'The Future of Us' x 2am: Desserts of the future.

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Ever wonder what Singapore will be like 50 years down the road during SG100? Here is the chance to postulate with “The Future of Us” exhibition, a multi disciplinary platform that brings about experts from all walks of society onto one communal “think tank”.
                                      
One of the subjects that intrigued me the most was the future of food. I had the pleasure of attending a talk given by patisserie chef, Janice Wong at her 2:am dessert bar. Being an avant garde in the  confectionery world, she is the first to start a scientific laboratory for edible sweets in the Biopolis research hub before relocating it to the Japanese capital a few years back.
So I probably cannot think of anyone more appropriate than her to share her insights on food trends, given her scientific and economics background (she was an economics major from NUS).

Janice started a brief introduction of the current food supply landscape and highlighted the non-sustainability of raw food products such as meat and vegetables. Besides a disproportionate amount of resources such as water and oil used to cultivate them, current food prices is considered by many experts to be undervalued.
Top L (clockwise): Citrus mocktail with cassis blackcurrent paper, Lego Enzyme Chocolate Pralines, Chinese Prata, Tapoica Pearl chips and Cheese
With rising labour costs and higher demand for food, we can only expect food to become a more expensive commodity in time to come. With mass migration, globalisation and a confluence of cultures, one would also expect to see new genres of cuisines formed. The F&B industry will continue to fuse elements from different cultures. 2:am's Chinidian style Chinese pratas and East meets West Tapioca pearl chips & cheese are two such genre of snacks we got to sample at the session.

The demand for food with health benefits will also rise. To this, she demonstrated a citrus mocktail she concocted which came with a very pretty cassis blackcurrant paper. Make no mistake, this might look like a garnish lid but a whopping 120grams of berries went into making this purple sheet. In other words this is a highly nutritious piece (although seemingly not) that will likely become a common sight in future, in whichever forms it manifests.

Another creation by Janice were the enzyme brownie on chocolate soil and enzyme lego chocolate pralines. Each praline contains 1 gram of active enzymes, which was created by fermenting lactic acid in an arduous 3 years process and contained various nutritious amino acids, folic acids and vitamins. This is definitely Superfood!
Chocolate Ball and Marshmellow Painting
Food will also continue to be a fun affair with different forms of appeal needed. As such feeding for the masses in the future will require some degree of thought process and design. With the advent of 3D printers, we will be able to see sugar cubes, chocolates and even pastries printed in wacky shapes and designs. The possibilities are infinite, just like Janice's beautiful edible artworks, such as her edible chocolate yoyos and chocolate balls ala Kinder Surprise.

Janice is also no stranger in constructing huge installation edible projects, many of which have traveled around the world. The marshmallow painting which we was served was big enough to feed 200 people at any one setting, apart from being a gorgeous eye-candy.

Besides taking a serious approach to learning about food trends, why not also have fun in sampling these wonderful creations by Janice and her team? We might just learn to appreciate food better.

Admission is FREE
The Market Place (Near the Future of Us Exhibition)
Sat 19 Dec 7 - 8pm
Sun 20 Dec 8 - 9pm

For more information, visit http://www.thefutureofus.sg/

Written and Photographed by RamenKing2015, a foodie, who more often than not, is mesmerized by wanderlust and overcome by a sense of purpose to unveil cultural mysteries. Follow his journey here.

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