5 Trending UK Flavours Meet French Technique: Comfort Food Elevated

I have been cooking French food professionally for over twenty-five years. In that time I have watched trends come and go. Molecular gastronomy. Deconstructed everything. Foam on things that should never have had foam. Most of it passes. What stays is technique.

So when I saw the latest data on what British home cooks are reaching for in 2026, I did not panic. I got interested.

According to Tastewise's 2026 UK food trends data, which tracks UK food conversations, menus and orders, interest in matcha is up 158.4% over the past year, hot honey 119.8%, kimchi 55.6%, and ramen 46%. The premium consumer need has risen 44.9%. And comfort motivation, the desire for food that feels like a hug, is up 73.3%.

These are not fads. They are shifts in how people want to eat. And the good news is that classical French technique can handle all of them.

The principle: technique is transferable

French cooking is built on a handful of foundational skills. Making a proper emulsion. Building flavour through layered stocks. Understanding how heat transforms sugar. Knowing when to deglaze and when to leave the fond alone.

These skills do not care whether you are using tarragon or matcha. They work the same way. A crème brûlée is a custard of egg yolks and cream, set gently in a bain-marie. The custard base will accept almost any flavour you dissolve into it.

1. Matcha crème brûlée

This is the one that made me sit up. Matcha has a vegetal bitterness that cuts through rich custard beautifully. It is not unlike the way coffee works in a tiramisu, but greener and more complex.

I use ceremonial grade matcha. The cheaper stuff has a harsh, dusty finish that no amount of sugar will hide. Spend the extra two pounds. You are using a teaspoon per batch.

Recipe: matcha crème brûlée

Serves 6.

Ingredients:

• 600ml double cream
• 6 large egg yolks
• 100g caster sugar, plus extra for the topping
• 3 tsp ceremonial grade matcha powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Pinch of fine sea salt

Method:

Preheat your oven to 150C (fan). Set six ramekins in a deep roasting tin.

Warm the cream in a saucepan over medium heat until it just begins to steam. Do not boil it. While it warms, whisk the matcha powder with two tablespoons of hot water in a small bowl until you have a smooth paste with no lumps. This step matters. If you dump matcha straight into cold cream it will clump and you will spend twenty minutes trying to sieve them out.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar, vanilla, and salt until the mixture thickens slightly and pales in colour. Pour the warm cream into the matcha paste and stir until uniform. Then pour this green cream into the egg mixture, whisking constantly.

Strain the custard through a fine sieve into a jug. Divide among the ramekins. Pour hot water into the roasting tin until it reaches halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes. The custard should be set around the edges but still have a gentle wobble in the centre. Remove from the water bath and cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for at least four hours.

When ready to serve, sprinkle a thin, even layer of caster sugar over each one. Use a kitchen blowtorch to caramelise the sugar, moving in slow circles until it turns amber and cracks when you tap it.

2. Hot honey vinaigrette for salade Lyonnaise

Salade Lyonnaise is one of the great bistro salads. Frisée lettuce, lardons, a poached egg, and a sharp vinaigrette. Hot honey replaces the sweetness you sometimes get from a touch of shallot, and it adds a slow heat that builds as you eat.

Recipe: hot honey vinaigrette salade Lyonnaise

Serves 4.

Ingredients for the salad:

• 1 large head of frisée lettuce, washed and torn
• 200g smoked lardons
• 4 large eggs
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar (for poaching)
• Salt and black pepper

Ingredients for the vinaigrette:

• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp hot honey (or regular honey mixed with 1/4 tsp chilli flakes)
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 small shallot, finely minced
• Pinch of fine sea salt

Method:

Whisk the mustard, vinegar, hot honey, and shallot together in a small bowl. Season with salt. Then whisk in the olive oil in a slow stream until the dressing emulsifies and thickens slightly.

Cook the lardons in a dry frying pan over medium heat until golden and the fat has rendered out — about eight minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside on kitchen paper.

Bring a large pan of water to a gentle simmer. Add the white wine vinegar. Crack each egg into a small cup, then slide it into the water. Poach for three minutes for a runny yolk.

Toss the frisée with the warm lardons and enough vinaigrette to coat the leaves. Divide among four plates. Top each with a poached egg. Grind black pepper over the top.

3. Kimchi-enhanced French onion soup

This is the one people raise their eyebrows at. Then they taste it.

Kimchi does something useful here. It adds lactic acid, the same kind of tang you get from a good sourdough, and it brings an umami depth that reinforces the stock. The trick is restraint. You are not making kimchi soup. You are making French onion soup that happens to have a few tablespoons of kimchi stirred in at the end.

Recipe: kimchi French onion soup

Serves 6.

Ingredients:

• 800g onions, halved and thinly sliced
• 60g unsalted butter
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 150ml dry white wine
• 1.5 litres good beef stock
• 3 tbsp well-fermented kimchi, chopped, plus 2 tbsp of the brine
• 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt and black pepper
• 6 thick slices of sourdough bread, toasted
• 200g Gruyère, grated

Method:

Melt the butter in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-low heat. Add the onions and a generous pinch of salt. Cook these onions for at least 40 minutes, stirring every five minutes, until they are deep amber and jammy. Do not rush this.

Once the onions are properly caramelised, add the garlic and thyme. Cook for one minute. Pour in the wine and scrape the bottom of the pot. Let the wine reduce by half.

Add the beef stock and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Remove the bay leaf. Stir in the chopped kimchi and the brine. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Ladle the soup into oven-safe bowls. Float a slice of toasted sourdough on each one. Pile the grated Gruyère on top. Place under a hot grill until the cheese is bubbling, golden, and has formed a crust. Serve immediately.

The kimchi lifts the soup out of heaviness. It cuts through the cheese and the butter and gives the whole thing a brightness that the classic version sometimes lacks.

What about ramen and premium pantry ingredients?

Ramen, as a concept, overlaps with French cooking more than people think. A clear ramen broth and a classic French veal stock follow the same logic: extract flavour from bones through long, gentle simmering. Tonkotsu is the deliberate exception. It is boiled hard so the fat and collagen emulsify into that creamy, opaque broth, which is exactly what a French cook avoids when making stock.

As for premium pantry ingredients, the trend towards higher quality staples — proper sea salt, good olive oil, well-aged vinegar — is something I have been preaching for decades. Buy less, buy better.

The point of all this

I am not trying to turn French cooking into something it is not. What I am saying is that the fundamentals of French technique — emulsification, caramelisation, deglazing, stock-making, custard-setting — are universal. They work with matcha. They work with hot honey. They work with kimchi.

If you are new to French cooking and want to build confidence, start with these recipes. They will teach you skills that apply to hundreds of other dishes.

Browse more of my recipes at spiceislife.co.uk/recipes, or read about my background and approach at spiceislife.co.uk/about.