San Miguel Foods Culinary Center (SMFCC), the creative arm of San Miguel Foods, in partnership with Ginebra San Miguel Inc. (GSMI) and San Miguel Brewery Inc. (SMBI), recently held an exclusive preview of food and beverage trends for this year.
Organized by San Miguel Foods Culinary Center (SMFCC) every three years, the “Food Forward” event at The Astbury in Makati City took journalists on a flavorful excursion as culinary experts put together a variety of fusion dishes that incorporated San Miguel’s wide array of food products, paired with some of San Miguel’s newest beverages. Guests also enjoyed special crafted by drinks GSMI master mixologist Nino Cruz and gained valuable beverage insights from SMBI Brew Master Antonieto Alan Sienes.
“San Miguel Food and Beverage (SMFB) is a key player in the food and beverage industry, and as such, we continuously strive to stay ahead of the trends,” says San Miguel Foods culinary services manager Llena Tan-Arcenas. “In recent years, technology, including social media, has played a significant role in connecting people from all over the world. With this, culinary interests have expanded, and many of us have become food enthusiasts in search of diverse flavors. Through this event, we want to further encourage connections through food,” she adds.
Without further ado, Here are SMFCC’s top five dining trends to watch out for this year!
Sustainable dining
People are now becoming more aware of how their choices impact the environment. As consumers realize the importance of food choices, new and creative trends in sustainable dining are emerging. Under sustainable dining is the climatarian diet, which emphasizes low environmental impact, promotes plant-forward choices and highlights the use of local and seasonal ingredients. Another trend involves plant-based and lab-grown food, providing diverse options as base ingredients and convenient, ready-to-eat products. Notably, sustainable seafood alternatives are on the rise, incorporating ingredients such as mushrooms, soy, seaweed, fruits, vegetable oil and starches.
SMFCC creatively translated the sustainable dining trend in two distinct ways. One highlight was hipong kabute with tajin pickled mango and yuzu soy glaze — a plant-based seafood crafted from king mushrooms coated with all-purpose flour and upcycled bran, mimicking the texture of shrimps. This dish was complemented by yuzu soy glaze and tajin pickled green mangoes served over crispy nori-rice wrappers.
Healthspan Wellness
SMFCC also predicts that more people will emphasize the need for longevity and healthspan expansion, thus making consumers choose healthier food options with vibrant flavors and colors that provide functional benefits such as energy and focus. Healthspan, defined as disease-free years lived, is now a crucial focus, highlighting the importance of the quality and quantity of productive years. According to SMFCC, the trend highlights a plant-forward approach, featuring mushrooms, botanicals, florals, exotic fruits, tropical flavors, protein alternative and fermented foods.
Capturing this trend, SMFCC presented a meat-free adobo floral salad with lychee beer vinaigrette, a blend of greens and edible flowers paired with meat-free adobo flakes. The dish was elevated by a vinaigrette featuring lychee bits and San Miguel flavored beer lychee. Guests also sampled meat-free tapa Iloko beer-ria, which combines the flavors of a local favorite, Iloko empanada and Mexican-style birria. The dish was complemented by a lemon-flavored, beer-laced dipping sauce using San Miguel flavored beer lemon.
Borderless global flavors
Driven by a desire for adventure and shared experiences, consumers are now immersing themselves in a global culinary expedition. Among current popular global trends are third culture cuisine, Balkan cuisine, the so-called “spice heist” and the popularization of local ingredients.
Third culture cuisine is all about creating new dishes inspired by multiple cultures, especially by those who grew up outside their parents’ cultural backgrounds. Meanwhile, Balkan cuisine is a mix of Southeastern Europe and Western Asia influences. The “spice heist” trend is also evolving, wherein people enjoy unique combinations like sweet-bitter and sour-umami flavors.
SMFCC presented five distinctive dishes to showcase global flavors. First is the Pinoy Mezze, a Filipino twist on Balkan-inspired appetizers. The dish featured a mix of whipped greek yogurt, turmeric calamansi hummus and Pinoy salad ala tabbouleh. It was complemented by the savory notes of Purefoods Deli Hungarian Cheese Sausage and Purefoods Corned Beef Salpicao, paired with warm flour tortillas, and smoked keso, kangkong & luncheon meat banitsa — a flaky Bulgarian-inspired cheese pie.
There’s also the caldereta goulash — a savory Hungarian-style stew featuring the slow-cooked Purefoods beef caldereta, sausage schublig and an assortment of vegetables served over mashed potato. Also included in the dish are the scrumptious chicken bola-bola kofta and okoy chicharon bulaklak with rose water turmeric pinakurat puree and rose water gin caviar.
Retro revival and ‘new-stalgia’
Many people embrace yesterday’s trends to find comfort and familiarity, especially after the pandemic. SMFCC sees that there will be a revival of retro-themed foods and flavors, which enable people to reconnect with their beloved brands and feel-good favorites from childhood. Newstalgia, as SMFCC coins it, is a growing interest in creating new memories or nostalgic versions with updated twists.
In line with this trend, SMFCC introduced dishes like pancit pares with BBQ a la liempo, a modern take on the Filipino staple that featured square-shaped fried miki noodles and a variety of meat, all topped with hearty beef pares stew.
Have you ever heard of beer-infused pandesal? The classic Filipino favorite was elevated into beer pandesal paired with smoke-infused cheese and calamansi honey marmalade. This version features San Miguel Pale Pilsen-infused dough, smoke-infused cheese spread and locally sourced calamansi marmalade. There’s also the mouthwatering grilled chipotle isaw and wings.
SMFCC also prepared inihaw na bacon at pakwan sa cerveza atchara, which features grilled bacon, adobo-marinated watermelon, sweet potato chips and cerveza-pickled vegetables using San Miguel Cerveza Blanca.
Little luxe
The ‘Little Luxe’ trend is all about indulgence and self-care, exploring bold flavors and colors to bring a sense of luxury and joy. It aims to elevate everyday experiences by transforming simple ingredients into global flavors.
According to SMFCC, popular indulgent dessert profiles will feature strawberry, vanilla and chocolate flavors. Emerging trends include caramelized fruits, glazed fruit desserts, floral and fruit-infused desserts, and sweet-savory combinations with herbs and spices like mango-habanero as the demand for indulgent flavors with healthier formulations is on the rise.
SMFCC presented this trend by crafting four distinct sweet treats, such as the kamote bicho-bicho with cinnamon hot honey, the halo-halo bingsu style — a milk-based and earl grey tea-infused shaved ice dessert topped with grated cheese, the coffee gin pastillas — a molded local milk candy infused with a rich coffee taste and 1834 Premium Distilled Gin, and the pan de regla croissant — a reimagined the classic French pastry as a Pinoy favorite.
With 55 layers of buttery and flaky pastry, filled with decadent red, moist pudding from bread and milk, this pastry is surely something that will never go out of style.
On that note, you’re all set for feasts like no other all year long!
