NEW YORK (AP): Whether it’s kimchi, beets, or broccoli, the pandemic has had a strange impact on food cravings that goes beyond the joy of eating comfortably.
In almost a year of isolation, many people embrace foods that have been long forgotten or rejected because of their taste, texture, or smell. Some have been forced to re-evaluate health-focused foods to help boost their immune system. And with home cooking to the fullest, there is a new adventure in the kitchen.
For 31-year-old Maeri Ferguson in Brooklyn, it’s about pears.
After recovering from COVID-19, he spent months without normal taste and smell. So many foods I loved just don’t satisfy me. Now, Ferguson feels sweet, salty, and spicy again, but most foods have no nuances of flavor.
No pears.
“I have always transmitted pears all my life. Not because I didn’t like them. I was just intimidated, “Ferguson said.” I didn’t understand the differences between varieties, how to determine ripeness. I knew the taste of a sweet, unripe pear, but not good. “
During the pandemic, a friend gave her a handy cutter and set out to figure out how to spot a good pear. It was one of the first foods he could really taste.
“I’m a complete convert,” Ferguson said. “I will never forget to chop a juicy red pear and, finally, taste this sweet taste and only the weakest acidity. It was a deep experience that made me treasure a food that I used to tolerate ”.
While Ferguson cannot increase pear sales, fermented foods are a big winner of the pandemic.
Anastasia Sharova, a chef in Stuttgart, Germany, runs Happybellyfish.com, an online cooking school focused on healthy eating. He added fermentation classes in late 2019, and then there was the success of the pandemic. Suddenly, interest in making kimchi, miso, and sauerkraut skyrocketed. Kombucha was already a trend and helped popularize homemade fermentation.
“Health became the number one priority of many last year,” Sharova said. “Secondly, everyone had extra time at home, so it was finally possible to try new things in the kitchen that require time. Third, food fermentation is perceived as a hobby in itself and is a great community activity, even if your community is in Zoom or just within your own family. ”
Thirty-year-old Alicia Harper is now in the fermentation field. The New York City nutritionist was well aware of the health benefits, but he was not personally a fan before the pandemic.
“I found the fermented taste too strong for me and the fermented smell was discouraging. Since I tried them again recently, my opinion has completely changed. Now I have come to love taste and smell, ”he said. “The pandemic has made me appreciate my health more.”
Anne Alderete enjoys something she never thought of: natto. Made from fermented soy beans, natto is popular in Japan, but is considered too viscous and smelly for some.
“I’ve felt it many times since I’m half Japanese and have lived in Tokyo after college for seven years,” Alderete, 47, said in Los Angeles. “For a long time I wanted to understand magic that I just didn’t taste. They reminded me of dirty old socks. ”
Now, devora natto bought in the store almost every week. Among his favorite ways to eat, he spreads out on a thick slice of toast covered in cheese and unwrapped on the grill.
“I feel a little virtuous when I eat natto because the health benefits are many, but also because it has brought me closer to my roots,” Alderete said.
The long shelf life of many fermented foods is another attraction.
While health concerns and food for comfort have played an important role, one expert thinks changes in our way of eating also come from having more time at home to digest a nutrition news attack. and the food chain.
“The pandemic has allowed many of us to finally recognize some uncomfortable truths about the food system,” said Ryan Andrews, a registered dietitian who wrote a book on plant nutrition.
“People have known the unsafe working conditions of meat packaging plants, the unfair wages of agricultural workers, the chronic diseases we all face related to diet, the inhumane ways of raising animals grown in factories and the immense weight ecological of industrialized agriculture, ”said Ryan, an adviser to Precision Nutrition, which certifies nutrition coaches.
Suddenly, he said, “The organic lentil and mushroom soup that didn’t sound so appealing in the pre-pandemic became part of the weekly meal routine.”
At the same time, an analysis of Google’s searches by market research firm Semrush on how weird and wonderful about changing food interests during the pandemic pointed to convenience. The company found a 17% increase in “peanut and coke” searches in December compared to December 2019, and a 33% increase in “prosciutto and melon”. A 95% increase was found for “bacon and jam”.
At WoodSpoon, a New York-based app that connects home cooks with hungry customers, the trend for comfort is more than a little obvious. Before the pandemic, there was a great deal of interest in healthy offerings and less processed foods. Then there was babka, pasta and short ribs.
“In difficult times like this, diners are looking for authentic, homemade food and want to support local chefs. The trend has been going on for a long time and the pandemic has taken it to the next level, ”said Oren Saar, co-founder and CEO of WoodSpoon.
The beet never had a chance from 25-year-old Caroline Hoffman until the pandemic came and she forgot to buy tomatoes for pizza sauce one day. Instead, he mixed some beets and left, overcoming his rudeness factor.
“I am just hooked. I made beet hummus, beet paste and just plain beet salads. I’m not sure why I hadn’t discovered it before, but now I buy a weekly bag as if it were cereal, ”Hoffman said in Chicago.
Others reconnect with their childhood favorites, revisit peanut butter and gelatin sandwiches, or prepare grilled cheeses to eat with canned tomato soup. You can also count the raisins.
Harry Overly, the “main proponent of the imagination,” president and CEO of Sun-Maid, said the raisin company experienced a 1.4 percent increase in the last year in the number of northern households. Americans who started eating raisins.
“We absolutely see, especially last year, how consumers opt for nostalgia and reconnect with brands reminiscent of their childhood,” he said.
No raisins, Rex Chatterjee is at home in Amagansett City, New York, on Hamptons Beach. The pleasure chosen by Chatterjee, 34, and his wife is Oreos and rosé. He admits to hiding occasionally.
“The combination,” he said, “is wonderful and includes our highest recommendation.”