The thing about food trends is that we're over them. There's nothing more annoying than a cupcake, there's no one more annoying than a foodie. If a food is trendy, then by nature we've had enough of it. We never want to put another Brussels sprout in our mouths again, especially if it's accompanied by bacon, and we'd like to live the rest of our lives without ever seeing another kale salad, a container of hummus or a cauliflower steak. Amiright? Not exactly.
The truth about food trends, of course, is that many of them are popular for a reason. We in fact love our kale salads and our Brussels sprouts, especially if they come with bacon. We love ramen, burrata, artisanal bread and while we may be getting sick of it, we're still not entirely over Greek yogurt. What can we say? We love trendy food... sometimes. Despite our leniency with certain food trends, our tolerance for others is aggressively low. Some trends thankfully don't gain enough traction to stick around and annoy us for too long (um, what the hell happened to Soylent and artisanal toast?). Others, however, just won't disappear. Here are 14 food trends we've had more than enough of, and that we hope we can all leave behind as we enter the new year.
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1
Nutella Overload
Justin Sullivan via Getty Images
Nutella is heavenly, don't get us wrong, but what happened to the days when it was reserved as a special treat? As something you looked forward to, that you couldn't get everywhere and you couldn't find on everything? We can't decide if it was the Nutella bar at Eataly or the Nutella Cronuts™ that did it for us, but we have one thing to say approaching the new year: Nutella, calm down.
2
#Nom
FLICKR: BRETT JORDAN
"Nom" is juvenile, "nom" is annoying, "nom" means nothing and for the love of all things delicious, we wish you'd stop hashtagging your Instagrams with it. As if "nom" couldn't get any worse, it's shorthand for "nom nom." We abbreviated "nom nom." Anyone else hate everyone and everything?
3
PSL
Louis Abate/Flickr
Easy there, Pumpkin Spice Latte. Every year we think the world will tire of them, and every year crowds keep coming back for the overhyped Starbucks beverage that comes out earlier and earlier each year. Somewhere between Umami Burger's Pumpkin Spice Latte Burger and the pumpkin spice latte Twitter account, @TheRealPSL, which is followed by no less than 90.1 THOUSAND people, we gave up.
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4
Mixology
JENS SCHOTT KNUDSEN, PAMHULE.COM VIA GETTY IMAGES
We've been confused about what the term "mixologist" really means, so we asked the experts to find out once and for all. What we found is that every professional drink-maker we asked refers to him or herself as a bartender, not a mixologist. Thus, we think it's only appropriate for mixology to go the way of 2014 -- meaning, disappear forever.
5
Kids Reality Cooking Competitions
FOX via Getty Images
Yeah, shouldn't these be illegal or something? And isn't it insanely emotionally confusing and likely unhealthy for these kids to be judged on national television and be made to feel like failures when they lose? What happened to "everyone's a winner?" We've had enough of cooking competitions on TV as it is. We're real over the exploitative kids versions, like Rachael vs. Guy Kids Cook Off and MasterChef Jr., which Time magazine calls the best cooking show on TV. "Kids can't really go to Hogwarts. But with sharp knives and an optimism that life has not yet beaten out of them, they can make magic," says Time. Thanks, we'll pass.
6
Talk Of Cronuts™
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Seriously. Cronuts™ came out in 2013. Everyone take a minute with this and then decide whether or not you should still be discussing them -- let alone waiting in line for them -- come 2015. 2013, y'all. 2013.
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7
Fancy Ice, For A Fee
ANTONIO MUñOZ PALOMARES VIA GETTY
Cocktail culture is haughty enough on its own. We admit we love a big, round ice cube every once in a while, but when bars start charging extra for perfectly clear ice cubes, we lose any and all respect for said establishments. See ya at the dive bar, friends.
8
Ridiculously Priced Coffee
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Coffee programs, coffee labs, and snobby baristas, give us our sanity back. Overpriced coffee seems to be the norm, rather than the exception these days, and we've had just about enough of the $11 Chemex cup of Joe. Here's to regular, reasonably priced coffee in 2015. Who's with us?!
9
Charcoal
Andrew Unangst via Getty Images
Apparently people are consuming "activated charcoal" to detox. Evidence to defend charcoal's supposed healing benefits and purported ability to eliminate toxins is shaky at best, so we're hoping this bizzaro trend goes quietly into the night, where it belongs: on our grills and in our campfires.
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10
Kale Everything
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Kale is great in many ways. It is not great at all hours of the day, every day. It's great steamed, lightly blanched or massaged with enough oil and vinegar or lemon juice to turn its rough leaves tender, and it can even be good dehydrated into chips -- sometimes. When kale is not preferable is when it's the only salad offered on the menu of every restaurant you visit, when it's put into smoothies and shoved down your throat at every turn. Kale, why don't you take a little breather so that we can all miss you and appreciate you upon your return? Thanks!
11
Paleo Everything
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The Paleo diet is flawed. We'll say it. (But so is every diet, so don't get too excited.) Paleo principles are not without merit, however. Decrees to stay away from processed food are unquestionably laudable, as are those to eat more vegetables, fruits and healthy fats. We wish the misconception that all grains are bad would leave us in 2015, however. Whether it's the low or no-carb diet or the Paleo diet, carbs have been vilified, and as bread-lovers, we're standing our ground. There's a place for paleo-eating (especially when it involves paleo cookies) but there's a place for whole grains and white wonder bread too, guys. Can't we all just get along?
12
The Word "Foodie"
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Blah blah, we know. Everyone hated "foodies" and then everyone came to their defense, and all the while people were declaring themselves one or insisting that they weren't a foodie but a "food-lover." However you feel about them, foodies are here to stay -- they're people who love food to the point of obsession, and while we at HuffPost Taste like to think we fall in the latter category of "food lovers," not obnoxious foodies, we admit who we are and aren't going to try to deny it. We love food, we talk and write about it all day, we eat a lot of it and yes, we ocassionally photograph it too. Call us, call your neighbor or call your co-worker what you will, but we think everyone can agree on one thing: Nobody likes the designation "foodie." Nobody. So let's just give up the term altogether and get on with our lives (and our dignity).
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13
Fast Food Breakfast Wars
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Honestly, breakfast is too early for this sh*t. It's hard enough to roll out of bed and tumble into work looking half way alive. We've got no time and less interest in you, Waffle Taco. Nor for you, Dunkin' Donuts Eggs Benedict Breakfast Sandwich. The one thing we can articulate before we've had our morning coffee is that these battling breakfast wars are a big waste of time. Furthermore, we gorged on Cheesy Roll Ups and Doritos Locos Tacos around 2 a.m. the night before, so we're really not ready for you before noon. Go back to sleep, fast food breakfasts.
14
Cold-Pressed Juice
happykatie/Flickr
We flirted with you for a while, cold-pressed juice, and you definitely made us feel good, but ultimately you left us feeling unfulfilled. You also depleted our bank accounts. We feel torn about it, we really do, but we think we're breaking up with you, cold pressed juice, and we're getting back together with salads and whole fruits.
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