Move over, pistachio – it’s pecan time! The food trends hotlist
Intercultural cuisinesFrom Indo-Chinese and Taiwanese-Tex Mex, to Viet-Cajun and Cape-Malay, brace your tastebuds for culinary cultures colliding in the most delicious ways.PecanMove aside pistachio, this season is all about butter-pecan ice-cream, pecan pie, pecan dukkah, cinnamon Meshuga, and pecan frosted German chocolate cake.PostbioticsBioactive compounds such as lactic acid and butyrate, that are the end-product of good bacteria in our guts fermenting prebiotic fibre.Could they help maintain a healthy microbiome?Cambodian foodAmong the oldest Southeast Asian cuisines, Cambodian food combines freshness with aromatic complexity using ingredients such as kampot pepper, lime leaves, shrimp paste, holy basil and vinegar (check out Mamapen in Soho, London, by chef Kaneda Pen).Hi-fi Listening barsLow-lit establishments where vinyl records, exquisite small plates and discerning cocktails come together in harmony.
See Bar Shrimp in Manchester or The Listening Room at MOI in London,Malted thingsThe butterscotch-toffee-toastiness and caramel-nutty-earthiness of malt syrup is enlivening everything from sourdough and cookies, to barbecue glazes and vinaigrettes,Extreme funkinessXO sauce, Japanese fermented natto beans, stinky tofu, colatura di alici fish garum, Moroccan smen fermented butter – adding a deep funk to your cooking is all the rage,GrapePetimezi Greek grape molasses is the new pantry hero; Ravneet Gill’s cotton cake with fregola grape is a must-try, frozen “swalty” grapes are all over TikTok, and behold: the unironic 2026 revival of balsamic vinegar,Combi ovensUltra-precise, multifunctional appliances that can oven bake, air-fry, defrost, grill and steam in one, like Smeg’s retro-chic 10 in 1 oven.
QQThe satisfying chewy and bouncy texture associated with mochi, tteokbokki, boba pearls and fish balls (sometimes referred to as the “Asian al dente”) is popping up everywhere.Doner kebabsFrom the viral TikTok “roll and bake” home-cooked version to the rise of gourmet Turkish kebab shops, this craveable, hot sauce-laden 1990s icon is back.PiconThe burnt-orange French liqueur that makes complex, invigorating negronis, or can be mixed with blonde beers for a refreshingly bitter Picon Bière shandy.It’s the 2026 spritz.UtrechtThe canal-side gourmet destination in the Netherlands being heralded as “the understated Amsterdam without the tourists”, awash with innovative restaurants, great coffee, frites – and just a Eurostar away.
PistachioThe Dubai chocolate bubble has popped, with few lurid green pistachio products tasting anything like an actual pistachio,Protein everythingCarbs are unapologetically back, jacket potatoes are replacing cauliflower rice, and fibremaxxing replaces protein-loading,Air-fryersBulky countertop-hogging appliances that actually “bake with a fan” more than “fry” are being increasingly shunned in favour of multi-tasking alternatives,Hot honey After being slathered over absolutely everything from pizza crusts to truffled cheeses, this ‘swicy’ condiment now feels a little one-note compared to bolder chilli-ferments with some sharp bite,Greek yoghurt ‘cheesecake’ Of course, an entire packet of biscuits stuffed into a yoghurt tastes good, but it’s almost as indulgent as a classic baked NYC cracker-crusted cheesecake slice.
