"Wet" your appetite: Some liquified soup liquid, pictured here in a bowl with a spoon, on a plate. Your reporter: Timothy Friendship, food fingering fanatic and inventor of the cheese and pineapple porcupine, here investigates a new food fad he just might not be able to man-handle.

Soupy tit wank.

As ever, Idiotica's tip top foody fusspot Timothy Friendship has his fingertips right on some pulses. And right now it seems those pulses are coming from the button of a vibrating food blender, as SOUPS look set to become the new trendy foods in 2002.

The world of food fashion in recent years has been in a fry-tening state of flux and flow: the great tuna revolution of 1973, the butter crisis in 1986 and last year's sausage uprising are but a few of the sudden trends that have sent food preparation professionals into a bit of a pan-ic. And this year looks like it will be no exception, with chefs busily preparing themselves for the biggest shake-up in the world of food fashion since the discovery of onions in 1902.

As usual it's in the hip-hop "hotpot" of London that the new trend has begun to emerge, and here at Idiotica we can confirm that the word - on Beak Street at least - is "soups".

Everyone from stew-dents to top bisque-nessmen are at it - popping all their foods in a blender at every opportunity and turning them into a hot slop.

Liquid is the new solid in the world of fashion foods, and it's a case of "no chews is good news" as anyone who is everyone in London jumps up and down on the "liquid lunch" bandwagon. Kitchenware shops in the capital have already begun changing their "stock" accordingly: knives are out and spoons are in. Blenders have become the new colanders and plates are now the old bowls.

In the words of Kenwood Chef chief Ken Kenwood, "It's like a tureen come true."

LiqueFACTion

TV lovely and exponent of "eating out" Cat Deeley's favourite soup is Garden Vegetables

Don't talk STEWpid!

Until it was banned by accident in 1760, the Victorians used to enjoy a soup made entirely from eggs