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After the Bacon Shortage Scare, Could Pickles and Kale Be Next? by josie

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cover300 by josie

Kale is trendy, and this new ebook puts a sexy spin on the leafy green vegetable.

When a British report of an impending bacon shortage predicted an “aporkalypse,” one of my friends wryly observed that it served everyone right, after people wouldn’t shut up about bacon for the past few years. I love bacon, and at first I was intrigued by new bacon dishes, bacon cocktails, bacon candy and myriad other products, but by the time the Bacon Explosion happened, I was a little burned out on bacon.

I agreed that those living high on the hog (literally) maybe had it coming. Though the shortage rumor turned out not to be true, I’d started speculating about foods that could be trendy enough to create a shortage panic. The answers, I think, are obvious: pickles and kale. (So start stockpiling/growing now.)

In fact, this summer Nation’s Restaurant News reported that pickles are on one-third of restaurant menus, up 13 percent since 2008. Pickling and canning has been on the rise for several years among urban homesteaders and locavores, as VIVmag noted in 2010, a few years before Portlandia’s “We can pickle that” skit.

The pickling trend has gone beyond the cucumber to a variety of other vegetables, including beets, carrots and okra. And though my friend’s Korean mom doesn’t believe me when I tell her that kimchi is trendy, the pickled cabbage concoction has become a popular menu item beyond Korean food, appearing on everything from humble hot dogs and tacos to fine dining.

Some have been celebrating the pickle long since it was so trendy. The 11th annual Lower East Side Pickle Day is on Oct. 28 this year, and the 15th Annual International Pickle Festival will take place in Rosendale, NY, on Nov. 18.

But what’s behind the pickle popularity? It’s not just because they go well with bacon. (And yes, of course there are bacon pickles.)

“I think pickles becoming popular again because they are nutritious, and it allows consumers to go back to basics and reconnect with tradition,” says Bob McClure, co-owner of McClure’s Pickles, based in Brooklyn, NY, and Detroit. “Pickles mean more than something on the side of a plate, but they’re actually a focus in restaurants and home cooking.”

When asked about the possibility of a shortage, McClure gave this tongue-in-cheek reply, “Cucumbers may be facing higher taxes. Therefore, you should stock up on your jars of McClure’s pickles now, while you can.”

Pickles, he added, are a good investment. “Think of it as you’re getting in good while the rates are low,” he jokes. “Cucumber interest rates are going up. By buying into McClure’s pickles, you are locking in your interest rate now.”

As for kale, one of my friends recently posted this question to his Facebook page: “Can we find another vegetable? Kale is becoming too smug.”

But kale won’t be unseated from its leafy throne quite yet. And maybe it’s more accurate to say kale is becoming too sexy. At least in the eyes of Drew Ramsey, M.D., and chef Jennifer Iserloh, who wrote the new ebook 50 Shades of Kale (Minerva Salus Publishing, 2012), a take on the 50 Shades of Grey series.

“We kept meeting kale virgins!” Ramsey says of the idea behind the book, which contains “50 seductive, delicious recipes” for everything from breakfast to cocktails to desserts. Iserloh, author of Secrets of a Skinny Chef (Rodale, 2010) provided the recipes, all for dishes under 400 calories and some with playful names like Thai’d Up Roughage.

“We both love showing people how fun and easy it is to eat for health and happiness,” Ramsey says. “We got excited by the idea of a fun and sexy ebook and hoped the 50 Shades phenomenon could help folks eat more kale. We both believe that the key to a strong libido lies in kale and thought all the 50 Shades fans — and their partners — would be appreciative.”

Kale’s sexiness aside, Ramsey says the vegetable is popular because it’s a great value, both economically and nutrient-wise. “You get an amazing number of vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients essential for health in a very low-calorie package.”

But the authors are prepared for a possible shortage. “We both actually started stockpiling kale before the publication of our ebook!” Ramsey jokes. He adds there’s no replacement for kale, especially in the diverse ways it can be prepared. “Try making a broccoli cocktail,” he says. “Yuck.”

What do you think of these food trends?


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