FALL 2010

PUBLISHER'S NOTE

With this issue, and this season in general, I’m inspired by the evolving and varied opportunities for business-building flavor strategies, from the lowly pickle to the larger-picture global culinary trends. Here are three recent standouts:

SNACKS, NIBBLES, NOSHES. More chefs and operators are debuting snacks/bites/noshing sections on the menu, providing inspiration for the foodservice industry and consumers alike. The factors that drove the small-plate movement are being redirected to target what this trend was about all along: more flavorful offerings with built-in craveability, free of price or time constraints. As a diner, I’m much more likely to add a flavor-loaded meatball, skewer or creative dish of nuts or olives to my meal than to reconfigure my entire eating plan based on a small-plates strategy. This more-casual nibble-and-nosh approach makes fewer demands on both my hunger and my wallet. In Karen Weisberg’s protein-trends feature (page 45), chefs share inspirations for bites and snacks that whet diners’ appetites, and both Monica Rogers’ and Gerry Ludwig’s articles (pages 37 and 55) highlight portioning strategies that present new sales opportunities.

PICKLE POWER. This time of year lends itself to inspirations by way of preserving and putting food by. And at this season’s state-fair booths and on trend-setting menus across the country, pickles are making headlines. From house-made pickled samplers and condiments to the boom in fried pickles, it’s exciting to see chefs and menu developers getting creative here. In this issue, Gerry Ludwig highlights pickle trends coming out of New York City’s cutting-edge restaurants and provides ideas for innovative, house-made pickles with signature-dish potential (page 55). And Technomic research proves that pickles warrant their own category among fried foods, as the fried-pickle frenzy brings signature status to menus of multi-units like Buffalo Wild Wings.

GLOBAL COMFORT. I’m continually impressed by the growing number of community-based food and cooking programs that educate and inspire people around the country. In my own area of Portland, Maine, food writer and cook Lindsay Sterling has created a buzz with her “Immigrant Kitchens” concept, in which she hosts a monthly global home-cooking class by a local newcomer. Recently, she introduced locals to a Congolese feast of beans, rice and green bananas, prepared by Constance Kabaziga, and Nicaraguan tortas de espinaca (potato-spinach cakes), made by Jenny Sanchez. Sterling’s classes, held at the local community center, have been a veritable celebration of global comfort food, embracing the simple, economical and delicious meals that have migrated to America. These events open New Englanders to the notion of comfort food as a global phenomenon, not just our go-to chowder and baked-bean suppers. By keying in on the commonalities of all global cuisines, operators can find that sweet spot of menu and flavor innovation that builds dining adventure on familiar platforms consumers can readily accept (see Kathy Hayden’s feature on new strategies from global trends, page 19). It’s exciting to see the effect programs like Immigrant Kitchens have on the way consumers approach the world of flavor.

Cathy Nash Holley
Publisher/Editor-in-Chief

p.s. As always, I welcome your feedback; e-mail comments to cathy@flavor-online.com.