Trendy McSaltypants

At the very tail end of last year (I admit it: I’m still stuck in 2008), The New York Times had one of those I-wish-I’d-thought-of-that pieces, this one about the rising popularity of salted caramels, now available not just at Starbucks, but in your local (er, well…) Wal-Mart.

The story reminded me of a discussion I had with friends a few years ago that split into two topics: One, what members of the group perceived as trendy foods at the time, and two, what seemed like specifically Northwestern food trends (this also had an offshoot conversation about the things everyone accepts as completely normal now that were practically unheard of when we were kids. When, for example, did you have your first sun-dried tomato?).

So, of course, I came to pose these questions to you, dear (possibly mythical) blog readers. What do you see making a run at being the Times‘ trendy food for this year? (Quinoa gets a nod at the end of the article linked above.) And what do you think of as specifically Northwestern foods — trendy or no?