Nutella Nation

By Marsha Fottler - In the past Americans who went to Europe for long periods of time grew so desperate for peanut butter that they tried the local bread spread called Nutella. The hazelnut-chocolate spread grew on them and soon Americans craved Nutella when they came home. The food industry responded (slowly) and now Americans can find Nutella on supermarket shelves right next the peanut butter. In fact, Nutella has become...

April Holidays – Happy Raisin Day

By Anna Dantoni - In the food world there is a month, week and a day that celebrates every food you can think of and April is no different. Besides Passover, Easter, Earth Day and Arbor Day, there are many more daily excuses to cook and enjoy specific foods on “their” special day. You probably never heard of most of them, except for serious religious holidays. Specific foods have become associated with these days as part of...

New Year, New Food Trends

By Chef Judi Gallagher - Happy New Year, everyone! Here’s to a 2012 that’s filled with family, friends and food. While I certainly have a reserve of favorite recipes and restaurant dishes that I make and order time and time again, I also find that there’s nothing more exciting than plotting out new culinary trends. So here are the items that I and other food experts are predicting will be big in 2012. Share your own thoughts...

Menus Go Minimalist

By Marsha Fottler - There’s a new trend in restaurant menus and it’s one that will have you reading less but perhaps pondering more. Menus are going minimalist. In the months ahead when you eat out, expect to see less description about each dish and more single words spaced far apart often all in lower case letters. The words on the menu will be the primary ingredients in the dish. This will be followed by more white space...

Food Buzz: Discover Parsnips

By Chef Judi Gallagher - For some reason, chefs are more comfortable with the root vegetable parsnips than most modern home cooks. There’s no good reason for that; more people should be enjoying this sweet and flavorful vegetable that had it’s cultural roots in ancient Rome. In that land the parsnip was considered an aphrodisiac as well as a tasty side dish. As the Roman Empire spread so did the parsnip. It was British...

AGWA Puts the Coca Back in Cocktail

By Herb Gardener - A journey into the spirit world — of alcoholic beverages, that is — can be bewildering to the uninitiated. High-end bars have come to resemble apothecaries where Red Bull (energy drink) runs with Hpnotiq (exotic fruit juices/vodka/cognac blend) and liquor wells sport more infused vodka flavors than my wife Flora has pairs of shoes in her closet. What young customers in particular seem to want from their...