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Trends: Global Crepes

Trends-Global_Crepes_Jianbing01
Thin pancakes stuffed with an array of sweet or savory ingredients, crepes are a versatile dish with international variations.
  • French crepes can be found in white-tablecloth settings or on the streets of Paris. Uptown versions include orange zest and Grand Marnier, while more casual preparations are filled with Nutella and bananas or strawberries and cream.
  • Baltic and Russian varieties are stuffed with a Ricotta-like cheese and slathered with house-made jams like lingonberry, bilberry, raspberry, apple, or sea buckthorn.
  • Jianbing are the latest Chinese snack to become popular stateside. Their soft, eggy outside is filled with a crispy cracker and gooey, umami-rich sauces.

Diners are increasingly hyper-focused on high-protein and plant-based foods. Alongside all of the new-fangled, lab-based, cell-cultured options out there is the humble bean. A staple food for millenia, beans are being re-examined as a healthy, versatile ingredient worthy of menu inclusion.

  • Retro and heirloom recipes—like Southern succotash, French cassoulet, and Cajun red beans and rice—fit the bill for those in search of authenticity.
  • Most world cuisines incorporate some type of bean in their classic dishes. Think feijoada in Brazil, black beans and rice with plantains in Puerto Rico, and garbanzo beans in Israel. Modern interpretations of these recipes are packed with produce and herbs.
  • The creamy texture of mung beans is proving an ideal substitute for those that are eliminating soy from their diets.