Food in wintertime sometimes seems to be more about emotion than flavor. It’s images of mittened hands wrapped around a cup of steaming hot chocolate, marshmallows on top.

Drew Coffman//Unsplash

It’s the crown prime beef rib in all its glory as the hero of the table. And, of course, its gingerbread men, women, children, and houses decorated in celebration of life.

Winter flavors evoke feelings, like cozy, and warm, and heartening. When we took a look at winter, in conjunction with our insights partner, CultureWaves, we found some surprising flavors are growing. We knew about maple, turmeric, even gochujang, and pistachio.

Rosemary Aussie Lamb Meatballs//Lance Mellenbruch of The Food Channel

But turnip, and lamb? Move further into newly emerging, and you get beetroot, anise, yuzu and five spice. Just as we saw in Fall, our palates are more global than ever.

The holidays have their own flavors, with green tea and sweet potato emerging for Hanukkah, and Piri Piri and cognac nudging Christmas along.

Grilled steak salad with Green Garlic Chimichurri Vinaigrette//Lance Mellenbruch of The Food Channel

New Year’s is actually considering char-broiled flavors, as well as chimichurri. And if you can hang in there for midwinter, you’ll see more rye and snow peas.

To see our full report, click the pdf file, here: The Flavors of Winter and Fall by The Food Channel.

See also our Flavors of Fall commentary, here.