Foods and tastes are changing due to the coronavirus crisis

The coronavirus health crisis has interfered with almost every aspect of daily human life, including what we eat.

Almost a year after the start of social distancing, many people are enjoying foods that have been long forgotten or once rejected for their taste, feel or smell. Some have added healthy foods to their diet to strengthen the body’s natural defenses.

Home cooking business is increasing everywhere due to restrictions on restaurants and other grocery stores. More and more people are exploring new culinary experiences in their own kitchens.

The joy of pears

Maeri Ferguson is a 31 year old female living in Brooklyn, New York. She had COVID-19 last year and has recovered. But the disease damaged his sense of taste and smell for months. Many of her favorite dishes no longer satisfy her.

Ferguson can smell the sweet, salty, and spicy taste again, although many foods still seem to lack the strong taste – but not the pears. The fruit was not part of her pre-COVID diet.

“I knew what a bad unripe pear looked like, but not a good one,” she says. Thanks to a gift from a friend, she pushed herself to find a good example. It was one of the first foods she could really taste again.

“I’m a full convert,” Ferguson said. “I’ll never forget to bite into a juicy red pear.

Fermented foods

Fruits are simple pleasures. But fermented foods have also become popular. Fermented foods last a long time in the refrigerator, which is useful if you go shopping less often than before.

Anastasia Sharova, chef in Stuttgart, Germany, runs Happybellyfish.com. The company is an online cooking school that works on healthy food. He added fermentation classes at the end of 2019. Then the coronavirus crisis hit.

Suddenly, interest in the manufacture of kimchi and sauerkraut, two kinds of fermented cabbage; and miso, fermented soybeans, has risen sharply. Previously, Kombucha, a fermented tea, had helped popularize fermented foods in the home.

“Health has become… number one for many over the past year,” said Sharova. She added that being at home has led many people to make culinary discoveries. She said fermenting things was like a community activity done by families or in online classes.

Alicia Harper, 30, also discovered fermented foods. She is a nutritionist in New York. She didn’t like the strong tastes and smells of fermented foods at first.

“Since I recently tried them again, my opinion has changed completely. I have now grown to love the taste and the smell, ”she says.

Anne Alderete from Los Angeles, Calif., Now enjoys natto. Made from fermented soybeans, natto is popular in Japan but considered too unusual by many people.

“I’ve felt it a few times since I was half Japanese and lived in Tokyo after college for seven years,” said the 47-year-old. But she never liked eating natto before COVID-19.

“I feel a little virtuous when I eat natto because the health benefits are many, but it’s also because it brought me closer to my roots, ”said Alderete.

Concerns and comfort foods

Some experts believe that the changes in the way we eat are also due to having more time to review the information about how food gets to our tables.

Ryan Andrews is a dietitian who has written a book on plant-based foods. Ryan is also a consultant for Precision Nutrition, which trains nutrition coaches. He said many people were learning painful truths about the food system.

Andrews said: “People have learned about the unsafe working conditions in the meat packing plants, the unfair wages of farm workers.” He added that other problems include “food-related” diseases, cruelty to farm animals and the cost of industrialized agriculture. “

At the same time, research firm Semrush studied Google searches related to changing food interests during the COVID-19 crisis. Their results suggest comfort food and some unusual combinations are always on people’s minds.

The company saw a 17% increase in searches for “peanuts and coke” in December compared to December 2019. It saw a 33% increase for “prosciutto and melon”. And he found a 95% increase in searches for “bacon and jam. “

A service called WoodSpoon uses technology to connect people who cook at home with people willing to pay for a home cooked meal. The company is based in New York. Its leader, Oren Saar, spoke with the Associated Press. He suggested that before the health crisis, there was a strong interest in healthy and less processed foods. Subsequently, orders for breads, pastas and fatty meats increased.

“In difficult moments like this, diners are looking for authentic, home-made food, ”Saar said.

I am Mario Ritter Jr.

And I am Ashley Thompson.

Leanne Italy reported this story to The Associated Press. Mario Ritter Jr. adapted it for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.

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Words in this story

comfort -NOT. a state or feeling of not being worried, upset, or unhappy, without pain

fermented –Adj. a chemical change in food (and some industrial materials) that changes the nature of the food and often preserves it

jam -NOT. a sweet and sticky food made from fruits and sugar

difficult –Adj. difficult

authentic –Adj. real, authentic

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