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This popular grain is reaching new heights with the emergence of local suppliers like the British Quinoa Company. Quinoa’s appearance in the foodie scene and meteoric rise to superfood status has been something to watch. I enjoy incorporating it into my creations by blending it with flour for savoury muffins, mixing with roasted vegetables for moist vegetarian pie fillings and even using it to replacing rice in ready meals.
KALE
Kale is still in the limelight with baby kalettes proving popular this winter. Now it is so mainstream it is becoming easy to incorporate into new products to meet consumer demands. Recipes such as Kale Pesto with Pumpkin Seeds in a Caprese wrap, Cauliflower Cheese & Kale Pasty for a rich warming hot handheld snack or an Indian-style Kale and Spiced Potato Curry are all proving popular.
CASSAVA
I spent four months working on a desert island in Fiji on an eco-tourism project and fell in love with this starchy root vegetable. It is really versatile and can be used as an alternative for chunky chips or as a gluten-free flour that balances gut flora.
POWDERS
For me, adding colour to pastry products is inspired by both the perceived health benefit of colourful food, as well as the added visual impact. I see superfoods such as turmeric featuring heavily in Indian pastry innovation, cacao in Mexican Empanadas and even spirulina or matcha for green powder in vegan and vegetarian pastries.
CRICKETS
Blending the trend towards sustainability and superfoods, I think crickets will appear more and more this year as flour for pastry, flatbreads and wraps.
James Strawbridge will host a Taste of Travel session at the World Travel Catering & Onboard Services Expo (WTCE 10th-12th April 2018 at the Hamburg Messe), on how superfoods can be used in the development of new products in the hot savoury sector for the onboard industry. Taste of Travel comprises a free-to-attend programme that provides delegates with cutting-edge presentations from leading industry consultants, live demonstrations from top chefs currently working in the air and rail sector and new product launches. Register for WTCE here.