This year is the colour orange is in, the mini-skirt is in, the must-have is…how many times we have read tips about fashion? Well, it turns out foodies set trends, too. Here are 5 you 'must-haves for the  “in crowd”.

Organic (and adult) food for kids

 

Forget about mashed potatoes or flavourless food: this year is the year of serious food, for children. Finally chefs are starting to count children as adults, with their tastes and needs. Organic fancy-chic food is the trend, usually served maybe in a more fun way, but with the same care and attention to ingredients and pairings that adults expect usually.

Canning is cool

 

Since more locally grown ingredients have been the must in recent years, expect to see more canning, curing and cutting in-house. Pickling is emerging as a hip way to add a personal touch.

Comfort food goes global

 

World street food, world comfort food is hip, it’s a fact. Next year they're going to be the next big thing: expect local, usually street-cooked ethnic dishes on the menus of the fanciest restaurants. Goodbye molecular cuisine, hello Vietnamese chicken sandwiches!

Sake is the new black

 

More and more people outside Japan are starting to appreciate and study sake, choosing it as an alternative to wine or beer. And not only from Japan: Momokawa, a sake-maker based in Forest Grove, Oregon, stood out at the New York Food&Wine Festival 2012's Grand Tasting, offering incredibly clean-tasting versions of sake. Oregon’s ace up its sleeve is its perfect weather conditions for distilling sake.

Gluten-free foods

 

No longer just for Celiacs, everyone is beginning to realise that gluten-free food is healthier and easier to digest and that is why it is becoming a lifestyle choice rather than an intolerance directive. Gluten-free Pizza, for example, can be just as delicious as the original.

Written by: Elisa della Barba