Pub Food Trends: Back to the future

It's the end of a gruelling working week. The sky is grey. The recession is still making an impression on the overdraft. And the British public are hungry. Hungry for some kind of sustenance, comfort and reassurance everything's really is right with the world.

In many respects, when it comes to food, a pub can play a part that restaurants, cafés and takeaways can't.

A pub can offer a relaxed atmosphere; a home-from-home environment that can adjust moods the moment a customer swings through the door at the end of a tough day, looks up at a chalkboard and sees an old favourite scrawled on the specials menu.

"As consumers face continuing financial pressures, but are reluctant to forego too many eating out visits, 'mood food' can be the perfect menu solution to keep diners coming back," says Country Range brand manager Martin Ward.

"Consumers are turning their backs on 'exciting and new' in favour of traditional, comfort foods. Classic British favourites don't go out of fashion and customers love and expect them on menus - particularly in pubs."

For every person who reminisces about times gone by, it's interesting to note how warm and fuzzy certain foods can make us feel. But why?

"I think it's to do with the human psyche," says Essential Cuisine director Neil Corlett. "When people want to go back to what your mother used to make, it's a comfort factor. In times of uncertainty, many people go back to nostalgia foods."

A safe bet

He adds that due to many people having reined in their frequency of eating out because of the recession, the trend for nostalgia dishes is even more prominent.

"People are less willing to risk their one meal out per week on something that they don't understand," says Neil. "They want to make sure that they're having something that they know and appreciate and, therefore, safer menus with lots of classics on them will hit the spot a bit more."

"I think when people see a classic dish, they think 'I had that 20 years ago when my mother made it' and they choose it again because it conjures happy memories," agrees Scottish & Newcastle Pub Company food development manager, Ben Bartlett, pointing out that such foods evoke an emotional connection and it is this that pubs can really cash in on.

"Traditional British dishes such as steak and kidney pie, sticky toffee pudding or spotted dick will always be a popular choice for those keen for a taste of real home cooking, reminiscent of days gone by," says Martin. "Similarly, retro favourites now experiencing a comeback also rekindle childhood memories of when times were tough."

Figures show that in times of uncertainty, familiarity and nostalgia become increasingly important factors in providing comfort, as seen by the successful re-emergence of traditional dessert favourites.

"Answering this nostalgic demand and to give caterers more sweet options during tough times, Country Range has launched a new selection of delicious frozen desserts," says Martin. "These new sweets add five 'family favourites' to Country Range's already popular frozen desserts range," he explains, listing: "Lemon Meringue Pie, Caramel Apple Pie, New York Style Large Baked Cheesecake, Triple Layer Chocolate Fudge Cake and Chocolate Fudge Cake" as a way for customers to satisfy their sweet tooth and a love of comfort food.

"With traditional desserts continuing to be best sellers on sweet menus, Old School Puddings celebrates the very best in nostalgic cuisine and enables chefs to put on a selection of delicious 'homemade style' puddings with minimum effort and maximum taste," says Atlantic Foods commercial director Nigel Parkes.

Old School Puddings - a selection of eight classic British puddings - includes: raspberry jam sponge, chocolate sponge, syrup sponge, sticky toffee sponge, pineapple sponge, lemon sponge as well as both apple and rhubarb crumble. Each portion from the range, which comes frozen, can be reheated in a microwave for 15-20 seconds, while the two crumbles can additionally be reheated in a convection oven for eight to 10 minutes.

"Traditional puddings are still a hot favourite," agrees Martin. In response to this, Country Range also offers a line reminiscent of the 80s classic instant dessert Angel Delight. "The just-add-water delight mixes offer a light and honest dessert alternative," says Martin. "These quick and easy desserts offer great value and a really credible, better quality own-brand alternative."

Changing menus

Interestingly, menus aren't just getting old school, but they've also become bigger - in width, not length. This has a lot to do with the trend for local sourcing and pubs and restaurants updating the food descriptions on their menus with the location of the produce or its ethical credentials. All of these elements help an outlet create interest in its food menu.

"I've seen some fantastic menus where maps show where they source all their ingredients from," says Ben, noting that it really does make a difference.

Another top tip is, for a menu to be appealing, it doesn't mean it needs to be packed with options.

"I always think it's not about the quantity of items; it's the variety," says Ben. "There's no point in putting 50 main courses down and they're all mediocre. It's far better to do fewer and do them really well."

He says that the major trend within food these days is simply to ramp up and get behind ingredients that are good quality, regional produce - cutting out the food miles as much as possible.

"If you can offer 80 per cent local and fresh then that's fantastic," says Ben, adding: "Seasonality is a current buzzword in hospitality catering, but cooking with fresh fruit, vegetables, fish and meat is much more than just pandering to the latest foodie fad.

"Using locally sourced and seasonal produce shows customers your commitment to quality food, supporting local providers and, what's more, can add pounds to your bottom line.

"Food that is in season tends to be cheaper than imported alternatives or preserved food. Your local supplier should also be happy to give you a great deal on surplus stock, so publicans should get in contact and start negotiating".

Taking out the nasties

Back over at Essential Cuisine, Neil says: "When the company started up, it was light years ahead of the game in terms of product quality and the make-up of the products in terms of having no MSG and understanding salt levels".

Since then, he observes, "the catering market has cleaned up massively over the past 10 years and so it has taken out the nasties". A huge step forward for our nation in terms of quality food. So how did this happen?

"When farmers were looking for alternative outlets and started selling direct from their farms and putting on farmer's markets locally. Suddenly it has really sprouted and grown," Ben explains.

"Lots of different farmers, growers and small specialist suppliers have since linked up with bigger distribution companies."

Ben highlights that nowadays pubs "can get anything in terms of fresh vegetables, fish or chutneys, whereas before, they were quite difficult to source".

One example, he continues, is "the Lambley pub, near Nottingham which sources a lot of its meats and vegetables from the farmer who owns the neighbouring field. The Crown & Cushion at Burncross, near Sheffield, get its "meat from Holden farm, which is also very near to it," Ben adds.

But what of the new food trends? Are there any off-shoots from current trends that are going to take off soon? According to Ben, since local comfort food is enjoying a resurgence, "carveries have had quite a pick-up" alongside this.

While over at La Boulangerie, the bread and patisserie speciality business within the Brakes Group, the company believes it has found the next sister product of the cupcake - popular with women over the past few years - these are called Whoopies and are set to take over as the new cake