Like every new year, we start with a review of the previous year to see what worked and what changed. So here you can read about the major trends, changes and most popular surprising.recipes of 2021.
Overall we published 25 new recipes. This is a bit lower than in the previous years, but there are some good reasons fort that:
- due to a shoulder operation I wasn't able to cook for three months.
- after a full recovery I have been hiking for two months, meaning that I also did not see my kitchen.
- besides of that I invested more time in reworking old recipes and articles.
So, all in all I am even surprised that I was able to publish 25 new and exiting recipes.
Despite the reduced publishing activity page-views increased by almost 50%. Some recipes are receiving a nice and growing steady flow of traffic. And from time to time a recipe gets picked up by some social media. This results in nice performance peaks.
So here we go with an overview of the most popular surprising.recipes in 2021:
1. Banana peel curry

No surprise this banana peel curry is ranking on number 1 in 2021. Immediately after publication in 2020 it reached already the second position. So it is no surprise that with a full year of page-views it ranks on number 1. And I think it is indeed the most surprising recipe in our collection. Or do you have the habit of eating your banana peels? Maybe now, yes…

2. Banana omelette for breakfast

Bananas were hot in 2021. And also this omelette was published in 2020. In that year it reached already number 9, and moved on tot the second position in 2021. Is it an omelette or a pancake? Try it and decide for yourself!

3. Spicy roasted pumpkin

This spicy roasted pumpkin is one of my all time favorites. I published the recipe for the first time on gerechtenweb.blog in 2007 and in 2018 on surprising.recipes. Last year it rose to number 8, and now it is starting to challenge the banana recipes on the first two positions.

4. Pangasius in tomato saffron sauce

This Pangasius recipe was on top for two consecutive years in a row in 2019 an 2020. Also in 2021 it had a strong performance, but it could not compete with the bananas and the pumpkins.

5. Mini fried eggs

How can you make three mini fried eggs out of one normal chicken egg? This question continues to puzzle a lot of people. After two years on number 6 it now moved on to the fifth position.

6. Paska - Slovak Easter bread

The first real newcomer in the top 10 is Paksa, Slovak Easter bread. Published in 2019 for Easter it was too late to capitalize on seasonal views. But it could do so in 2020. And apparently it is also very popular for Christmas!

7. Healthy breakfast cake

This healthy breakfast cake with fruits nuts and oatmeal reaches the top 10 for the third year in a row. After position 7 and 4 it now bounced back to 7.

8. Cuban green plantain soup

Another surprising usage of bananas, or plantains. This time they form the basis for a soup. Published in 2020 it makes it for the first time to the top 10.

9. Fiskasúpa - Icelandic fish soup

I am so happy to see this Fiskasúpa for the first time in this list since it was published in 2017. It always had a decent traffic but in 2021 it had a really strong performance.

10. Cardamom cupcakes

And one more newcomer to close the list: cardamom cupcakes. Published in 2020 it got picked up in Discovery last year. This lead to a huge traffic peak, just enough to make it to this list.

Which recipes did we lose?
Four newcomers also means that some other recipes lost their position. So which were the (al)most popular surprising.recipes in 2021?
- Chicken Chowmein had more views but tumbled to the 13th position.
- Mac&Biscoff tiramisu finished on position 19.
- Eggplant con chili ended on position 20.
- and finally Walliser Käseschnitte on 21.
What are the promising stars of 2021?
Most recipes need some time to build up a steady traffic. So most of the time they don't make it to the top in the year they are published. So it might be interesting to have a look at some potential candidates for 2022:

This Panna Cotta with Mozzarella was the best new recipe of 2021. But as it was published in January it also had the most time to collect views.


Did you know that this delicious white sauce based on eggs and oil originates form the city of Mahon? Find out everything about this in the article! And a no fail recipe of course!


My mother is a fan! These carrots get a very special taste when you bake them with rum.


The perfect hearty midweek treat. This potato stew flavored with Chorizo is delicious and ready in no time!


For me this is the most surprising recipe of 2021! Radishes taste so differently if you baked them, compared to raw. If one should take of in 2022, I hope it will be this one!

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