"year" news and stories

An email I received from Jessica's Biscuit pointed out that the nominees for the International Association of Culinary Professions Awards (IACP) and the James Beard Foundation Awards were both announced yesterday. For those unfamiliar, both awards are akin to receiving an Oscar within the food community. Both recognize outstanding cookbooks, journalism and professionals in the food world, and while there is some overlap, the list of nominees for Beard Foundation Awards is far lengthier. Beard nominees for best food-related website include Leite's Culinaria, Epicurious and Dr. Vino's Wine Blog. There are also categories for webcasts, weekly newspaper sections, magazines, and a diverse array of awards chefs and cookbooks. The IACP is presenting a Lifetime Achievement Award to Knopf VP and editor Judith Jones (who helped launch Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking) and a Humanitarian Award to Frontera Grill's Rick Bayless. Go check out both sites and see if any of your favorites have made the lists of nominees.

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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It is difficult, if not impossible, to recount all the great food moments of an entire year, but Chow set out to do just that with their Year in Food feature. Divided up into nine individual themes, their picks cover the top trends. Cookbooks and books about cooks were big. Huge, in fact. The Omnivore's Dilemma got people thinking and the 75th-anniversary edition Joy of Cooking got them back in the kitchen. Food went high tech with the continuing popularity of molecular gastronomy and the ever-expanding realm of food blogs. And everyone was drinking, whether his or her beverage of choice was an energy drink, wine (possibly in a box) or a luxe new liqueur. Breeze through the rest of Chow's year-end picks for a cheat sheet on the last 12 months of food, but if you happen to have a lot of time on your hands, you can always browse through our own archives for news, recipes and lots and lots of food porn.

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