New ways to eat and drink

As more of us venture back out to pubs and restaurants, we tot up the 10 biggest food and drink trends that have emerged during the last few months spent at home, and how they may be shaping our future

1 Home happy hour

No bars and pubs, no problem. Their closure didn’t stop us from getting our booze fix – a huge number of us turned our hands to mixology, and even home-brewing. Online searches for cocktail recipes rocketed by up to 5000 per cent, helped by a glorious bout of sunshine.

STAYING POWER While they’re no longer ‘quarantinis’, we’ll definitely still be making cocktails. After all, we can’t let that new shaker and well-stocked booze cabinet go to waste. Garden cocktail parties, here we come!

2 Online shopping

As supermarkets were overwhelmed at the start of lockdown, we turned to online deliveries for produce, as well as specialist products like charcuterie, cheese, coffee and cakes. Proving that some British traditions never die, the search term ‘afternoon tea delivery’ increased by a massive 2450 per cent!

STAYING POWER When shopping is this easy, safe and convenient with many good-quality products available, why stop?

3 BAKING BECAUSE YOU CAN

Our social media feeds have been flooded with banana breads, flapjacks, cookies, cakes, scones and homemade bread. For many, it’s been down to having more time to get stuck in. Some of us have baked for key workers and vulnerable family members, while others have turned to baking as a means of therapy and stress relief.

STAYING POWER Once you’ve got the baking bug, it’s hard to stop, especially when you realise how easy it can be. Our most popular recipes are simple, like our three-ingredient peanut butter cookies and storecupboard chocolate fudge crinkle biscuits. Go to bbcgoodfood.com for the recipes, then why not share a photo using #bakebecauseyoucan and donate to the Big Night In.

4 Living la vida local