Hot Comfort Foods for Winter; "Hot" Food Trends for 2014

January generally inspires a burst of reports on these topics: 1) what to consume to do battle with cold weather and/or viral cold miseries; and 2) what food trends will be served up in the coming year. Let's find out what the news media have been saying lately on both topics.

Foods to Chase Away Cold Weather Blues

Beverages:

In the winter, hot beverages have a heyday.  According to Consumer Reports on Health, "In addition to being comforting, hot drinks replace fluids lost from fever and help loosen mucus."  In addition, the newsletter reports, some may protect your health.  What's recommended?  Coffee, tea, herbal "teas" (infusions), cocoa, and --would you believe?--hot toddies.  Here's why:

Coffee: It wakes you up and improves your physical and mental performance.  Furthermore, its polyphenols "may help regulate blood sugar, prevent blood clots, and neutralize DNA-damaging free radicals."  For more on the benefits (and some warnings) about coffee, read "Cheer Up! Have a Cup of Coffee."

Tea: Antioxidants and other compounds in tea may protect against many diseases.  To obtain the most antioxidants, tea should steep for 3 minutes or more and be consumed without milk, which can block the absorption of some of the antioxidants. Remember, it's delicious with honey, which also has health benefits.  Note:  If caffeine keeps you awake, makes you jumpy, or causes other problems, don't overdo coffee or tea and remember that tea has less caffeine than coffee.

Herbal teas: Chamomile has anti-inflammatory effect, says the Consumer Reports article.  Herbal infusions can soothe the throat and/or stomach without giving you any caffeine, but don't assume they're medicine and are a substitute for calling the doctor.

Cocoa:  This delicious drink has been getting a lot of favorable press these days.  Here's the list of health benefits mentioned by Consumer Reports on Health: its antioxidants may lower blood pressure, reduce the risk of stroke, protect against diabetes by improving insulin sensitivity, and improve brain function (for those with impaired blood flow to the brain).  The caveat: Swiss Miss packaged cocoa mix contains about 2 teaspoons of sugar and roughly 90 calories, but, if you're counting calories, check the stats on the box your thinking of buying; some brands may contain even more sugar and calories. My Safeway cocoa packets with marshmallows contain about 5 teaspoons of sugar each.  When the recent snowstorm named Hercules made this product irresistible, I removed the marshmallows before consuming.

Hot toddy: Make this drink with either bourbon or rum (warmed up, of course) and honey, lemon and cloves.  It's guaranteed to make you feel at least a little better.  But the Consumer Reports on Health article contains these reminders: 1) You should not drink alcohol when you're taking medication for a cold or flu.  2) The recommended healthy limit for alcohol consumption is as follows: 1 drink per day for women, 2 for men. 

Chicken Soup:

Yes, there is actually scientific evidence that chicken soup can relieve the discomfort of a cold.  (See "Can chicken soup really cure a cold?" and "Adjusting Your Diet for Allergies, Sniffles, or Pregnancy".)  Too busy to follow the links?  Well, these are the main points: The compound cysteine in chicken soup helps to thin mucus and relieve congestion. Chicken soup prevents the build-up of neutriphils, which cause the inflammation that makes us feel awful. 

To get the benefits, you don't have to eat grandma's familiar recipe.  There are all kinds of ethnic variations on chicken soup.  Happily, the Huffington Post recently ran a long photo-article of beautiful photos of  20 types of chicken soups including these ethnicities: Mexican, Thai, African (a stew), Greek( avgolemono soup), and Colombian.  Two of my favorites--Thai red curry and matzo ball soup--are on the list.  If you go to "The Chicken Soup Recipes That Will Cure Your Cold," you'll find mouth-watering pictures of bowls of soup and links to the recipes.  (Yes, I've just given you a link to links.  Isn't the Internet great?)

Slow Cooker (Crock-Pot®) Cooking:

Food process engineer Dr. Timothy Bowser (a member of the Shelf Life Advice Advisory Board) is convinced that crock pot meals and winter dinners are a natural team.  Check out his article with tips on what to make in your crock pot, how to do it, and, if you don't already have one, what type of crock pot to buy: "Crock Pot Cooking Tips for that Ideal Winter Dinner."

Predictions: Food Trends

The Seattle Times, CBS News, and the website Food Safety Tech all recently ran articles telling us what lies ahead in our food future.  Let's start with the foods themselves and follow that with our attitudes toward food and food providers. 

