What’s Hot In Kitchen? Lamb, Salmon And Spuds
Apart from an occasional curry or quinoa concoction on the menu, the cutting-edge food trend in our cozy neck of the woods is still probably mashed potatoes and gravy.
But what’s going on out there in the wider world of cuisine? Here’s what’s hot, according to Mary Gostelow, editor of Hospitality Industry International magazine: Lamb. It’s the fastest-growing meat worldwide while beef suffers, particularly in Europe. “But when people want beef,” she says, “they want the best.”
Salmon. Demand for fish is down across the board except for salmon, which Gostelow calls “the protein of the 1990s.”
Asian-Italian fusion dishes. “I recently sampled a Peking duck pizza that was sheer heaven,” she says. “It really works.”
Tomatoes. Gostelow knows of one restaurant where every item on the menu contains tomato - including the ice cream.
Mashed potatoes. Says Gostelow: “It seems you can get away with murder if you’ve got basic mashed potatoes with something in them, and then you can add a little bit to the cost of that dish and people are going to call it a designer meal, and they’ll be happy.”
Calling all cloveheads
Got a garlic recipe that’s worth raising a stink about? A couple of upcoming competitions are just for you.
Deadline is May 1 for entries in the renowned Gilroy (Calif.) Garlic Festival’s recipe contest, which requires use of at least three cloves of fresh garlic or an equivalent amount in processed form. (A hint from organizers: “Previous winners have not erred on the side of caution.”) Eight finalists will prepare their dishes during the festival July 29. The top three finishers take home $1,000, $500 and $300, respectively, with a $100 prize for the best recipe using the most garlic.
Send recipes to: Recipe Contest 1995, Gilroy Garlic Festival, P.O. Box 2311, Gilroy, CA 95021-2311. For information, call (408) 842-1625.
Closer to home, the Northwest Annual Garlic Festival in Ocean Park, Wash. is sponsoring a similar contest, also with a May 1 deadline. Send original garlic recipes to: Garlic Recipe Contest, c/o Roger and Phyllis Knight, P.O. Box 1008, Ocean Park, WA 98640.
Smelling error
Men’s Health magazine was kind enough to provide a press release explaining how long various leftovers can safely be kept around before they turn toxic, which is the sort of practical information we probably should be passing on to our readers.
But we were more interested in the fact that they spelled it “refridgerator.” Three times.