Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to take a look at McCormick’s Global Flavor Forecast for 2013. With no surprise, the trend that immediately caught my eye was Empowered Eating. Basically, McCormick recognizes that more and more people are starting to take control of their health and what they are eating to support good health – this includes enhancing food that is already good for you to elevated flavors through spices and flavors.

I am all over this trend for so many reasons.

One of the recipes that McCormick featured under their Empowered Eating profile is a spice blend called Dukkah. When I saw this recipe, I immediately knew I was going to make it and probably love it and use it often. I was right.

What is dukkah? (I had no idea either.) Dukkah is a Middle Eastern aromatic spice blend made from a combination of nuts, seeds and whole spices. It can be eaten as shown here, added in olive oil along with bread for dipping – or as a spice rub to enhance fish and meats or to sprinkle over vegetables. After making a batch of dukkah earlier this week, I’m saying yes to all of the above. I personally can not wait to enjoy a piece of dukkah crusted fish very soon (cooked similar to this Almond Crusted Tilapia that I love). Not a bad way to incorporate healthier eating into the new year is it?

I prepared a batch of this dukkah in just a few minutes. All you need is a few spices, sesame seeds and your favorite nut (hazelnuts are traditionally found in this recipe, but I wanted to use pistachios – next time almonds?). After toasting up all the components, I crushed and blended them together in small batches using a mortar and pestle. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, the end of a large wooden spoon and a sturdy bowl would work well. You could also always use a clean coffee grinder (set aside for just spices), or run a rolling pin over everything tucked into a large ziplock bag.

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I know all of you use, or at least have seen and heard of, McCormick spices right? Well, I’m excited to tell you that I have partnered up with them to announce and share their 2013 Flavor Forecast with you.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t really know what all went into creating this annual trend report. Last week I had an opportunity to talk with Chef Kevan Vetter from McCormick and find out a little more about the year long process as well as what’s in store for this upcoming year as far as global culinary trends are concerned. I was impressed to learn that the list is developed by an extensive group of food, marketing and science experts from all around the world. My eyes are now open to what’s predicted and I think it will be pretty fun to see what takes off from the list over the next few years.

5 Trends of Global Flavor for 2013:

No Apologies Necessary – enjoying a gratifying escape from the everyday through the use of bold and lavish flavors

Personally Handcrafted – a very personal and unique way of expressing ourselves through food

Empowered Eating – learning how to eat healthfully and balanced in a way that suits ourselves, using spices to enhance flavors to keep ourselves satisfied

Hidden Potential – discovering ways to use up every last bit of ingredients

Global My Way – an adventurous and nontraditional approach of combining ethnic cuisines to new flavors

McCormick’s Dukkah Crusted Fish with Broccoli and Red Lentils, photo provided by McCormick

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Last summer, on a hike with my dear friend Sandy during some down time at a conference in Park City,  I came to the realization that I have a love and passion for cooking with spices. This may or may not be something obvious to someone who reads this blog, but discovering new flavors through spices makes me kind of … giddy.

On that same hike, I told Sandy that I have always wanted to start a series of some sort on this blog where I would talk about spices that I love to cook with or that I’m just learning about, spices that might intimidate people or spices that might be renting space in your cabinet that you have no idea what to do with.

This all goes hand in hand with what keeps me writing this blog – my love of talking about food with other people, sharing ideas, and ultimately inspiring someone to cook!

So here we are one year later…a first of hopefully many Spice Kitchen posts.

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Over the last few years, I have found myself making more and more food gifts for my family and friends for the holidays. Cookies and other sweets are usually a given but I like to get a little creative and try something different…like this homemade bbq rub and peach barbecue sauce I gave the men in my family last year.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas on any homemade holiday gifts you may have made over the years. This year I would love to make a hot sauce and bottle it up for gifts so if you have a recipe please share it with me!

I started a Homemade Foodie Gift series over at Family Kitchen where I’ll be sharing ideas for homemade gifts for the upcoming holidays. I’ll be posting a couple ideas a week for the next few weeks and have already shared this great Pumpkin Pie Spice and Cinnamon Honey Butter, if you missed those be sure to go check them out!

Have a great weekend!

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