5-Senses Sunday
The 5-things rocking my 5-Senses this week
Taste:
2025's Flavor Forecast: A Taste of What's Next
Every year I attend Datessentials webinar on what will be new, hot and trendy in the culinary world and what flavors and ingredients to expect on menus across the country.
In 2025, the culinary world is whole-heartedly leaning into complexity and diversity.
In fact, the report reveals that 34% of U.S. consumers are interested in trying Haitian cuisine alone, and identifies future trends in ingredients like salted egg yolk, suya (Nigerian skewers), and sansho pepper.
The report is also replete with emerging global cuisine and cross-cultural fusion featuring items like Pikliz (Haitian condiment) and Sweety drop peppers that help shepherd us into an era of taste exploration.
Other trends to look out for:
Complex Fermented Flavors:
Fermented Honey
Black Garlic
Koji-aged products
Global Comfort Foods
Pastina
Chow Fun
European Dumplings
Modern spices and aromatic mixes:
Persian dried lime
Saffron
Vietnamese herb combinations
Kalonji (black seed) in Western dishes
Complex spice blends like baharat
Sophisticated Condiments such as:
Korean mulberry vinegar
Moroccan preserved lemon paste
Japanese yuzu kosho
Modern Preparation Methods:
Vegan Fat-washed cocktails (using coconut milk instead of egg or cream)
Smoke-infused sauces
Salt-curing non-traditional ingredients
Which of these emerging flavor trends excite you the most?
Scent:
We know all about the sweet, floral and citrusy types of perfumes and body sprays that are omnipresent but have you ever considered using a savory fragrance?
Imagine hitting the town emanating hints of toasted almond, tomato leaf or pho.
Picture going in for a hug with a friend and getting a whiff of Vietnamese coffee, basil or fermented soybeans from their décolletage
The 2025 fragrance trends are all about the savory. Check out the unique concoctions here.
Sound:
Mix tapes
Do you remember the first time someone made you a mix tape?
For me, it was in 7th grade when I fell head over heels for a dreamy London exchange student whose adorable accent and taste in music awakened new feelings in me and sparked my lifelong love affair with music.
We became fast friends (though only one of us yearned for more, sigh) and bonded over our shared passion for sound. He introduced me to the transformative worlds of The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and The Doors. His mix tapes were treasures, not just for their incredible song selections, but for the tender narrated introductions he recorded before each track, sharing why he chose it and how he believed it would change my world.
My heart nearly stopped the day my Walkman caught the tape, and I spent an anxious hour carefully winding it back with a pencil, treating its delicate magnetic strips like the precious artifacts they were.
Almost a decade later, I met my first true love at a romantic "Dirty Dancing"-style resort (talk about a meet-cute), and once again, music became the foundation of our connection. To this day, the artists he introduced me to remain part of my life's soundtrack: 24-7 Spyz, The Brand New Heavies, Chicago, Blind Faith, and more.
Perhaps like me, you spent hours analyzing every track from your beloved's mix tapes, searching for hidden meanings in the lyrics, trying to decode their feelings (I always seemed to fall for the quiet, brooding, emotionally intense types). Each song became a puzzle piece in the greater mystery of love, revealing secret messages meant just for me.
I knew his heart was mine when he strategically placed Chicago's "Beginnings" on one tape, its lyrics whispering, "Only the beginning of what I want to feel forever."
Though we've traded traditional mix tapes for Spotify playlists and YouTube mixes, I'll always cherish those audio love letters.
This is my tribute to the power of the original mix tape.
Tell me, what music entered your life through a carefully curated mix tape made just for you?
Touch:
Adult Fidget Toys
I found this gloriously tactile(icious) site featuring all sorts of satisfying fidget toys and recommended a few in my 2024 Healthy Holidays Gift Guide to send to your favorite fidgety friend.
My favorite are these magnet balls. I swear they are addictive.
Sight:
Tree Canopies
It began with that dreaded callback after my annual mammogram - "possible developing focal asymmetry" they said, requesting additional images and an ultrasound.
This was May of 2023 and just two weeks earlier, I'd been sitting with my friend during her chemotherapy session at Dana Farber, supporting her through a battle with a rare breast cancer. As she lay there with ice gloves to prevent worsening neuropathy, she asked if I'd scheduled my mammogram.
I hadn't, but made the appointment that very day.
When I found myself in that darkened ultrasound room, and anxiety was threatening to overwhelm me, I discovered an unexpected anchor: a stunning forest canopy constructed on the ceiling above. The hospital's thoughtful installation transformed the sterile space into something almost sacred. As I lay there, I lost myself in those intricate patterns of branches and filtered light, my racing thoughts gradually settling like leaves after a storm.
I later learned this wasn't just clever design - it's based on Attention Restoration Theory, which shows that even images of nature can calm our minds. It's remarkable how something as simple as a forest canopy on a ceiling can become an anchor in moments of medical anxiety. In that room, under those trees, I found a moment of peace when I needed it most.
After a biopsy and another month of agonizing waiting, I thankfully learned that the lump was benign with no other intervention needed.
Learn more about the healing powers of Tree Canopies in schools and medical facilities here.
Tell me. What is rocking YOUR 5-senses this week? I’d love to know in the comments!