Going off (in a good way)
Intercultural cuisines
From Indo-Chinese and Taiwanese-Tex Mex, to Viet-Cajun and Cape-Malay, brace your tastebuds for culinary cultures colliding in the most delicious ways.
Pecan
Move aside pistachio, this season is all about butter-pecan ice-cream, pecan pie, pecan dukkah, cinnamon Meshuga, and pecan frosted German chocolate cake.
Postbiotics
Bioactive compounds such as lactic acid and butyrate, that are the end-product of good bacteria in our guts fermenting prebiotic fibre. Could they help maintain a healthy microbiome?
Cambodian food
Among the oldest Southeast Asian cuisines, Cambodian food combines freshness with aromatic complexity using ingredients such as kampot pepper, lime leaves, shrimp paste, holy basil and vinegar (check out Mamapen in Soho, London, by chef Kaneda Pen).
Hi-fi Listening bars
Low-lit establishments where vinyl records, exquisite small plates and discerning cocktails come together in harmony. See Bar Shrimp in Manchester or The Listening Room at MOI in London.
Malted things
The butterscotch-toffee-toastiness and caramel-nutty-earthiness of malt syrup is enlivening everything from sourdough and cookies, to barbecue glazes and vinaigrettes.
Extreme funkiness
XO sauce, Japanese fermented natto beans, stinky tofu, colatura di alici fish garum, Moroccan smen fermented butter – adding a deep funk to your cooking is all the rage.
Grape
Petimezi Greek grape molasses is the new pantry hero; Ravneet Gill’s cotton cake with fregola grape is a must-try, frozen “swalty” grapes are all over TikTok, and behold: the unironic 2026 revival of balsamic vinegar.
Combi ovens
Ultra-precise, multifunctional appliances that can oven bake, air-fry, defrost, grill and steam in one, like Smeg’s retro-chic 10 in 1 oven.
QQ
The satisfying chewy and bouncy texture associated with mochi, tteokbokki, boba pearls and fish balls (sometimes referred to as the “Asian al dente”) is popping up everywhere.
Doner kebabs
From the viral TikTok “roll and bake” home-cooked version to the rise of gourmet Turkish kebab shops, this craveable, hot sauce-laden 1990s icon is back.
Picon
The burnt-orange French liqueur that makes complex, invigorating negronis, or can be mixed with blonde beers for a refreshingly bitter Picon Bière shandy. It’s the 2026 spritz.
Utrecht
The canal-side gourmet destination in the Netherlands being heralded as “the understated Amsterdam without the tourists”, awash with innovative restaurants, great coffee, frites – and just a Eurostar away.
Going off (in a bad way)
Pistachio
The Dubai chocolate bubble has popped, with few lurid green pistachio products tasting anything like an actual pistachio.
Protein everything
Carbs are unapologetically back, jacket potatoes are replacing cauliflower rice, and fibremaxxing replaces protein-loading.
Air-fryers
Bulky countertop-hogging appliances that actually “bake with a fan” more than “fry” are being increasingly shunned in favour of multi-tasking alternatives.
Hot honey
After being slathered over absolutely everything from pizza crusts to truffled cheeses, this ‘swicy’ condiment now feels a little one-note compared to bolder chilli-ferments with some sharp bite.
Greek yoghurt ‘cheesecake’
Of course, an entire packet of biscuits stuffed into a yoghurt tastes good, but it’s almost as indulgent as a classic baked NYC cracker-crusted cheesecake slice.
CBD
Disguising the hempy, cut-grass taste of CBD with sugar and sweeteners is out; mind-relaxing oils that are naturally delicious (think rosemary, bergamot, clove) are in.
Orange wine snobbery
No one wants to spend dinner wincing as they imbibe on an orange so funky it’s unpalatable; besides, Jura “yellow” vin jaune is all the rage now.
Overprocessed seed oils
Flavourless seed oils with low-smoke points are making way for tallow, which is better for frying and roasting, makes crumblier, flakier pastries, and also tastes delicious.
