Spice Up Menu With Global Flavor Trends

Why Join the Global Flavor Trend & Spice Up Your Menu? 

Global flavors are BACK! Traditional comfort food was what we survived on for the past two years. Now that life is back, it’s time to turn up your game. A report from Mintel found that more than 70% of US consumers enjoy trying new experiences, including food and drink flavor discovery.  Gen Z and millennials have the most diverse palates and showed the strongest interest in international cuisine. 

Diversify Your Menu with Global Flavors

So why not diversify your current menu with a bit of global flair? The challenge for the restaurant owner is to provide a menu that caters to all and maintains their profitability at the same time.  A lot of international cuisines are using ingredients that you already have in-house with maybe adding one or 2 new ingredients to your usage lists. Remember these blends are full of flavor and a little spice goes a long way.

This could be as simple as adding some Gochujang sauce.  A distinctive taste of fermented Korean chili paste made of rice, fermented soybeans, red chili pepper flakes and salt.  It’s great as a hot sauce. Try it on wings, top a bowl, or even use it as a spicy sauce for sweet potato fries or grilled veggies. We stock a ready-made Gochujan sauce to really simplify your labor costs. 

Tandoori Chicken is a Southern Asia dish of marinated chicken with yogurt and spices.  Think of it as a healthier fried chicken with that nice char-grilled flavor. You may have all the ingredients in-house to make the yogurt yourself; onion, garlic, ginger, tomato paste, ground coriander, ground cumin and hot paprika. Search the internet and you will find plenty of easy recipes modified for the American way of cooking and not with a Tandoor oven.

Chef Dana Johnson’s Favorite On-Trend Global Flavor Dishes

1. Roasted Spicy Cashews – A great snack item with an Asian flair of spices including smoked paprika, chili, lime juice, olive oil, honey and salt or make your own spice blend.  
2. Cauliflower Tikki Masala – Make the vegetarians in our life happy. Cauliflower’s structure allows it to hold up to different methods of cooking and its mild flavor can be completely spiced up to absolutely any global flavor profile. The nooks and crannies of the florets are the perfect places to capture all the goodness that is called Tikka Masala. This creamy, spiced curry dish is rumored to have started just like the potato chip in Saratoga, NY. An off duty UK bus driver went to a restaurant for chicken curry and found it too dry. The Chef then added a creamy tomato soup to the dish and well let’s just say, the bus driver kept coming back, bringing more and more friends until it become a household name.
3. Bibimbap – Translates to mixed rice with assorted meat and vegetables. We have all seen photos of an Asian dish in served in a  bowl and topped with an egg.
4. Chinese Dumplings – You can have them boiled, steamed or fried. They can be as bland or as spicy as you want. 
5. Street Satay – The ultimate Asian street food with endless choices of meat and spices.  It’s pretty simple with meat or vegetables on a stick grilled and served with a sauce. Just go for it! Ask your sales rep for ready-made options! 

Not Ready For A Full Immersion Into the Global Flavor Trend?

Not ready to add them to your menu without testing the waters? Try them as a special first and see what success you get. You might be surprised at how many people are willing to try something new these days. Do these still feel too complicated? How about you start with some better-known global comfort foods, like the ones below…  

1. Poutine – We just have to look to our Northern border and visit Montreal to enjoy this treat.
2. Moussaka – Traditional Greek beef and eggplant lasagna
3. Pierogi – We all know about potato and cheese-filled pierogis, but there are blueberry, sauerkraut and mushroom varieties to consider
4. Carbonara – What could go wrong with egg, bacon and cheese, but remember the pasta needs to be cooked al dente
5. Paella  – One BIG  dish that is meant to be shared with the table using any protein with rice and vegetables and in the same pan
6. Beef Bourguignon  – Tender beef simmered in a red wine gravy until it falls apart
7. Goulash – The perfect affordable comfort food where all the pasta, meat, tomato sauce and vegetables are all cooked in the same dish

The world of options is literally at your fingertips, google it and go for it. Ask your sales rep for make your life easier ready-made options from Ginsberg’s!