global foods and beverages than they did two years ago.
_{^{Source: Restaurant Business, A Closer Look at Menu Trends Spotted at the National Restaurant Association Show (2022)}}

Chili Crisp is an umami-rich Chinese flavor bomb of spicy infused oil with little crunchy bits of chilies, onion, garlic, and fermented soybeans. Often used as a condiment, it brings complexity to stir-frys and noodle dishes.
Chili Cheese Fries with crinkle cut fried potatoes topped with cheese sauce and chili crisp

Rye crumbles appear on menus thanks to two trends—whole grains and textural layering. Crisped and seasoned, they add a final touch to appetizers, mains, and desserts.
Cold-Smoked Salmon with horseradish and rye crumbles

Furikake, a mix of sesame seeds, nori seaweed, sugar, salt, and sometimes dried chilies and MSG, is a dry Japanese condiment often sprinkled over rice.
Boneless Korean-Style Beef Short Ribs with shoyu, green onions, and furikake rice

Lavender is fragrant, musty, and floral with back notes of mint and rosemary. It can be used alone and also plays well with lemon, cardamom, and sage. Of late, lavender is being mixed into tea and coffee as well as desserts.
Blonde Honeycomb Lavender Latte