If, like us, you thought it was the year of the confit egg yolk, you'd have been mistaken.
It is the year, it turns out, of samphire.
The salty, sea and coastal-dwelling plant is the latest craze in unusual salad ingredients, as championed by yuppies, hipsters, Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall and the Cornish.
To be fair to samphire, its got some significant nutritional value - it is both vitamin rich and an excellent agent in flatulence reduction.
Ovet the past year, sales of samphire have skyrocketed, with the big chains reporting mammoth increases in popularity - sales are up 80 per cent at Tesco and 50 per cent at Waitrose.
If you don't want to give your precious pennies to the food giants, you can always take a turn at foraging for it yourself. Samphire is rampant near the sea and in estuaries.
Samphire, or glasswort 9its other name) is great lightly blanched, steamed or raw - add a dash of chilli oil and you're laughing.
Not a fan of faddy eating? Check out ELLE's 'Food Trends That Need To Disappear' and commisserate with the team.
