Christmas Eve Baccala

My culantro plant has gotten full & bushy in the warm, sunny greenhouse. I couldn't wait to make a batch of culantro sofrito for beans, rice, eggs and just spooning onto everything to give winter a little 'summer' spice! Sofrito is a very flavorful blend of garlic, onions, peppers, tomato, culantro, cilantro, oregano and a little vinegar chopped or pureed and seasoned to taste. I think every chef has their own recipe for sofrito. It's simply heated in oil and added to a variety of dishes to add amazing flavor.

The restaurant and hospitality industries are constantly changing & advancing, with new and evolving trends shaping everything from menu design to customer expectations. Tracking the ebb and flow of global trends can be expensive and time consuming. For restaurant and business owners like you, staying ahead of these trends isn’t just a competitive advantage—it’s essential for growth and success. My team and I literally travel the world researching new and exciting ingredients, equipment, and recipes. In addition, we analyze data, read magazines and blogs, attend conferences, view social media, speak with cooks, chefs, and industry leaders to bring you top restaurant trends for 2025. Let’s explore how these innovations can drive your business forward. I first became aware of trends research while preparing to attend a Research Chefs Association (RCA) Conference in 2014. As VP of the Campbell’s Culinary & Baking Institute (CCBI), my team had begun researching trends to provide a culinary voice of innovation. At the suggestion of one of my chefs, we created the first ‘Trendscape’ report for the Campbell leadership and marketing teams. Since that first trends report in 2014, I have continued researching and charting the acceptance (or rejection) of exciting, new trends to inspire and influence future innovation for my clients. Following that, each year I hosted a cross functional team of food scientists, marketers, chefs and product developers to attend global conferences and study the gastronomy of the region we were visiting. We understood that conferences had large concentrations of inspiration and innovation! I’ve continued this practice over the past 15 years and document the trends from inception to recognized, to know when a trend is the right fit for a business. We are not necessarily looking for trends at exclusive restaurants or venues, but searching for trends where the people are eating - food trucks, QSR’s, markets, food halls, pop up’s, restaurants, etc. - to really understand what’s happening in the food world. Some recognized trends like sustainability are evolving to include newer trends such as upcycling. I am very interested in supporting sustainability and now enjoy working with several start-up companies which prepare upcycled foods that would work very well for chefs in busy restaurants. These are a few of the trends I’m happy to present in 2025. As chefs, we should have a passion for sharing information equal to our passion for food. Sharing culinary information and innovation so that we can all improve the food we prepare for our customers is what chefs are about. My Top 7 Restaurant Food Trends for 2025 1. Sustainability and Local Sourcing In 2025, sustainability is more than a buzzword—it’s a demand. Many customers expect restaurants to adopt eco-friendly practices such as reducing food waste, using local ingredients, and opting for biodegradable packaging. Farms are coming closer to the table, with some establishments even growing their own produce. How to Apply This: Partner with local farmers to source seasonal ingredients Use digital menus to communicate your sustainability practices Explore certifications like LEED for eco-conscious restaurant design TWG Consulting can guide you in implementing sustainable solutions that align with your brand values and improve profitability through efficient operations. 2. Upcycling Upcycled foods are foods that are made from ingredients that would otherwise be thrown away, and are produced using sustainable supply chains. Upcycling is a way to reduce food waste and create new, high-quality products. Upcycling can reduce waste and waste disposal costs, lead to creative menu inspirations, and improve brand image by telling your upcycling story. Here are some examples of upcycled foods: Vegetable products: Companies like Matriark Foods upcycle farm surplus and fresh-cut remnants into vegetable products, soups, and sauces Croutons: Stale bread can be turned into croutons and bread crumbs Smoothies: Overripe bananas can be frozen and added to smoothies Other ways to upcycle food include: Using vegetable scraps like carrot tops, kale stems, and broccoli stems in soups, stocks, or as a garnish in salads Visit farmers markets or work with local farmers to purchase bruised or 'seconds' fruits and vegetables for soups, stews, condiments, preserving, etc. Often the cost is much less expensive for 'seconds' than for the more attractive fruits and vegetables Pickling watermelon rinds Making bone broth Sautéing the stems of leafy greens Regrowing your veggies in water Saving the leaves of beets, carrots, and radishes Making vegetable stock Using coffee grounds as fertilizer 3. Ingredients as Trends Sometimes a food trend can be based on a single ingredient and there are several poised to make a big impact in 2025.

Instructors generally start at the CIA teaching Skills 1 & 2-arguably the most enjoyable & rewarding classes in the curriculum. When you finally get moved to another class you get a sense that you're doing ok... I went to Cuisines of the America's in the CE building and enjoyed researching the history of our great country. That's where I learned about hoppin' John, pot likker, hoe cakes and grits!

During my time at the CIA, I was fortunate to compete on a Culinary Olympic team. We competed in Weimer, Germany and were very successful. Although there was very little time for seeing sights, I did get to visit the museum of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, enjoy amazing local sausages & get a wreath of onions during the Weimar Onion Festival. My godmother proudly hung the wreath in her home for years...

One of the many recipes new culinary students learn to prepare is duxelle. It's a delicious mixture of sweated shallots, garlic, minced mushrooms/stems, herbs, seasoning and often cream. It's cooked to almost a paste like consistency. Duxelle can be used to stuff chicken breasts or veal chops, vegetables and I especially like shiitake duxelle stuffed mushroom caps.

I don't know many chefs who don't use fresh garlic! The flavor of pre minced garlic in oil or peeled garlic is totally different than freshly peeled garlic. It's simply not the same. Many chefs actually grow different types of garlic, elephant garlic etc... and enjoy cooking with the garlic ends, called scapes, it's a 'chef thing'.

Find out how to scale your food delivery business the right way from former R&D executive and Certified Master Chef Thomas Griffiths.

Burnt Ends... my absolute favorite biscotti memory is crunching on hard, biscotti ends, perfect for dipping into black coffee. There was a fantastic biscotti bakery in upstate NY. The wonderful owners prepared a variety of biscotti, shipping to all parts of the country... and I loved the ends! My children worked there a few days weekly so it was always fun to pick them up at the end of the shift & pick up some biscotti.

Struffoli are fried dough covered in sweet, luscious honey. We always had a large crock of struffoli stored in a cool, dark (probably a closet) spot & I hope, covered with plastic or something. (I'm not too sure about that though). My mother would spoon struffoli onto a plate when company came, top with colorful sprinkles for decoration & serve with tea. My mother always had a LOT of visitors, they played yatze or scrabble or just chatted.