Why do some foods become fashionable?

ROMILO makes a valid point food produced here is as good if not better than elsewhere. Blackcurrants and British strawberries are the best so are Scottish raspberries. Welsh lamb and Irish beef to name just a few from a vast variety are all available.

Regarding food trends everything has it's place from every continent on earth we are very fortunate. Advocados in a dip or dressing and dessert suit me but not sliced on toast. Beetroot can go in everything it's one of my favourites. Kimchi I eat most days and I eat every other pickled veg that's available. Tinned fish is high in omega oil and delicious all foods good for the gut. But in controlled portion because of the salt content.

We have delights from elsewhere that we can't grow or do so with elaborate techniques. We are fortunate to have the choice providing we don't mind the food miles. I know what is good for me without the need for trendy influencers who don't impress me.

I grow what I can on my veg plot some is hit and miss depending on the weather. I have grown sprouts but they are not from Brussels but my garden. I have gooseberry blackberry blackcurrant bushes I don't grow sloe berries I pick them in the woods. Whatever I grow my attitude is if the birds get more than me so be it that's gardening for you. What food I choose to grow buy or cook is my choice.

Geordiegirl1

I remember a time before broccoli !

You're older than the Roman Empire????

www.thespruceeats.com/broccoli-history-1807573

I always thought Chinese gooseberries were physalis which I love. I do a very 'chefy' desert of meringue nests filled with crystallised ginger mixed into thick cream topped with chocolate dipped physalis with the leaves extended upwards. looks fantastic and as if you've spent hours but takes very little time and is so delicious!

narrowboatnan

When did purple sprouting brocolli change its name to tenderstem brocolli? 🤷‍♀️

Maybe when Chinese gooseberries morphed into Kiwi fruit.

Tenko

It was Nigella who made avocado on toast a thing . Waitrose used to have the nigella effect . If she mentioned something on her show , Waitrose would sell out of the item .

Same thing happened when St Delia started putting coriander in everything, like sucking my hiking socks but it flew out of the supermarkets!
I cringe when tomatoes are advertised as 'grown for flavour', why else would they be grown.

I used to love my mum's bilberry pie. We used to go picking bilberries in a field near us until they built a housing estate on the land. Blueberries are just not the same!
I used to have a clump of rhubarb in the gsrden and cooked some evry year until my daughter decided to cook some with her friends . Instead of cutting some, she completely uprooted it and it was gone! I look forward to the season when a friend with an allotment brings his surplus to give away. As for gooseberries I haven;t seen them for sale for years.

For those who like avocados - and maybe those who don't - a drizzle of green tabasco over sliced avocados is delicious. My favourite way to eat them.

Today I had one of M&S's new chocolate and marscapone hot cross buns. Not particularly my cup of tea but decent enough for those of you who love chocolatey things.

They weren't a patch though on the marscapone panetonne which Waitrose had at Christmas. Hope they have it again this year.

This thread has reminded me of the Northern married couple on the Catherine Tate show. 🤣

They only enjoyed plain, British food and even people who ate garlic bread were “dirty, filthy b******s.”

Avocados can make the basis of an excellent chocolate mousse.

Ingredients & Method (Coles Recipe):
Ingredients: 2 ripe avocados, 150g dark chocolate (melted), 1/4 cup cocoa powder, 1/4 cup maple syrup (or sugar), 1 tsp vanilla bean paste, pinch of salt.
Method: Combine all ingredients in a blender, processing until very smooth. Spoon into glasses, chill for at least 2 hours.

Tips:
Ensure avocados are very ripe for a smooth, creamy texture.
For a deeper flavor, use high-quality dark chocolate and cocoa powder.
The avocado taste is hidden by the chocolate, making it a popular healthy dessert option.

Quizzer

What is it with Mac’n’ cheese?? This is what we used to eat when we had no money. Now it’s become a delicacy ….really!

Absolutely. We have macaroni cheese about once a month when the cupboard is almost bare and I can’t be bothered to go to the shop. In days gone by we had it as it was a cheap meal when we were watching the pennies.

Same with fish finger sandwiches which appear on many menus now because they are considered trendy.

I too like mashed avocado on toast but I also have it as a pudding mashed with honey. I do like the variety of food that is available in the supermarkets

Cossy

Mashed or sliced avocado, with a squeeze of lemon, and a sprinkle of chili flakes, on thick buttery dough dough toast is my absolute favourite breakfast and to make it a special brunch I add a poached or scrambled egg and smoked salmon, with ground black pepper.

Yummy!

My favourite breakfast and healthy

I agree!

I always think there's a lot to be said for a slice of good bread and fresh butter.

I've been eating things like panettone and fresh pasta ever since I met my husband's Italian family in the 70s Then all of a sudden they were fashionable. My husband used to love pomegranates, but I couldn't see the attraction. Didn't like Kiwi Fruit either, just a tasteless hairy fruit with lots of seeds.

narrowboatnan

When did purple sprouting brocolli change its name to tenderstem brocolli? 🤷‍♀️

They’re surely two different things? Any tenderstem I see is all green. Purple sprouting is green and purple!

Another vote for mashed avocado on toast, topped with strips of fried bacon. Delicious. Also as part of prawn cocktail. We really are spoiled for choice with all the different food available.

I don’t think I am much influenced by what is supposed to be trendy. I tried sourdough and didn’t enjoy it and nor do I like avocado. Perhaps I’m just set in my ways.
I’ve just picked and cooked my first serving of rhubarb. Delicious. I have some unhappy memories of gooseberries, which my dad loved, but were too sharp for me as a child. I wonder if I would appreciate them more now? I once lived in a house with a Victoria plum tree in the garden. Nothing I have ever eaten compares to the absolute heaven of biting into a perfectly ripe, fresh from the tree plum. No room in my garden for trees now.
I love blueberries, usually in yoghurt, but cooking them (no added water but a splash of Vimto) brings out the flavour.

When did purple sprouting brocolli change its name to tenderstem brocolli? 🤷‍♀️

There's some concern about the amount of water it takes to grow avocado. I'm not too keen on them

I’m so glad I like avocados- they are such a healthy food. I discovered them whilst on holiday in Canada many years ago. I love them smashed with seasonings and lime juice. Delicious with scrambled or poached egg and smoked salmon!
Not for everyone but I’m so happy I love this super healthy brunch

My mum always cooked with olive oil. She had to get it from the chemist.

Greciangirl

SueDonim.

Very funny.

Yes, Olive Oil.

It certainly wasn’t something we would even considered eating as a child.
Now of course, it’s trendy. And it’s graded too on quality.

Who would have thought?

The thing is, most of us wouldn’t have been eating it, but the Spanish and Italians certainly would have been.

I think the reasons certain foods have become more popular is 1) we travel more and eat more foods abroad 2) more food is imported here.

I’m happy with the amount of choice and although I love some of the foods from the “old days”, I’m really happy to have so much choice of quality foods.

SueDonim.

Very funny.

Yes, Olive Oil.

It certainly wasn’t something we would even considered eating as a child.
Now of course, it’s trendy. And it’s graded too on quality.

Who would have thought?

Aveline

Whatever happened to gooseberries?We had them all the time when young. Stewed, in crumbles and best of all gooseberry fool 😋

Gooseberry fool Is my all time favourite pudding. 😋