The Guardian: Get Smashed

The Guardian newspaper requested our expert insights on the rise of ‘smashed’ foods. You may have seen smashed cucumbers around for a while, but smash burgers have become especially popular with recently opened London restaurants like Junk, Supernova and SMSH BN, and TikTokkers liberally smashing everything from broccoli to breakfast.

First we outlined the difference between smashed and smacked (in case you needed to know!):

But smashing is not the same thing to all people. While some chefs and food experts use it interchangeably with “smacked”, others keep things more delineated. According to Lisa Harris, from Harris and Hayes food and drink consultancy, smashed food is “pressed with a potato masher to increase surface area and optimise the Maillard reaction, which gives those delicious crispy bits … You want to compress food without destroying it.”

The Maillard reaction could be seen as the science of smashing. Described unappetisingly as the “nonenzymatic browning reaction”, it is responsible for the flavour of browned food. Harris thinks of “smacked”, which most commonly applies to cucumbers, as “a bit more haphazard – usually bashed with the back of a knife or a rolling pin until they break apart, before marinating them”.

We also touched on the deeper emotional work at play when it comes to smashing dinner. It's the milder culinary sister to throwing slushies at trucks in the US, as it feels rebellious and counterproductive and embraces the ‘ugly delicous’ movement in contemporary cooking:

For some, pounding ingredients has a subtly anarchic appeal. “There’s something gently irreverent and disruptive about smashing up your dinner,” says Harris. “The inherent destruction-creation cycle of smashing things is therapeutic.”

Smashed food taps into the wider personalisation trend, as home cooks want simple ways to feel like they've made an impact (literally) with minimum effort. Flattened ingredients can also be layered up and personalised with colourful toppings, like smash burgers piled high with pickles, sauces and condiments. 

It’s always a pleasure to read these pieces in the weekend papers, and we’ve been featured in publications including The Independent, Time Out and The British Baker.

Read the full smashed food trend piece on The Guardian.