The new foodie rules: bring me a bottle of olive oil, and for God’s sake don’t follow a recipe | Food

Food trends can be as fickle as fashion ones. There was a point earlier this year when, thanks to a TikTok video, there was such a craze for cucumber salad that farmers in Iceland struggled to keep up with the soaring demand.

These fads burn bright and fast and are forgotten about almost as quickly as they begin. But there are other changes in consumer behaviour that are more widespread and enduring, particularly when it comes to our eating habits.

The annual Waitrose Food & Drink report aims to capture these shifts in preferences and priorities as well as documenting a few of the more amusing passing trends.

So what has this survey of middle-class foodies uncovered this year?

A key claim is that traditional recipe books are out and online “inspo” is in, at least for younger audiences. Apparently 18- to 34-year-olds are no longer thumbing the pages of Jamie’s 30-Minute Meals but instead turning to their phones to get ideas for what to make for dinner, says the report.

There is no doubt that online you can find no end of social media cooking stars who showcase their pretty creations in slick, quick videos or carefully set up photographs. They don’t provide recipes as such – after all, who can follow along to a clip that lasts all of 30 seconds? – but instead offer aspirational content that’s there to give ideas rather than instruction.

Waitrose says this has led to more “freestyling” when it comes to cooking, freeing people from feeling they need to religiously stick to prescribed steps or ingredients.

In fact, thanks to TikTok and Instagram’s “culinary hacks”, 72% of young people in the survey said they feel confident making a meal without a recipe to follow.

I am pleased to hear it. Being able to cook and feeling confident about doing so is vital for our health, and yet so often complicated recipe books with long lists of ingredients can lead people to assume it’s not for them. Anything that breaks down those barriers and gets people excited about preparing food is hugely positive.

Plus, being less rigid when it comes to recipes often leads to less food waste, which is another bonus. Personally I love a fridge raid or, as I call them, “cupboard creations” which are all the more satisfying when, at first glance, it appeared you had nothing in.

Why do the content creators think social media has become such an attractive source?

“My guess is that, seeing as we’re very visual creatures, hardwired to seek food and reward, and social media is both very visual and very rewarding (sometimes addictively so), food content thrives at the intersection of these very primitive appeals,” says food content creator Simone Santerre.

“The camera is often placed so near the food that it’s almost as if you’re the one cooking or getting ready to dig in. Add to that vivid colours, gorgeous lighting and slow-motion shots of butter melting or gravy pouring, and it becomes irresistible.”

These elements stimulate our appetite not only for the food but also for the content itself, says Santerre, who has about 55,000 ­followers on Instagram.

“In the end, it seems that consuming (pardon the pun) this type of content simply leaves many of us hungry for more.”

Head chef of French restaurant Maison François, Matthew Ryle would know. A year ago he started posting recipe clips to his Instagram account and within four months he hit a million followers. Now he does a day of filming a week, alongside his full-time job, to keep his nearly 2 million followers happy.

The secret to his success? Potatoes. “I did a short series on potato recipes, and they’re all my most watched videos,” he says. His French cottage pie or hachis ­parmentier received 20m views. “Everyone’s got potatoes in the cupboard. I think if you focus on a single ingredient and show people different ways to use it, that generally does pretty well.” His series on eggs was also a hit.

He follows in the footsteps of his chef friend Thomas Straker – they use the same video editor – who built a whole brand around a single ingredient: butter. The Waitrose report credits Straker for a resurgence in its popularity.

It’s not just butter that’s back. Full-fat dairy is booming, with sales of milk and cream continuing to grow. At the beginning of the year, Marks & Spencer switched to whole milk as the default option for coffee in its cafes.

This return to full-fat dairy is part of a wider movement away from “low-fat” products, which are, it appears, not as good for us as we were once led to believe and can often contain hidden sugars and emulsifiers.

“There’s been a lot of bad press around so-called ‘healthy’ products which aren’t nutritious and don’t taste great,” says Maddy Wilson, director of the Waitrose own brand. “The growing awareness of ultra-processed foods [UPFs] in our diets has seen many customers going back to basics and embracing a much simpler approach to their diet.” It’s also this awareness that has sparked a return to cooking from scratch more often. In fact, according to Waitrose research, 61% of home cooks say that concern about UPFs has inspired them to prepare more of their own food compared with a year ago – with 38% baking their own bread and 28% trying their hand at pickling vegetables.

I think it is also the UPF discourse that’s behind increased spending on bread, meat and dairy products, which is noted in the report. As a food writer, I’ve noticed people now consider the quality of the food they buy like never before. Whereas once people wouldn’t hesitate to buy a jarred pasta sauce, they now stop, realising that it’s more nutritious and often cheaper to make their own. I hope this is a trend that continues.

One of the most amusing findings in the report is the pantry “glow-up”. Foodies now covet items such as Maldon sea salt, Willy’s apple cider vinegar and Citizens of Soil extra-virgin olive oil. I’d add Bold beans, ManiLife peanut butter and quality tinned fish like the kind you can buy at the UK’s first dedicated shop, the Tinned Fish Market, in London.

Extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) has become particularly sought after. This year House & Garden reported that olive oil is the new wine when it comes to dinner party gifts.

Sarah Vachon, who owns Citizens of Soil, selling refillable EVOO from female producers who practise regenerative farming, has been encouraging this since she launched the brand a few years ago.

“The message was ‘Cheat on wine’, since our bottles already look like wine. We’re happy people are finally doing it,” she says. “EVOO is far more inclusive to every diet and lifestyle, lasts longer than just the night, elevates the food in a similar way and can – if done right – carry the same story of provenance.”

However, Britain’s leading etiquette guide, Debrett’s, hit back at the trend last week, warning that bringing olive oil “might imply that your host does not have a sufficiently well-resourced kitchen”.

In my opinion, it still makes for a fantastic present. I recently brought some to my friend’s house-warming to find she’d already been given four bottles. I was not perturbed. You can never have enough extra-virgin olive oil, an ingredient that is at once stupendously tasty, astoundingly nutritious and useful on a day-to-day basis.

I’d like to publicly state that I will never be offended if you bring it to my door – I get through it at such a rate that any contributions to my stock are always gratefully received. Unless, of course, you bring me a bad one.