Dumplings In The Spotlight

A food that sits across many different cuisines with its multiple varieties, Dumplings have been in the spotlight of late. We take a closer look at what's been happening.

We recently compiled a foodwatching report this February on the whole topic of Dumplings, covering everything from the rise in dumplings to your door, frozen, DIY dumplings and much more. Subscribers can read the report here.

The recent Chinese New Year shone a light on dumplings, with Eater London covering the best London restaurants to find dumplings for take away and delivery during lockdown. But while the majority of thought around dumplings has traditionally been towards China as provenance, we've seen a rise in popularity dumplings from all over the world.

Manti are one such dumpling, traditional to Turkey, the Caucasus, Central and West Asia amongst others, whereby thin wheat dough wrappers are filled with a spiced meat mixture - traditionally lamb or beef. We've seen these in London, at Mangal 2 in particular, urfa chiulli crunch Manti dumplings in New York's Albi, as well as a recipe for Armenian Sini Manti from online food bible Serious Eats.

We've also seen a rise in dumplings for dessert too. And when you think of a dumpling as the perfect blank canvas and vehicle for all manner of filling, it makes perfect sense for them to cross over courses.

We cover all the above and more in February's foodwatching report here.