Wednesday 19th November saw the coming together of so much creativity in one room, planets may well have collided as a result!
It was the first Food Trends Event held by thefoodpeople at Pierre Koffman’s restaurant in London, where representatives from the food, fashion and design industries gathered to cook, listen and talk about the latest and future trends in the business and it was where thefoodpeople published their 2015 trends.
Charles and Wayne delivered the trends whilst guests sipped Pisco Sours and wrote frantically on their (compulsory!) post-it pads! Interwoven throughout the day, the food was central to the proceedings. Leading chefs, Pierre Koffman, Bruno Loubet, Claire Clark, Judy Joo, Neil Nugent and William Curley collaborated and devised a menu that reflected the key flavour trends being seen at the moment.
A Scandinavian-inspired amuse-bouche included tasty morsels of scallops with black garlic, pumpernickel bread with chicken liver mousse and smoked garlic profiteroles and guacamole.
The starter encapsulated South America, Scandinavia, Persia and Korea in an arrangement of Wild sea bass ceviche with Tiger milk; Beetroot and Aquavit marinated salmon, buttermilk; Aubergine Delkash, Tahini yoghurt and Korean-style sticky chicken wings.
Semi-satiety reached, it was time to hear from the first speaker, Dr Ophelia Delroy, an associate director of the Institute of Philosophy and a researcher at the Centre for the Study of the Senses.
Following her was a truly fascinating and inspiring talk by Jane Kellock from Unique Style Platform explained how food and fashion are more intrinsically linked than we may have first thought.
Time for the main course. Pierre Koffman wanted to shake things up a little here – alternating plates of Braised beef cheeks ‘Bonfire’ with sweet potato mash with Duck breast, Kimchi & walnut sauce. Tuck in to the plate placed in front of you, swap with a neighbouring diner, or, as is the trend – share and get the best of both worlds. Either way, people were not disappointed.
Getting to that full and slightly sleepy 3pm moment, guests were quickly brought back to attention by Amelia Boothman, Director of Strategy at 1HQ on identifying the subconscious cultural drivers that can translate into effective emotional hooks to drive brand growth which had many people’s heads nodding in agreement!
The same format as the main course followed with dessert – some looked on enviously as William Curley’s Venezuelan chocolate mousse with a Maracuya crème brulee centre & Brazil nut sponge, served with a salsa sauce & guava sorbet was lovingly savoured. Others beamed with delight when they received Claire Clarke’s Persian Pavlova – Steamed rose yoghurt, meringue, Cotton candy, pomegranate, sour cherry coulis, pistachios & Noghi almonds transported them to places well beyond central London on a grey November day!
Wayne wound up the day with thanks to all before everyone tucked into the delightful Petits Fours which included Persian Ice Pops, Cloudberry financiers and Ginger and Persimmon ganache.
A bunch of enlightened, inspired, happy and very full people left the room but not before they made a final note of the date of next year’s event….18th November 2015. Keep THAT post-it safe!