Top 12 Food & Drink Trends of 2014 That Should Die

The end of 2014 is almost upon us and what better time to look back at some of the year’s annoying food and drink trends and get them off our chest.

Here are our top 12 food and drink trends that should die in 2015.

Food & Drink Trends That Should Die

1. Burgers, sliders, hot dogs and fried <insert your preference>. Whatever you call them, they harp back to the fast food aka junk food of fast food outlets that we all shunned as unhealthy. Paired with shakes? Let’s see studies in a few years based on Sydney’s obsession with the calorific burger and the effects on obesity and diabetes.

2. Arancini balls at stand up events. These are the bane of most launch events. When done right, they can be tasty little balls. Most of the time, they end up in a napkin.

3. Cocktails in jam jars. Your glassware doesn’t have to be vintage and exclusive, and no need to source Nick & Nora glasses but give me a glass that honours the drink. If I want to pretend I’m not drinking a cocktail, I’d order vodka, lime and soda. Not.

4. Cocktails in jam jars AND striped paper straws. Seriously. They may look pretty and Instagram-worthy but have you ever tried sipping a cocktail through one? It changes the taste of the drink then starts to disintegrate after 5 minutes.

5. The words “nom”, “drool” and “yum” used when writing about food. Nom should die an excruciating death. Drool and slobber over your food, and there’s seriously something wrong with you. Unless you’re Homer Simpson. And “yum” is for two year olds. Who slobber over food.

6. Scallops with cauliflower puree. Moving right along.

7. Calling everything “tapas”. Let’s go back to the real Spanish tapas, and leave the “Japanese tapas”, “Lebanese Tapas” (it’s called mezze) and whatever Mod Oz tapas is behind.

8. Cocktails served as shakes. I like grown-up drinks, thank you.

9. “Tapas” aka share plates of food that come in odd numbers, usually 3 or 5 pieces. How do you split a scallop on cauliflower puree between two people, and how often do you see three people dining out?

10. Let’s talk about rimming. Get that mind out of gutter, we’re talking cocktails! Unless it’s a Margarita, don’t fully rim a cocktail glass particularly if it’s a sugar mix. Drinking through sugar is not to everyone’s palate. Flicking it off the glass means sticky fingers.

11. “Local and seasonal produce”. Not the ethos but how just about every restaurant tells you it’s their point of difference. Shouldn’t this be the norm?

12. And finally, with the ubiquitous pork on restaurant menus, we’re becoming a nation of porkers. Pulled pork? Check. Pork buns? Yep. Pork sliders? Yawn. Yes, we’re looking at you, tender, sweet, succulent and fatty piggy meat and your salty, crispy and crunchy crackling… Mmm…. crack-ling… what were we saying??

Next… Top 12 Food & Drink Trends in 2014 That We Loved