With winter raging outside, what better time could there be for some heartwarming food from around the world? Chinese New Year comes early in the year, bringing some much needed cheer to a bleak season. The Year of the Dog begins on February 16, the perfect excuse to enjoy a Chinese meal.
The latest Oriental Food Trends report from Wing Yip, the UK’s leading Oriental food grocer confirms our continually growing love of food from across Southeast Asia, with Chinese still the UK’s favourite Oriental food. 94% of British adults have eaten Chinese food in their lifetime and around 4 in 10 have an Oriental takeway once a month, be it Chinese, Thai, Japanese or Indonesian. Wing Yip began supplying genuine Chinese ingredients and produce to restaurants but now also provides an expanding range of authentic ingredients and food products from across South-East Asia.
Wing Yip continues to have a strong commitment to the catering sector and the Wing Yip Oriental Cookery Young Chef of the Year competition is now open. Young chefs and catering students across the UK and Ireland between 18 and 25 can enter and compete for the 2018 title, with one lucky chef crowned Oriental Young Chef of the Year, winning a once-in-alifetime trip to Hong Kong, including culinary work experience in a top restaurant.
Caribbean is another part of the UK world foods market that is increasing in importance and crossing further into the mainstream every year. Grace Foods UK is Britain’s leading supplier of authentic Caribbean food and drink and continues to gain ground, helping growing numbers of consumers expand their taste horizons and enjoy new and exotic flavours.
When you’re talking about world food, don’t forget the good old US of A! As well as introducing us to burgers and giving us household name brands like Heinz, the US is the world’s fifth largest exporter of rice, accounting for about 8% of all global rice exports. About 50% of the U.S. rice crop is exported to over 110 countries, including Canada, Mexico, Japan, Turkey and the United Kingdom. The USA is also home to California Walnuts and California Raisins, who have an increasingly high profile in the UK and Europe as bywords for quality produce.
Finally, this article is about World Foods, but whatever Continental food snobs may tell you, in some parts of the world Britain is rightfully recognised as a world foods player in its own right. Following Theresa May’s meeting with Chinese premier Li Keqiang, the PM disclosed that talks are underway to end the ban on UK beef products in place since the 1990s. Other British food products, including our fine regional cheeses and other dairy products, are increasingly welcomed in China as the oneparty regime seeks to encourage gourmet exports demanded by the country’s rapidly-growing middle class. Tell that to the Parisians!
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