Waitrose shares its A to Z niche list of popular ingredients for 2021 – how many have YOU heard of?

If you’ve experimented in the kitchen during the seemingly endless lockdowns of 2020, you may already be familiar with the likes of Zhoug, Amchoor, and Pul Biber.

According to Waitrose, these three ingredients are among the most exotic ingredients and dishes that are expected to whet our appetites in 2021.

The UK supermarket has put together an A-Z of niche culinary delights that are set to shape the country’s future eating habits in the near future.

And it’s a far cry from a traditional meat and vegetable diet or the traditional Italian, Indian, and Chinese cuisines that we have come to know and love.

The list starts with amchoor, a spice made from dried and powdered green mangoes, widely used in North Indian cuisine to add a fruity tartness to recipes, and ends with zhoug, a mix of herbs and spices with chilli spices that is used in Levantine street food is popular.

Many are linked to immigrants who brought their dishes to the UK – and the list undoubtedly shows how Brits are embracing overseas cuisines and tastes that they may have first enjoyed on adventurous holidays abroad (likely before 2020!).

The ingredients come from the foothills of the Himalayas to the icy climes of Iceland, the Far East, Africa and Australia.

The list comes from Korea, where it was originally developed as a health product. It contains black garlic, which is now popular in various Asian cuisines.

The ripened cloves are sweet and sticky with an almost fig texture. They are milder than fresh garlic and add depth to dishes like mushroom risotto. It can also be squeezed onto a pizza or enjoyed with a strong hard cheese after dinner.

Speaking of pizza: ‘Nduja made the list – a spicy Calabrian sausage paste that gives a diavola a tasty kick.

If you’re a fan of tequila, you may have already tried its smokier relative, mezcal, which is listed on the Waitrose A-Z.

It is also made from agave plants, but the kernels are cooked in fire pits before distilling. Orange wine, which leaves the grapes in the fermentation vessel, is another juicy item on the list.

If Asian cuisine is your pocket, swap your usual chicken broth for dashi, a staple in Japanese cuisine.

The list also includes Himalayan pink salt, which is sourced from Pakistan’s Khewra mines. Icelandic skyr, a cultured dairy product, and jollof, a hearty tomato rice dish that originated in Nigeria.

The popular Australian delicacies of Lamingtons – small biscuit squares covered with coconut – also made the cut.

Dishes listed in the A-Z include Cà Ri Gà, a Vietnamese curry chicken slowly cooked with potatoes and carrots in a fragrant coconut-based lemongrass and garlic broth.

There is also tangzhong, a pillow-soft “milk bread,” in which a percentage of the flour and water in a recipe is pre-cooked to make a roux, which is then allowed to cool before mixing with the rest of the ingredients and baking.

If Asian cuisine is your pocket, swap your usual chicken broth for dashi, a staple in Japanese cuisine

Chili lovers will enjoy sambal (left), a fiery and aromatic sauce and a typical spice in countries like Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, while nduja (right) is already a popular pizza topping

Season your bowl of fruit with kalamansi, a Southeast Asian cross between kumquat and madarin that is widely used in Filipino kitchens and is often mixed with soy sauce, vinegar, and chilli for a versatile dipping sauce, or in tangy marinades. and yuzu, a versatile East Asian citrus that looks like a miniature grapefruit.

Its juice and bowl go well with everything from jams to cocktails, and add zing to the ponzu sauce.

Chili lovers will enjoy sambal, a fiery and aromatic sauce and a typical spice in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, among others.

Season your fruit bowl with kalamansi, a Southeast Asian cross between a kumquat and a madarin that is common in Filipino kitchens

The list starts with amchoor, a spice made from dried and powdered green mangoes that is widely used in northern Indian cuisine to add a fruity tartness to recipes

If you’re a fan of tequila, you may have already tried its smokier relative, mezcal, which is listed on the Waitrose A-Z. It is also made from agave plants, but their kernels are cooked in fire pits before distilling. Orange wine, on the right, where the grapes stay in the fermentation vessel, was another juicy item on the list

Fragrant rice, grams of flour, and pul beaver, a traditional Turkish condiment made from salted and oiled flakes made from dried red pepper, are becoming new staples for kitchen cabinets, while Queen Olives is the canape of choice for 2021.

According to Waitrose, we should all start thinking about the peppercorns in our mills, how we drink chocolate and coffee, and ‘a spend little more on a single estate product [which] makes a huge difference to the taste ‘.

The supermarket recommends Wayanad Peppercorns, considered the best in the world and hand-picked in Kerala, with a hint of spice and citrus in the flavor profile.

And while coconut oil has been a hot ingredient for some time, Waitrose suggests looking out for one from certified organic plantations that have been extracted without the use of chemicals like virgin coconut oil Extra Groovy Food.

Baking for a Celiac Disease or Someone Avoiding Gluten? Reach for a pack of xantham gum. It mimics the function of gluten, creating a better crumb and reducing the annoying crumbling of the finished results.

A spokesman for Waitrose magazine, which includes the list in its January 2021 issue, said: “Never before have home cooks had access to such a wide range of inspiration.”

Dishes listed in the A-Z include Cà Ri Gà, a Vietnamese curry chicken slowly cooked with potatoes and carrots in a fragrant coconut-based lemongrass and garlic broth.

Tangzhong is a pillow-soft “milk bread” that uses a percentage of the flour and water in a recipe to pre-cook it to make water roux, which is then allowed to cool before mixing with the rest of the ingredients and baking

The list also includes the Himalayan pink salt pictured, which is sourced from Pakistan’s Khewra mines