‘FLAVOUR FORECAST’ BY MCCORMICK PREDICTS FRENCH INFLUENCES AND HEAT WILL BE BIG IN 2023
US condiments and seasonings brand McCormick® has announced the 23rd Edition of its Flavour Forecast, the brand’s annual report on the latest culinary trends shaping the way millions of consumers prepare and enjoy food worldwide.
Along with the trends report, the McCormick global culinary team also announced its inaugural Flavour of the Year: Vietnamese x Cajun Style Seasoning.
This year, nearly four dozen global chefs, culinary professionals, trend trackers, food technologists, and team members from around the world collaborated by tapping into their own expertise and passion for flavour, uncovering the most stand-out predictions and trends that are identified in McCormick’s Flavour Forecast® 23rd Edition, including:
Full flavoured fats: No longer misunderstood, consumers and chefs alike are now using fat, from butters to oils, to impart mouth-watering flavour and creaminess into everyday dishes and drinks, McCormick said, which offer a simple, comforting richness to the kitchen and a more balanced approach to eating.
Everyday French: Grounded in the techniques and ingredients of French cooking, but democratized for today’s kitchen, French cuisine has never been more approachable while using the best ingredients and culinary techniques to build a harmony of flavours and lay the foundations for food and beverage to come, the forecast predicts.
Beyond Heat: According to McCormick, we’ve witnessed an exciting evolution to this new, multi-sensorial, layered taste experience that pushes beyond the singularly spicy realm where heat and ingredient pairings come together to shape how heat is perceived and how long it lingers and finishes.
The brand will bring the trend report to life through its first-ever official Flavour of the Year, Vietnamese x Cajun Style Seasoning, which it claims “is a bright, complex reflection of the innovations in food and flavour taking place on a global level”.
With influences in French cuisine and a prominence of heat throughout both, the seasoning is a culture crush of key ingredients – cayenne and paprika in classic Cajun tradition and lemongrass, garlic, and black peppercorn, customary in Vietnamese recipes – that complements each Flavour Forecast trend identified for 2023.
“This year, McCormick is rolling out its most intriguing Flavour Forecast report yet, unveiling key trends that will shape the way that consumers prepare and enjoy foods for the next year,” said Kevan Vetter, Executive Chef, Senior Director of Culinary for McCormick. “With the inaugural Flavour of the Year, Vietnamese x Cajun Style Seasoning, McCormick is demonstrating the culinary masterpiece that emerges when cuisines are combined. Through our activation in the Metaverse and tasting event, in partnership with Smashburger, we’re excited to bring these flavourful concoctions to consumers.”
In conjunction with this year’s Flavour Forecast, McCormick will also be venturing into Decentraland, a blockchain-powered area of the Metaverse, to launch “House of Flavour by McCormick” on December 13th.
This immersive live virtual destination will allow fans to experience flavour in a world without taste allowing users to explore McCormick’s flavour of the year, discover Vietnamese Cajun dishes, earn one of three unique wearables (terms apply; while supplies last), and interact with content featuring some of the chefs who inspired this year’s Flavour of the Year. To learn more, click here.
Once again, we will celebrate the innovative chefs who inspired this year’s trends and Flavour of the Year, partnering with both Chef Trong Nguyen (Crawfish and Noodles, Houston) and Chef Cesar Zapata (Phuc Yea – pronounced “fuhk-yai” – Miami). Chef Trong is a one-time Top Chef judge and original innovator who uses layering to bring out all the flavours of Vietnamese-Cajun cuisine, and Chef Cesar is an innovator who is taking the influences of classic Vietnamese and Cajun cuisines and creating new-world versions.
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