Undiscovered countries

Unless you've been camping out in the kitchens of Simpson's for the past three decades, you'll appreciate that ethnic foods have been well and truly assimilated into British cuisine. Chinese, Indian, Thai - they have all become indigenous, eaten every day of the week by thousands, probably millions, up and down the land. Cooked at home, eaten out - they are, well, British.

Take the number of "ethnic" restaurants in the UK. According to the Gold Standard report published last year by the Restaurant Association, a massive 40% of all licensed restaurants in the UK in 2001 were either Chinese, Oriental or Indian.

With this much choice at home, as well as being increasingly well travelled abroad, consumers are becoming more educated when it comes to dining. While British staples like a well-prepared chicken tikka masala can be satisfying enough, the increasing number of southern Indian and Keralan restaurants is evidence that consumers are demanding more authentic dining experiences. Diners are just as likely to have tasted a proper dosa as they are an anglicised dopiaza.

Although authenticity and authentic regional flavours are important, they are, in reality, part of a bigger process: the drive towards diversity. Creating difference is the ultimate goal for caterers - it's what excites diners - and making ethnic flavours authentic is just one way of making them new. Another way is to create fine-dining versions of a regional cuisine - witness, say, London's Indian restaurant Zaika or Chinese hot spot Hakkasan. Not necessarily authentic, but different.

So what does this mean for the caterer? Paul Durbin, a former chef and now managing director of Manchester-based Loxtons Foods, says: "Promoting regionality is something that you can do. But one thing that people do want to see is different flavours."

That means new ethnic foods - or new ways of presenting them. Indian and Oriental cooking still generates huge sales, but growth has flattened. So which cuisines remain largely untapped? Prediction is a dangerous game, but answers to these questions do point straight to two areas: North Africa (sometimes described as "new Mediterranean" food) and Latin America, including Mexico and the Caribbean.

According to Sinead O'Gorman of UBF Foodsolutions, the company's sales of Mexican food have proved to be among the fastest-growing in recent years. She adds that Moroccan food is something the company is currently looking into, and notes: "We are also seeing Afro-Caribbean sauces sell better as the Afro-Caribbean population increases in this country."

According to Franz Conde, born in Venezuela and executive chef of new Latin American restaurant Destino in London's West End, Caribbean and Mexican food share a great history with Latin American food. For too long Mexican food has lived under the shadow of Tex-Mex cuisine, though in reality Mexican and Latin food is very different.

"Everywhere in the world it is difficult to get real South American cuisine," says Conde, "but there are flavours and combinations that aren't found anywhere else: simple flavours as well as baroque combinations."

He adds that, unlike most cuisines, Latin food traditionally does not separate sweet and savoury. "Who else does that?" laughs Conde. "Only Ferran Adrià" He points to Mexico's mole sauce, made from chocolate with three ground chillies, spices and nuts. Legend has it that this was created by a nun who had run out of other ingredients, but Conde makes the link to medieval recipes from Catalunya for rabbit in chocolate. Another speciality is ceviche - raw seafood cured in salt and lime. The reaction draws moisture out and cooks the fish without heat. "The flavour is impossible to get with anything else. It is unique," he says.

Conde believes that South American cuisine is set to grow. "I don't see any reason why Europeans will not like it, and Latin culture is becoming more international. The South American population is growing here and they won't accept a toned-down Tex-Mex version. And nor will British people - who go to Mexico now like they used to go to Spain."

Elaine Underwood, managing director of Latina, a supplier of South American products, points to the USA, traditionally a leader in food trends. There, the Nuevo Latino food movement led by chefs like Douglas Rodriguez in New York is updating traditional Latin cuisine. She says: "With salsa music the drinks companies have really targeted Latin culture. One of the other great things people get into is the cuisine." One possible growth area she identifies in the UKis the pub sector - because of the popularity of Brazilian football.

Latina has a range of five sauces for food service, including Brazilian tamarind chilli and nut fruta, Cuban Havana mango chilli and green peppercorn and Chilean tomato chilli and lime escabèche. Underwood believes that as well as the colour of South American cuisine it also has real health benefits, being lower in wheat and fat than the European diet.

Though restaurants with Moroccan influence are now more common in the UK, food suppliers have not wholly tapped into this market. Durbin observes that only when a cuisine is established do you get authenticity and regional difference coming through - as in the case of South-east Asia, China and, of course, India. "With Caribbean and North African you still get a dilution of the real flavours."

Tilda has just gone in to action at Nottingham University with a Fusion Curry Bar, where head chef Dave Butler uses Tilda sauces to create dishes such as korma chicken jacket or jalfrezi mash. It may not be authentic, but it is fun, and can make ethnic foods more attractive in more environments. Says Durbin about his company's chilli con carne with pasta: "It simply came from looking at tried-and-tested recipes and thinking how can we make it different."

Product round-up

• Mexican mole poblano sauce is available from Unifine DÁ¶hler - and can be served with chicken or, for Christmas, with turkey (0870 8707924).
• Knorr offers a salsa and chilli sauce for Latin American dishes, as well as various pastes, including fruity Caribbean varieties, Jamaican jerk versions and hickory sauces from the southern USA (UBF Foodsolutions 0800 783 3728).
• Major supplies a hot tomato Mari-Base, suitable as a starting point for Caribbean and Latin dishes (01933 440711).
• New sauces from across South-east Asia, including Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, are available from Brahim's. The sauces are all made in Malaysia (01344 893089).
• Cherry Valley has a wide range of duck products which now includes a head-on duckling suitable for Oriental restaurants (01472 371271).

University challenge

Students are a motley crew, and even more weird and wonderful when it comes to eating. So how do you keep 27,500 of them happy on the food front?

Russ Allen, deputy operations manager at Nottingham University, decided to join forces with Tilda after recognising the need for variety. As well as British students keen on ethnic food, Nottingham has a huge population of overseas students. The result is the Tilda-branded Fusion Curry Bar, located on the top floor of the Portland Building, which also houses the students' union. The bar serves a variety of rice-led mains, including Thai curries and a New Orleans-style chicken jambalaya.

Other main dishes, however, might present ethnic flavours used in a more European style, such as Cajun vegetable lasagne. Side orders such as poppadoms, garlic bread and samosas are also available - highlighting the international approach to the menu.

"Early feedback is that the students love the range of foods we offer," says Allen. "Ethnic dishes are extremely popular with both UK and overseas students. Foreign travel has had a knock-on effect, and people are becoming very knowledgeable about international food."

Contacts

• The Authentic Food Company 0161-495 4000
• Apetito 01225 753636
• Loxtons Foods 0161-474 1444
• Latina 01483 202036
• Masterfoods (includes Uncle Ben's) 01858 434142
• Sharwoods (RHM Foodservice) 0800 328 4246
• Spiced 07968 197549
• Tilda Foodservice 01708 717777
• 3663 0870 3663 0000