A “fad” is “an intense and widely shared enthusiasm for something, especially one that is short-lived”. A “trend” is a “general direction in which something is developing or changing” and a “craze” is quite similar to a “fad”, but craze has also a level of insanity or out of control-ness to it.
I would call the food fads in Dublin “crazes” and definitely not trends, but what am I talking about?
Well it is the appearance of a “new” food that everyone raves about, which then leads to the sudden opening of a mad amount of restaurants and eateries, followed by a short period of “being everyhwere” and then the similarly sudden disappearance of nearly all of these eateries again.
A good few years ago it was ….. Sushi! It started with one or two restaurants and suddenly lots of places appeared like mushrooms over night. Some restaurants are still there today, but many are long gone. After Sushi followed Burritos. From one day to another, every corner of Dublin had a burrito take away. Interestingly a surprisingly large amount of them are still there. But are people still mad about Burritos? I haven’t heard anybody talking about them. Maybe they just became normal food like many many decades ago the Fish & Chips.
The next food craze was Milkshakes! At one point there were at least 5 or 6 milk shake places in the City Centre. One of them even got money on Dragon’s Den. I loved the Oreo milkshakes and Nutella milkshakes etc. Today? Not a single one of the five places is still open. For milk shake enthusiasts there is however still Eddie Rockets where in some restaurants a dedicated milk shake bar has been added (for example in Stillorgan).
After the milkshakes came the “shredded pork”. I know, it is still around, but, boy, was that a craze at some point. And for “meat for people with no teeth” it is a surprising craze. In other words, it is not that amazing!! But for some reason you HAD to have it.
And the newest madness? That seems to be doughnuts! Not the ones for 5 for 1 Euro that you get in Tescos. Oh no! They have to be different and special doughnuts. For example with crunchy bits on the outside, called Cronuts. Or with different flavours, not just the “cheap old” raspberry jam, no the fancy models come with icing and cherries on top, or with banoffee or with a salted caramel flavour or crispy cream. And one other important feature must be present: The doughnuts have to be totally overpriced!! Only if you pay a crazy price is is really happening! ;-)
This weekend even sees a Doughnut Festival in Camden Street!!! :-O
What will follow? A total wipeout of Doughnut places and a new craze! Definitely! Mad people these Dubliners! ;-)
