Australian and international chefs predict 2016 food trends

Some of the world’s leading chefs have recently met at the Taste of Melbourne conference to discuss…

Some of the world’s leading chefs have recently met at the Taste of Melbourne conference to discuss some of their 2016 cooking trend predictions.

According to the chefs 2016 will be all about keeping food fresh, local and simple. There top predictions are as follows:

Fresh, locally sourced produce: Michelin starred chef, Sat Bains identified one of the biggest trends as being locally sourced produce. He believes a shift is taking place amongst consumers as they seek fresh, quality ingredients over the mass produced approach of supermarkets. “What’s happening now is that we’re sourcing ingredients from really small producers that may only do one thing like sea salt, but it’s the best,” said Sat. Matt Dempsey of Gladioli attributed Melbourne’s close proximity to regional Victoria as “one of the great strengths of Melbourne’s food scene.”

Simple flavours: Heroing the produce and keeping it simple is key. This can be achieved in a variety of ways through specific cooking techniques such as cooking over charcoal as seen at MoVida or by pairing produce with fresh herbs. Herbs are one of Walter Trupp’s favourite ingredients as they “add emotion” to a dish. Matt Wilkinson of South Africa 500 takes an interesting approach adding in pieces of sawdust from cherry trees and grapevines to barbequed meat for added flavour.

Fast, fresh and casual food concepts: With an array of new talent bursting onto the dining scene, 2016 will see fast, fresh and casual food concepts emerge in full force. Victor Liong of Lee Ho Fook, who is already making his mark in Melbourne said, “It’s really nice to see a lot of young chefs come back from fine dining experiences and cooking flavours from their childhood and their cultural backgrounds. Seeing what they do with that will be very exciting.” For Ben Pigott of Supernormal it’s all about raw food: “it’s fresh, vibrant and seasonal.”

Cooking over charcoal: true to their Spanish heritage, cooking over charcoal continues to be a firm fixture on MoVida’s menu with Steve Rogers saying he sees cooking with charcoal growing from strength to strength. The subtle smoky hints of charcoal on freshly cooked meat are a delight to the taste buds. This is one trend which won’t go away anytime soon.