CBDDisguising the hempy, cut-grass taste of CBD with sugar and sweeteners is out; mind-relaxing oils that are naturally delicious (think rosemary, bergamot, clove) are in,Orange wine snobbery No one wants to spend dinner wincing as they imbibe on an orange so funky it’s unpalatable; besides, Jura “yellow” vin jaune is all the rage now,Overprocessed seed oilsFlavourless seed oils with low-smoke points are making way for tallow, which is better for frying and roasting, makes crumblier, flakier pastries, and also tastes delicious,
Divide between Silicon Valley and ordinary people grows ever larger
Hello, and welcome to TechScape. I’m your host, Blake Montgomery. This week in tech, we discuss a moment of divergence between Silicon Valley and everyday people; deep cuts at Meta to maximize spending on AI; writers caught using AI; and the frightening, fiery crashes of the Tesla Cybertruck.Nvidia hosted a conference last week where it emphasized AI agents – semi-autonomous chatbots that can perform digital tasks for you – as the next frontier in tech. The company announced a toolkit for agents, including NemoClaw, an AI agent software suite for businesses
Amount of AI-generated child sexual abuse material found online surged in 2025
The amount of AI-generated child sexual abuse material found online rose by 14% last year, with the majority of videos showing the most extreme type of content, according to a safety watchdog.The Internet Watch Foundation said it identified 8,029 AI-made images and videos of realistic child sexual abuse material (CSAM) in 2025. It added that there had been a more than 260-fold increase in videos.The IWF said 65% of the 3,443 videos were classified as category A, the term for the most severe material under UK law. The corresponding figure for non-AI videos was 43%, said the watchdog, showing that the technology was being used to create more violent content
MPs urge UK government to halt contract giving Palantir FCA data access
MPs have urged the government to halt its latest contract with Palantir after the Guardian revealed that the US spy-tech company is to gain access to a trove of highly sensitive UK financial regulation data.The Financial Conduct Authority, the watchdog for thousands of financial bodies from banks to hedge funds, has hired Palantir to apply its AI systems to two years’ worth of internal intelligence data to help it tackle financial crime.But the Liberal Democrats on Monday called for a government investigation into the contract, which the party said could be “a huge error of judgment”, while the Green party said it should be blocked over Palantir’s links to Donald Trump.Questioned on whether the UK was becoming “dangerously overreliant” on US tech companies including Palantir, Keir Starmer told parliament he would prefer to have more domestic capability but added: “I don’t think we’re overreliant.”Palantir was founded by the Trump-backing billionaire Peter Thiel and it supports the US and Israeli militaries and the ICE immigration crackdown
AI boom risks widening wealth divide, says BlackRock’s Larry Fink
The boom in artificial intelligence risks widening inequality, with only a handful of companies and investors likely to reap its financial rewards, the BlackRock chief executive, Larry Fink, has said.The boss of the $14tn (£10.4tn) asset manager used his annual letter to investors on Monday to highlight potential hazards around the exponential growth in AI, which has attracted rapid investment and become, he said, “central to strategic competition” between global powers such as the US and China.“The massive wealth created over the past several generations flowed mostly to people who already owned financial assets,” Fink said. “And now AI threatens to repeat that pattern at an even larger scale
Leonid Radvinsky, owner of OnlyFans, dies aged 43
Leonid Radvinsky, the owner of OnlyFans, has died of cancer at the age of 43, the company announced on Monday.“We are deeply saddened to announce the death of Leo Radvinsky. Leo passed away peacefully after a long battle with cancer,” said a spokesperson for the company, best known for subscriptions to pornographic content creators. “His family have requested privacy at this difficult time.”Radvinsky, a Ukrainian-American billionaire with a net worth of about $3
‘Kids say they take a quick look at TikTok’: a new kind of distracted driving is on the rise
As watching videos, using touchscreens, and even livestreaming behind the wheel become more common, experts warn of increased risk of crashes Jackie was on her way to a doctor’s appointment last fall when she realized her Uber driver’s eyes were not fully on the road. “He had a video playing on his phone and was intermittently looking at it,” she said. Jackie, who is 32 and lives in New Jersey, could not tell exactly what the driver was watching, but she remembers seeing shots of people talking – she guessed it was a video podcast. “I was definitely feeling a lot of dread and distress.”As they continued on their 40-minute drive down the New Jersey Turnpike – a hectic highway that is not easy driving – Jackie considered saying something
Meningitis B vaccine scheme widened to include some year 11 pupils in Kent
Argos faces backlash over ‘influencer kit’ for toddlers
UK medical council overhaul may mean more doctors struck off for racism and antisemitism
Property company denies trying to mass-evict tenants before England’s no-fault evictions ban
No new meningitis cases linked to Kent outbreak found, health agency says
‘Not just a Jewish service’: Hatzola ambulances serve whole community, say volunteers