The Dish Alton Brown Predicts Will Be Trending In 2023
Celebrity chef, television personality, and James Beard Foundation Award winner (twice, by the way), Alton Brown is known for being a teller of truths, even if — perhaps particularly if — they're controversial. The man with the messy refrigerator is known for putting it all out there via Twitter with his #CulinaryTruth morsels that generate discussion, fury, and sometimes hilarity.
The "Good Eats" star is not above wading into the fray during the holidays; on November 22, 2022, he tweeted: "#CulinaryTruth: There is no such thing as a 'dry brine.' If you rub your bird with salt/spices then it's either a 'rub' or a 'cure' (or both, but that's a conversation for another time.) #turkeyday." As you might imagine, some folks disagreed.
Twitter user @Kerrianumbers replied, "It feels like stuffing v dressing. I call it a dry brine," to which Alton remarked, "That's like saying 'arid water.'" Sometimes Alton simply tells the truth, as he did when he tweeted "#CulinaryTruth: A box of Girl Scout Thin-Mints contains 2 servings," or "#CulinaryTruth 90% of all sandwiches are better as tacos," via Twitter. All this being said, it's worth paying attention when Brown announces a trend to watch for.
What can we look forward to in 2023?
Alton Brown's latest #CulinaryTruth appeared on December 5, 2022, and it's a doozy. He tweeted "Dry aged fish will be the 'it' dish of 2023. #CulinaryTruth." Some followers are absolutely on board. One replied, "Neo in Houston is already doing it, omakase style. Good stuff."
Others delightedly brought up Portuguese salted cod, known as bacalhau. Other followers were a bit more skeptical, one asked, "I can't tell if you are joking or not. You're joking, right?" Another replied, "Lutefisk still on the outs, right?" referring to the Norwegian "delicacy" that is lye-cured fish with a distinctively gelatinous texture.
Dry-aged fish is something altogether different, though, and we have to agree with the celebrity chef that its time may well have arrived. Dry-aged fish has a delicate, melt-in-your-mouth texture, and it's full of umami lusciousness. And how do you know for sure a food trend is the real deal? It's big in Los Angeles, a phenomenon Eater LA has already observed. Hotspots in the trend-setting city are all over dry-aged fish, serving it up as sophisticated tartare and sashimi. One thing's for certain, though, and that's if Alton Brown is tweeting about it, we're interested.