In this year’s recap of the top 10 most popular Flavor of the Week articles, a compilation of consumer and data trends from market research firm Datassential, Cacio e Pepe — the long, skinny pasta tossed with a little reserved cooking water, black pepper and a grana-style cheese — ranked as the year’s top flavor. It’s a simple, comforting dish with growing appeal on American menus, according to Datassential.
Among other trends in this year’s countdown:
- Japan’s soft and fluffy milk bread;
- Elote, a Mexican street food mainstay; and
- Croque madame, France’s indulgent grilled cheese.
All of those ingredients originated in other countries and are slowly making their way over to the U.S. as shown by Datassential’s reports on menu trends in the data in each slideshow.
In other trends, seasonings were big this year among Flavor of the Week readers.
Some of those top ingredients:
- Fall’s favorite flavor, Pumpkin Spice, adds warm seasoning to menus;
- Tzatziki, a refreshing Greek condiment;
- Smoky meets tangy in chipotle aïoli; and
- Shiso, mint’s East Asian cousin.
See what this year’s top Flavor of the Week trends from Datassential were in this gallery.