According to the Seattle Times:

• Even more gluten-free items will be available in grocery stores and restaurants.
• There will continue to be more alternatives to white flour.  These high-fiber, high protein, gluten-free grains-- amaranth, buckwheat, teff, and sorghum--are already easy to find in stores, and they're likely to become even more visible in 2014.  You may even find the ancient grain freekeh (roasted young wheat) in your local supermarket.
• New recipes will be urging you to cook more vegetables from root to stalk.  For example, one recipe I was following recently instructed me to cook the greenery atop a carrot.
• Restaurants will be serving raw variations of more veggies, such as raw cauliflower florets in salads.

According to CBS News:

• CBS says this year's "hot veggie" is cauliflower.  "You'll see colorful cauliflowers and find them in places you wouldn't think of looking, like mashed potatoes." 

Note: The 2014 food trends in general and cauliflower in particular get another boost from ShopSmart (a Consumer Reports publication), which devotes a whole page to this veggie in its February/March 2014 issue and says the following:

 1)  The tender inner leaves and stalks have a sweet, delicate flavor.  Slice them thin and add them to stir-fries or slaws. (Again, the trend is to eat almost all the parts of edible plants.)

 2) To lighten mashed potatoes, mix with an equal portion of puréed, cooked cauliflower. (Also mentioned by CBS.)

3) Look for purple, green, and orange varieties.  They all taste about the same, but the orange ones have 25 times more vitamin A!

• This will be the year of super-grains (those that are more nutritious than white wheat flour), the report says. Freekeh and teff will take center stage.
• Foods for allergies and special diets will increase.  More companies are making products that are free from gluten, soy, nuts, dairy and so on.  Expect to see more products made from coconuts and more gluten-free flours.
• Other predictions: We'll enjoy (?) edible food packaging, cook with more exotic international spices, and consume healthier snacks made without trans fat.

According to Food Safety Tech:

• ŸStarches will make a comeback "from ramen to buckwheat noodles to pasta made with unusual ingredients. Rice bowls (and jasmine rice, basmati rice, brown rice) will be big, in part because of the continued fascination with Asian fare and in part because of an association with healthfulness."  Also, expect to see more flatbreads, wraps, and waffles.
• Thanks to the influence of less-familiar ethnic cuisines (from Korean to Scandinavian) there will be more interest in pickled, fermented, and sour foods, for example Korean kimchee, pickled onion, and sour cocktails.
• Because beef prices will rise, expect to see and eat more chicken, pork, and game meats, "from duck to bison."

ŸFood Safety Tech predicts a bit of a backlash to the healthy eating trend.  We may find restaurants offering more creamy sauces, fried appetizers, and even odd choices such as the doughnut-based sandwich. 

Predictions: Attitudes about Food and Food Sources

Food Safety Tech says consumers will continue to ask where the ingredients in their foods came from and how they were prepared.  Local sourcing will continue to be emphasized.  Diners will also want to know that ethnic restaurants are authentic, really cooking in the style and with the ingredients that are true to the place they represent. 

Another point that came up in both the CBS News piece and in Food Safety Tech: Customers are becoming more and more concerned about the social and political positions of the companies they buy food from.  A survey by ConAgra Foods showed that 62% of consumers "appreciate, and want to support companies that donate to important social causes."  Customers also want to support businesses that share their beliefs. They consider how a company treats its employees, if its behavior protects the environment, and its other positions on other social and political issues. 

Prediction: Technology and Food

Food Safety Tech says you'll probably see more casual restaurants providing computer technology at the table so that customers can place their own orders. (My husband and I struggled with one of those gadgets at Chili's in Evanston, Illinois.  We weren't impressed.)  A better idea is what Food Safety Tech calls the "bring-your-own-device system of advance and inside-the-restaurant ordering." 

These are just some of the trends mentioned in these three articles.  To read more in these pieces, go to the links listed below under "Sources."  Google can provide you with more articles about 2014 prognostications. 

Source(s):

Consumer Reports on Health, "Hot drinks that keep you healthy" January 2014.

blogs.seattletimes.com "Food trends for the year that was, and 2014"

http://blogs.seattletimes.com/allyoucaneat/2014/01/01/food-trends-for-the-year-that-was-and-2014/

CBSNews.com "10 hot food trends to expect in 2014"

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/10-hot-food-trends-to-expect-in-2014/

foodsafetytech.com "Top 10 Food Trends for 2014"

http://www.foodsafetytech.com/FoodSafetyTech/News/Top-10-Food-Trends-for-2014-1679.aspx

huffingtonpost.com  "The Chicken Soup Recipes That Will Cure Your Cold"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/27/chicken-soup-recipes_n_1126203.html?ncid=bannadushpmg00000026

ShopSmart, "5 surprising things about...Cauliflower," February/March 2014.

Timothy J. Bowser, Ph.D., Oklahoma State University, Dept. of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering