The food trends we do not want to see back this year

Say wine, snacks or haute cuisine and the gourmands at online food magazine FavorFlav know where to drink, how to eat it and what to cook. This time our cheffies serve you: The food trends we don't want to see this year.

2022 was a tumultuous year in many ways. It was the year we paid 126 percent more for our satay sauce while gourmet cooking (yes, those price increases in the supermarket continued this year), the brilliant Zeedijksaus from Oliehoorn hit the supermarket shelves, Loetje was roasted for the price of the fake steak, and the cheesecrack made its comeback. We also paid a fortune for sandwiches (€11.50 suddenly seems normal in the Randstad) and this is one of the trends we can really do without this year.

Too expensive fancy sandwiches
Wieke: ‘I want the regular sandwiches back. All sandwiches are now at least €11 and all contain fancy stuff, but sometimes I just want a toast or a healthy sandwich for a maximum of €4.50. And while I'm at it: a ‘shared dining concept’ but then cramming your place with tables that barely fit two plates: please stay in 2022.’

Spreading everything on a board
Lauretta: ‘I get a lot of inspiration from TikTok; the platform is great for recipes, handy tips and tricks for the kitchen, and the tastiest drinks the gift that keeps on giving. I will continue to follow it closely this year. But of course, you also find no-go’s there. It all started off deliciously with the butter board, my colleague Wieke and I were immediately fans. In 2022, the ‘butter board’ was a well-deserved hit – different soft butters spread on a wooden board, accompanied by various pieces of bread and crackers, what’s not to like? – but then came the inevitable overdrive. Cream cheese boards, hummus boards, peanut butter boards… Spreading everything that can be spread on a board: I’m done with it.’

@naughtyfork Nutella + PB board ?😜 #OverwatchMe #andGO #fyp #tiktokfood #foryou #butterboard ♬ Luna, amore e no – Piero Piccioni

Cooking from nose to tail
Sabina: ‘I went out to dinner last week and was served calf kidneys in the surprise menu. That won't be my new favorite dish. So to be honest, however politically incorrect it may be, I’m a bit done with that nose-to-tail cooking if it means serving creepy food that hits you with a whiff of urine. As far as I'm concerned, costly classics like tripe, liver, udder, and tongue can just be processed back into cat food, thank you very much. Very culinary nose-to-tail eating and posting on Insta that you enjoyed it the old-fashioned way. I say: why not a schnitzel? Luckily, Smullers was still open on the way home. (I’m now going to hide to protect myself from all the boo reactions with ‘then don’t eat meat’ and ‘what do you know about good food’, and worse).’

Veganizing everything
Sharon: ‘I’m not going to make any friends with this, but can we stop veganizing everything? Often heard: meat eaters and vegetarians have no excuse to keep eating animal products for the taste. Because, as many vegans argue: ‘Almost every animal product can be replicated in a plant-based way to experience the taste of meat, fish, and cheese experience.’ I can tell you: this is not true. Professionally and out of personal interest, I eat and taste a lot. From vegan feta (tastes like coconut oil) and vegan parmesan (smells and tastes like vomit, I still cry about this in bed at night) to vegan steak (good looks, strange aftertaste) and canned vegan tuna (even my cats ran away from this). Not only the taste, but also the experience is often completely failed when veganizing certain products. Make it stop. And just let me eat meat occasionally without imposed guilt. Meat shame: also please keep that in 2022. Thanks in advance!’

Weird inception snacks
Jeske: ‘I find those supposedly trendy cultural cross-pollination things/inception snacks that you see more and more in the supermarket so annoying. With the icing on the cake being those weird Tex-Mex empanadas from Appie. Or börek spring rolls. And I also saw sushi pizza the other day. I just think it’s trying too hard to be hip and original for no reason. As if they don’t know what to come up with next out of craziness.’

Overpriced shakshuka
Delilah: ‘What can disappear for me: overpriced shakshuka for an average of €15 in every average lunch spot in the capital. Sometimes not more imaginative than a can of tomato pulp with two eggs in it: come on, we can do better at home. And expensive! Just like those cash-cow sandwiches that Wieke mentions. Or, yes, here comes my annual annoyance that the crowd does nothing about: shared dining with those silly little plates.’