In a recent article for the Sunday Times, Charles spoke about his view on a new generation of food emerging and how chefs are taking inspiration from the fusion food of the 90’s….
Charles Banks of The Food People, an agency that advises food retailers and producers on emerging trends, estimates that more than 40% of restaurant openings in London last year involved fusion of some kind.
“As the urban jungle of eating-out options grows, so does the need to be different and stand out,” says Banks. “This is an environment that fosters new fusions. That doesn’t just mean a fusion of cuisines. It also means fusing styles or fusing tradition with modernity — serving Indian tapas or Vietnamese sharing plates. What makes this new fusion different is the way it has evolved. For a start, young chefs these days tend to travel more widely than they used to, bringing back flavour memories that change the way they cook. But there’s also a lot more natural fusion happening. Take Peruvian-Japanese, which is the result not of some cheffy desire to be different, but the integration of ideas from Peru’s large Japanese population. The same is true of the Brazilian-Japanese restaurants — called things like Sushisamba and Sushinho — that have sprung up in London, serving hybrid dishes such as sashimi ceviche or lamb chops with red miso’.
http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/Magazine/food/article1249268.ece