Social media, the internet, and globalization have made the world a much smaller place. Not only are we bombarded with foodie influencers sampling exotic cuisine in real time, but you yourself can easily obtain said exotic ingredients at your local grocery store or restaurant menu. In fact, many foreign or otherwise non-native products are quickly becoming the "it" food, stateside. And the bold citrus flavor you'll keep seeing in food and drink in 2026 is yuzu.
If you also once loved Cocoa Pebbles like me, the cocoa flavor, which has organic cocoa powder, is delightful and has 11 grams of protein per serving. It's great on its own right out of the bag for an afternoon snack (I can't get over how delightfully puffy the texture is) or in a bowl of milk as a post-dinner midnight treat.
Sour like lemon, bitter like grapefruit, sweet like mandarins and tangy like oranges, yuzu might be the consummate citrus and it brings all of that complex magic to this light, clean noodle broth. Yuzu-miso soba noodle soup. Yuzu is a citrus, but it's not very common to find it outside of Japan. So mostly we can use yuzu juice. Add five cups of vegetable stock or vegetarian dashi.
Store this batch cocktail in a glass bottle in the fridge, so it's ice-cold and ready to go whenever the need arises over the festive period; alternatively, bottle and gift it to a loved one or friend. It's a citrussy, martini-style union of sake from Peckham, Japanese vodka and London dry gin. Yuzu vesper Serves 8+ For the jasmine syrup 25ml brewed jasmine tea 25g cane sugar For the drink 2 tsp jasmine silver needle tea leaves 300ml London dry gin, a herbaceous one, ideally
Pink radish amazu zuke (sweet pickle), below, is a great way to brighten up your plate, and it's incredibly easy to make. When preparing it, the radish initially loses its colour, which transfers into the pickling liquid. After a few days, the liquid turns the radish into a beautiful, vibrant pink. I find the colour is perfect by the third day. You can keep it longer if you want but, interestingly, if you leave it too long the colour fades again.