In Seventh Heaven

By Colleen Walsh Fong

Do you ever think about our strange sounding month names when you write the date? What is a February, for example? With most things in our lives going digital, wouldn’t it just be easier to dispense with the names and use each month’s number? That’s exactly what many of our month names were designed to do, and they come from their original places in the old Roman calendar. September is one of those. It came from the Latin word “septem” meaning seven because it was the seventh month prior to the acceptance of the Gregorian calendar.

Seven is an interesting number. We have 7 days in our week, seven notes on the musical scale, and seven rainbow colors. Geographically earth has seven continents and seas. There is much to recommend the number. So even though September is now our ninth month, I like to think of it in terms of seven.

So I’ve made a list of 7 hot food trends to be sure to try in September.

1,300 professional chefs and members of the American Culinary Federation were surveyed by the National Restaurant Association to rank the hottest food trends for 2014. Their results are extensive so I’ve culled top-ranked trends in seven categories to recommend here.

Breakfasts

Start your engines with a spicy ethnic-inspired breakfast. Chorizo scrambled eggs can rev your engine on a cool autumn morning.

Appetizers

Kebobs and ethnic dips like tzatziki sauce and baba ghannouj are big this year. And luckily they go together! Find them in mom and pop and even chain-style Mediterranean restaurants, food trucks, and your local supermarkets.

Starches

Black (forbidden) rice packs a big nutritional punch. You can find it in specialty stores and some supermarkets, but it’s easiest to find in rice mixes like Lundberg’s Jubilee bags.

Produce

Heirloom apples are older or antique varieties that have not been hybridized. Their shapes, colors, and flavors tend to be more natural and less perfect than the few types traditionally available in American grocery stores. Find them at local farmers’ markets. Whole Foods and Sprouts have some heirlooms, and online sources such as Frieda’s, can be an apple bonanza.

Main Dishes

Arctic Char is a fish from the trout family that is farm raised in Canada and Iceland. It’s flavorful enough to require little spicing and meaty enough to stand up to grilling without being chewy.

Desserts

Hybrids rule the dessert realm this year. Cronuts™, a cross between croissants and donuts, marry the flaky texture of the pastry with the robust flavor of our most dunkable breakfast item.

Ethnic Cuisines

Experimenting with the food of different cultures will put you right on trend this year. One of the hottest ethnic cuisines continues to be Peruvian. Eating it will expose you to several other types of food, too because it is a fusion cuisine. Peruvian food combines Spanish, Incan, Basque, African, Asian, French, and Italian flavors and ingredients. It features seafood, meats, tropical fruits, and unusual types of potatoes and grains.

Keep this list handy and pull it out when you’re scouting the grocery aisles or the restaurant reviews so you can stay on trend in September, seven ways.

Featured Image Courtesy of Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net