Food trends 2017 - Montana Pawittranon (Thailand), chef, consultant and entrepreneur

Le Cordon Bleu, the leading Global Network of Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management Institutes, is happy to share a vision of 2017 foodtrends in the world, through the eyes of its alumni.

Montana Pawittranon (Thailand), chef, consultant and entrepreneur

What have you accomplished since graduating from Le Cordon Bleu?

I have improved my overall cooking, finding my own and true style. I also have opened a new restaurant and I started my consulting work for another restaurant. All with the better understanding of cooking techniques and what I learned at Le Cordon Bleu.

What do your customers crave when they come to see/taste your work ?

They come for home cooking meals... tasty food made from scratch.

What foodtrends do you foresee for 2017 and onwards?

Good-looking food and simple menus with a twist, hence using cooking techniques and visual presentations that refer to world gastronomy, as in culture food & cooking from all the corners of the globe.

Looking back to 2016, what is the main evolution you have seen in the food industry in your country?

There have been more young trained chefs in the industry now than ever. We now have many young people going straight to culinary school to later become chefs. The attitude about being cooks or chefs has changed from "just someone who works in the kitchen" to " someone who can cook and eventually become a celebrity/ popular chef".  The profession has been widely benevolent compared to before.  Also the customers are so more opened to different kinds of cuisines, indeed they like to try new flavors, new ingredients. The food shows on TV have become very popular and impacted significantly on both sides: customers and restaurateurs.

Any aspirations for the future? 

Personally, my aspiration is to cook tasty and healthy food. With my background in food science, I always believe that food play a big role in health. Good food must give good health. But good food also must give taste and pleasure. With so many illnesses seen nowadays, I will gear towards safe/clean/balanced cooking so we eat food as medicine... delicious medicine because of the good cooking techniques. And as a chef, it just doubles the pleasure to make a dish that serves both purposes.  I also want to cook more Thai food and to inspire young people to cook more Thai food too.