There was no major computer crash, and the world didn’t end either. That’s what Wikipedia was founded for. Facebook went online and the first smartphones came onto the market. Pale, skinny models paraded down the catwalks, while Halle Berry was visibly moved as the first black woman to accept an Oscar. Welcome to the 2000s, a decade in which globalization and pop culture reached new heights and sustainability and environmental awareness gradually became the center of social debates. But the 2000s were also marked by events that shocked us all. Such as September 11, 2001, or the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which killed more than 230,000 people and left another 1.7 million homeless.
These disasters changed not only our world view, but also our eating habits. While the food trends of the 90s saw a strong increase in demand for dishes from international cuisine, the desire for comfort food increased in the 2000s. But international cuisine did not disappear altogether, as ethnic cuisine, especially Asian and Latin American cuisine, continued to gain in popularity. While people were almost obsessed with diets and superfoods, nibbling on carrots or sipping smoothies, calorie bombs such as cupcakes, cake pops and macarons were booming. In general, the culinary scene in the 2000s seems to be characterized by contrasts and change. So it’s worth taking a closer look at the food trends of the 2000sto better understand modern cuisine.
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Food trends of the 2000s: Cupcake craze
Unlike most other food trends, the cupcake can be traced to a single moment when it became the “in” American baked good. What’s more, we even know how long it took: just 20 seconds. That’s exactly how long the scene lasted in the episode “No Ifs, Ands or Butts” of the series “Sex and the City”, which was first broadcast on July 9, 2000. The main characters Carry and Miranda sat on a bench in front of the famous Magnolia Bakery and talked about Carry’s latest flame Aidan. The newly smitten character held a cupcake with pink frosting in her hand, took a bite and flashed a lovestruck smile. Shortly afterwards, Jennifer Appel, the owner of Magnolia Bakery, noticed that her average customer base had changed: Suddenly, predominantly young, strikingly slim women were lining up in front of their shop. And everyone wanted cupcakes.
But why did the cupcake, which until then had mainly been a favorite at children’s birthday parties, become the trendiest dessert in New York after just one TV appearance? Other products, such as shoes by Manolo Blahnik or Cosmopolitans, needed to appear much more often in the series to gain a similar popularity. On the one hand, it may be because cupcakes are cheaper than designer pumps and – unlike cocktails – can also be consumed during the day. On the other hand, the cupcake trend coincides with changes in the media world and the advent of social media. Cooking programs were now reaching a large audience, and New York-based TV channel Food Network even developed its own format for cupcake fans with “Cupcake Wars” – a competition in which bakers competed against each other. But 9/11 may have also contributed to the popularity of colorful desserts, as people increasingly longed for safety and security – and sweet cupcakes helped satisfy this need.
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Comfort food – food for the soul
It may sound strange to focus on food in difficult times, but after this dramatic event, Americans not only reached for more sweet snacks, but also for traditional, hearty and high-calorie home cooking. Dishes like meatloaf, chicken pot pie and mac and cheese seemed to provide comfort by evoking childhood memories and feelings of security. From a purely scientific point of view, this is largely because these foods are high in carbohydrates and fats, which have a direct influence on the reward system in the brain. Carbohydrates in particular lead to increased production of serotonin – also known as the happiness hormone.
While this concept is by no means new (who hasn’t found comfort in food?), the term “comfort food” in its modern sense first appeared in the 1970s and only became established as a food trend in the 2000s. One of the first to use it was American actress and singer Liza Minelli when she enthused in an interview about homemade food. At the time, this category mainly included various potato dishes and chicken soup. Over the decades, however, the focus shifted to savory and sweet dishes. Comfort food cookbooks came onto the market and even restaurants soon added hearty home cooking to their menus. One might think that the many dietary trends that gained popularity in the 1990s would slow down the desire for comfort food. But all the events of the 2000s as well as the financial crisis in 2008 or later the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 prove the opposite.
2000s– The rise of New Nordic Cuisine
The concept, now known as New Nordic Cuisine and one of the most important food trends of the 2000s, found its inspiration – contrary to the name – in old traditions and ingredients of the past. The two Danish chefs René Redzepi and Claus Meyer are among the pioneers of this movement. They founded the world-famous restaurant Noma Copenhagen in 2003, whose name is composed of the Danish words nordisk (Nordic) and mad (food).
In search of ideas for new recipes, they came across a Swedish army survival handbook describing how to eat food from nature during the war. New Nordic Cuisine also focuses on local and seasonal ingredients like fish, meat and vegetables from the region, as well as herbs, berries and fermented food. With their creative interpretations of Nordic dishes – a reminder of nature and old traditions, combined with a modern, often minimalist aesthetic – the Noma founders revolutionized Nordic cuisine, which until then had been considered solid but boring.
But not just that. In 2004, René Redzepi and Claus Meyer, together with ten other top Nordic chefs, signed the New Nordic Food Manifesto in Copenhagen. In doing so, they not only drew international gastronomic attention to Nordic cuisine, but also made a lasting contribution to modern food culture.
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From fast to slow food
Yes, it was a revolution. Even if it was slow. The slow food movement was founded in 1986 by Italian publisher and sociologist Carlo Petrini. One of the triggers was when a McDonald’s opened near the famous Spanish Stairs in Rome. At the bottom of those very stairs, Petrini proclaimed a public protest dinner of traditional Italian dishes as a counter movement to the fast and thoughtless consumption of food. In doing so, he wanted to prevent local food traditions being lost. It would take some time before the slow food movement spread from Europe to America. As a food trend of the 2000s, it eventually gained significance worldwide.
Today, the slow food organization is active in around 160 countries and is committed to a socially and environmentally responsible food system that protects people and animals, but also the environment and climate. For German future researcher Matthias Horx, slow food is even one of 18 trends that will sustainably influence our future in regard to nutrition.
