"2007" news and stories

I know that people like to complain about the Food Network, but for the most part I tend to enjoy their programming. I often find myself turning to their website when I'm searching for particular recipes or inspiration for a specific ingredient. I spotted their 100 Top Recipes Feature a couple of days ago and I've been seeing mention of it on several other food blogs (this is my way of saying that I'm a few days late to the party in mentioning this, but it's still good stuff nonetheless).

The pictures are terrific and it's fun to browse through and see the types of foods that made the list. I think that it's interesting that of the top ten recipes, seven are decidedly comfort foods. Of the remaining three, two are desserts and one is a breakfast dish. Head over and dig around, there's something in that Top 100 for just about everyone.

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One of my guilty pleasures about the end of the year are all the 'Best Of' lists that pop up. I don't know why, but I always find it really entertaining to watch a year of pop culture, media, politics and (of course) food boiled down to an assortment of Top Ten lists. If you also find it fascinating and want to put your $.02 into the process, then I suggest you navigate yourself over to Yumsugar, where they are giving their readers an opportunity to cast votes on a variety of food-related topics.

The image above is nabbed from their poll about who is the Best Food Reality Judge of 2007.

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The Well Fed Network announced the nominations for the 2007 Food Blog Awards yesterday and we here at Slashfood were happy to discover that we have been nominated in the Best Group Food blog category. The other nominees in our category are all regular reads of mine (Cook Think, the Ethicurean, Ideas in Food and Serious Eats) so I know just how stiff our competition is. You can vote for us (or any one of these nominated group blogs) here. Make sure to check out the rest of the categories, as it's a terrific way to discover a new food blog or two.

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Food manufacturers love bacteria, especially probiotic bacteria. The market for products that contain probiotics has really taken off in the past year in the US, after Dannon launched a line of yogurt, Activa, that included them as an aid to digestive regularity. The company's sales soared to over $100 million dollars and other producers quickly scrambled to work probiotics into their own lines, appealing to health-conscious consumers who are interested in improving their diets and lifestyle with food that is good for them, rather than by taking pills as supplements. In other words, probiotics appeal to the American consumer's growing interest in functional foods.

Probiotics are being called "this decade's oat bran," by trendspotters, who are referring to the fact that that grain rose quickly to popularity in the 1980s - and stayed there - when "it was shown to lower cholesterol levels." Oat bran ended up in everything for a very long period and it seems likely that probiotics will, too, provided that the companies that use them can get the same results from the live cultures than Dannon has. Known benefits include relief from irritable bowel syndrome, yeast infections, and diarrhea, but more claims are being made every day, suggesting "probiotics may help ward off everything from allergies to colon cancer."

For now, most probiotic products are dairy-based, including a TCBY frozen yogurt, StonyField Farm's upcoming dairy-based energy drink and Dannon's Activa and DanActive. There are soy milk products that contain probiotics and Kashi has put it into cereal.

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We already rounded up the highlights of the food world from 2006 in a comprehensive a to z list and highlighted a couple of trends that we see coming up in 2007, but the Miami Herald has their own list of predictions for the top food trends of 2007. The list runs from A, for "Anti-aging products for boomers," to U, "Upscale salts" (v-z are left out) and highlights include:

• Downsized desserts -- small sizes appeal to health-conscious eaters, but also mean that people will be tempted to take more "bites" than they would o a single dessert, especially if the pastry chef goes for big, creative flavors in spite of the dessert's small size.
• Hamburgers and hot dogs go haute -- More chefs tackle these favorites, from Thomas Keller and Joe Bastianich (Mario Batali's partner) to Rachael Ray, who is rumored to be planning her own burger joint.
• Mad science meets fine dining -- Molecular gastronomy meets the mainstream, as more chefs gain access to the ideas and tools needed to create some of the unusual presentations made popular by Ferran Adria. Like foam.
• Salt backlash -- Contrasting with the trend for gourmet salts, food watchdogs looking for their next fight could move on to salt from trans fats in a matter of months.

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