Potato Starch for Nutritional and Industrial Applications

Top Flavour Trends for 2009

Each year several trend-watchers and research groups release their predictions for the flavours, taste profiles and culinary trends that will shape food development in the coming year. Not surprisingly, two of these, from market researcher Mintel and spice and seasonings producer McCormick, draw inspiration from ethnic traditions blended with often surprising new tastes.

This year McCormick’s annual flavour forecast emphasizes sweet and savoury tastes, pure ingredients and ethnic-inspired appeal. The ingredients and the international cuisine that inspires them also represent the trend towards clean, natural foods. The top 10 flavour pairings for 2009 are:

• Toasted sesame and root beer.
• Cayenne and tart cherry.
• Tarragon and beetroot.
• Peppercorn mélange and Sake from Japan.
• Chinese five spice and artisan-cured pork.
• Dill and avocado oil.
• Rosemary and fresh-tasting fruit preserves.
• Garam masala from India and pepitas from Latin America.
• Mint and whole-grain quinoa.
• Smoked paprika and agave nectar from Spain and Mexico.

Mintel highlights seven flavours that it forecasts will feature large in product development in 2009. These are:

• Extic persimmon, especially blended with other fruits in foods and beverages.
• Starfruit, which is already being used more frequently in South America.
• Lavender, used to bring a soothing, aromatic quality to foods such as chocolate.
• Cactus, which will move beyond Mexican cuisine to more international prominence.
• Another Latin American favourite, chimichurri, will also appear in other regions of the world.
• The African hot sauce peri-peri.
• The Indian spice mix masala.