BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Every year, food and drink predictions come from various publications as reporters attempt to peer into the crystal ball and figure out what trends are on the horizon.
The New York Times, Food Business News, Delish, Food Network and many more all have taken a stab at guessing what we’ll all be eating, cooking and craving in 2023.
But some of the bigger trends these “food forecasters” are eyeballing already have arrived in the Lehigh Valley.
Chicken Skins
The Lehigh Valley is no stranger to fried chicken, with plenty of restaurants across the area offering sandwiches, wings, chicken tenders and everything in between.
But the latest trend predicts chefs and restaurateurs will be using a part of the bird you might not be used to eating — the skin.
Citing the “obsessive interest in all forms of fried chicken,” the Times says crispy chicken skins will be all the rage in the new year. It even cited an executive chef at Perdue as listing skins among the most promising chicken products.
Little did we know there’s a spot in the area slightly ahead of the curve: 7th Street Fried Chicken in Allentown.
The eatery, part of the Krispy Krunchy Chicken franchise, sells Chicken Cracklins, which are very thin slices of thigh meat with skin. They’re battered and fried before being seasoned with Perfectly Cajun Krispy Krunchy Seasoning and Marinade.
If you find any others being served up in local restaurants, let us know.
Under the sea, onto the table
Also flagged by the Times as a “flavor of the year” was something you won’t find on land.
It turns out that sea vegetables and marine flavors are super trendy, and there’s one spot locally we definitely found them married together on the menu.
The Wilbur Mansion in Bethlehem offers up a dish featuring Barnegat Light Dayboat Scallops with Beluga Lentils, Bowfin Caviar, Sea Beans and Persian Black Lime.
Sea beans grow wild in coastal areas and sometimes are referred to as “sea asparagus.”
While these beans are not a form of seaweed, they’re popping up at more innovative restaurants.
And if you’re going for the real thing, check out a place such as One Third in Bethlehem, which on its menu has a seaweed salad featuring mixed sea vegetables, soy sauce, ginger and sesame.
Tinned Fish
Delish went for the fish — tinned fish, to be exact — as a top food trend of 2023.
There’s nowhere you’re likely to find a more exclusive assortment of tinned fish than at Rainbow Tomatoes Garden in East Greenville, a tiny borough in Montgomery County along Route 29, and a quick drive from the heart of the Lehigh Valley.
Not only does it offer 320 kinds of tomatoes, but also its online store, open year-round, sells the world’s largest selection of tinned seafood.
Communal dining
Communal tables and food served family style have been flagged by Food Network as another thing for which you should be on the lookout.
You can find a fantastic communal experience locally if you take part in a Kiev Dinner at Bethlehem’s Black Forest Deli (which was just listed as No. 5 on a list of “Bucket-List-Worthy-Restaurants To Try in Pennsylvania” by the website OnlyInYourState.com).
Other local eateries such as Pat’s Pizza and Bistro not only embrace family-style dining, but serve up pasta flights on a communal food board as well. In 2022, those pasta flights went viral on social media.
Global flavors galore
The National Restaurant Association told FoodBusinessNews.com it sees global flavors through food service, from dining tables to consumer packaged goods, shining in a big way in the coming year.
It specifically identified the native flavors of Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic, which already are prominent in the Lehigh Valley.
A few Latin American treats really surging in the Valley are tres leches, dulce de leche and churros.
Wicked Sweet Bake Shop in Whitehall Township has offered many different varieties of tres leches cups. The latest to hit the menu, which changes daily, was a mixed berry cheesecake tres leches that was keto-friendly.
"We make them in a variety of flavors depending on the season," said Wicked Sweet owner Jessica Pelletier. "I started offering them because it’s one of my favorite desserts. It’s refreshing and decadent!"
