The Tastemakers

March 24, 2014
On Saturday nights in the 1970s, many Americans sat around bubbling pots of oil or cheese, spearing chunks of meat or bread into the hot fondue pots that had become the latest cooking trend. A decade later people pushed fondue pots to the dark recesses of their kitchen cabinets or threw them out with the morning trash. What creates a food trend? Who had the ability to market a food into a popular cultural moment? Food and business writer Sax (Save the Deli) probes these and other questions in this entertaining foray into why cupcakes ousted donuts as a food fad, and why quinoa had its day in the limelight before chia seeds blew it away. He begins by exploring the four types of food trends—cultural (cupcakes), agricultural (heirloom fruits), chef-driven (ceviche), and health-driven (chia seeds). For example, chef-driven trends can introduce a comprehensive style of cooking and eating, or they can develop a focus on specific flavor profiles. Asserting that food alone doesn’t drive food trends, Sax explores the power of sales, data used in forecasting food trends, and marketing to create the desire and opportunity for a particular food. Thus, prunes now go by the much more pleasing and less geriatric sounding “dried plums.” In the end, Sax declares, food trends, though sometimes annoying, deepen and expand our cultural palate, spur economic growth, provide broad variety in our diets, and promote happiness.

May 1, 2014

Canadian author and James Beard Writing and Literature Award winner Sax (Save the Deli; contributor, New York Times, New York, Saveur, and GQ magazines) focuses on food trends in this book: why they appear and disappear and their benefit to the U.S. economy. He begins with cupcakes' popularity because of a 20-second appearance on Sex and the City. Long essays on the superfood, chia, China black rice, and bacon's ubiquity are entertaining. Sax traces trends and how they develop and succeed but often encounter obstacles along the way. There are also chapters on the effects chefs have on fads; the development, failure, and triumph of a new variety of apple, the Red Prince; and politics involved with food trucks. He describes "lexicon branding" and how Patagonian toothfish became popular under it's new name Chilean sea bass. An epilog stresses the importance of education in encouraging young children to eat healthy food. VERDICT Recommended for academic libraries as additional reading in food service and marketing courses and for public libraries that have "foodie" patrons.--Christine E. Bulson, emeritus, Milne Lib., SUNY Oneonta

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2014
How does an obscure flavor featured one day in a trendy, high-end cocktail become a leading component of grocery-store barbecue sauce the next year? Food trends inevitably shape what we eat on a daily basis. James Beard Award winner Sax (Save the Deli: In Search of Perfect Pastrami, Crusty Rye, and the Heart of Jewish Delicatessen, 2009) explores how food trends start, why they matter, and how they grow and move through our culture. He breaks down four types of trends: cultural, agriculture-based, chef-driven and health-based, with anecdotes and examples of cupcakes, china black rice, chia seeds and Greek yogurt. "Trends are the process of a feedback loop," writes the author, "of competition between talents, and they are a balance between following the herd, pleasing customers, and letting creativity flow." Sax also describes how trends take off in our culture through food events and awards, trend forecasting and marketing efforts. "[T]he increased competitiveness of the grocery business coupled with the rapid spread of foodie culture has sent the big grocers deeper into the world of specialty foods," he writes, accelerating the trajectory of food trends. So why do food trends even matter? Sax argues they "can deepen and expand our culture beyond the plate." The rise of food trucks in Washington, D.C., illustrates how trends have the "ability to change laws and behaviors by the sheer nature of their popularity." By taking undervalued products, such as pork belly and bacon, and raising their value, food trends represent capitalism at its finest. Sax notes that, due to food media and an increasingly popular foodie culture, "food trends are springing up quicker and moving faster than they ever did before." He also examines the impact of such trendsetters as Momofuku, Whole Foods and Magnolia Bakery. Sax has done his homework--and probably put on a few pounds. A solid overview of trendsetting foods brought to life with colorful examples.

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