Home cooks and professional chefs alike clamor for ingredients that punctuate their culinary creations—deep, penetrating and complex flavors that transcend the everyday experience and satisfy a hunger for the fascinating. Whether these tastes of the unusual were introduced via the influx of immigrants from Southeast Asia, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent—or via chefs traveling further afield to more exotic locations and bringing the strange and wondrous to restaurants or popular food shows—today’s consumers want the rare, the storied, the exotic, the elusive and, of course, the delicious.
“To help brands enhance consumer demand for fresh, new flavors that carry a healthy halo, too—like green tea, avocado, ginger and other veggie-centric flavors—delivery systems are available to include nutritional and functional components,” notes Kristy Ruhland, a food scientist in Minneapolis. “Adding omega-3, fiber, protein or even flavor enhancers to bakery, snacks and frozen entrees of all types can increase a product’s attraction while providing a combination of cost-efficiency, ease-of-use with no required refrigeration, extended shelf-stability and, most importantly, the desired flavor profile in the finished product.”
Fortunately, today’s marketplace has been fueled by this persistent curiosity, inspiring chefs and buyers to bring luxurious ingredients, once available only to the privileged few, to the table. And, global flavors are teeming into the U.S. via more than herbs and spices. Fruits and nuts also are playing a significant part in opening the American palate.