The Year in Food

s we gathered stories of Iraqi food poisoning, Martha’s release from prison, overfished oceans, and failed Fluffernutter legislation, a narrative emerged. The food world of 2006, turns out, was eerily like the culture at large, with outsized personalities and major screw-ups (Rachael Ray and spinach), creativity and meaningless fads (vlogging and Pop Rocks cocktails), new technology and old favorites (freezing “griddles” and steakhouses). And it was a time when more folks took responsibility for the impact their personal choices had on the planet (biodiesel and fast food). Here is our cultural crib sheet for 2006, as told through the news, opinions, and trends that moved the world of food.

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Four-star chefs are increasingly doing the restaurant equivalent of throwing on a pair of flip-flops: They’re opening casual food joints. Think Jasper White (Summer Shack) and Mario Batali (this year’s new Los Angeles pizza joint, Mozza). We were delighted when Danny Meyer (of Union Square Cafe and Gramercy Tavern fame) opened a burger stand in Madison Square Park in 2004. But it wasn’t long before the only extraordinary thing about the Shake Shack was the mythic lines, monitored by a webcam installed in May 2006. And so the journey goes from crowds and hype to casual eating, then back to crowds and hype again.—Jessica Battilana

This was Julie Powell’s annus mirabilis. Since publishing the literary embodiment of her blog as a book, Julie and Julia, last September, she’s become a best-selling author. Her concept is as simple to understand as it is difficult to execute: Powell spent 365 days cooking all 524 recipes from Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume I.

This year she won the first-ever Blooker Prize, a literary award for books based on blogs. September brought a paperback version of the book with a plucky revised title, and she’s even sold the film rights, in a deal that put Nora Ephron at the helm as writer and director.—Regan Burns

The New Joy of Cooking: Rombauer's Revenge

The Joy of Cooking, first published in 1931, included folksy advice from author Irma Rombauer on things like testing your baking powder for freshness by mixing it with water and looking for bubbles, and not-from-scratch-ingredient suggestions such as canned cream of mushroom soup. In the book’s 1997 edition, Rombauer’s voice and tips were replaced by high-toned recipes like a 19-ingredient borscht requiring homemade beef stock. The ‘97 version sold well, but some critics and readers were disappointed. A Baltimore Sun critic dissed the book’s recipes as “yuppychow.” The 75th-anniversary edition, released in October, returned to Joy’s roots, reinstating the cocktail, canning, and frozen-dessert chapters.—Jason Horn

We got schooled. Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma arrived in April, and for thoughtful eaters nothing’s been the same since.

Pollan showed just how broken America’s food-producing system is. He exposed us to the scary fact that because of feedlots, high-fructose corn syrup, and Earl Butz, we’re turning into “corn people.” He took us to the fields of Earthbound Farm to prove what we suspected but didn’t want to admit: Even though that bag of lettuce says “organic,” it’s still part of the industrial food chain. And he caused a nation of peaceful foodies to at least ponder what it would feel (and taste) like to bag their own boar. Journalists and bloggers have taken note.—Miriam Wolf

The arrival of Gordon Ramsay’s first restaurant in the United States was the most eagerly awaited opening this year. The take-no-prisoners Michelin-starred chef didn’t win any friends here, though, by declaring before his debut, “I know I have to be in New York, but the quality is much higher in London.” Toss in Ramsay’s revelation that he bought heroin for his drug-addicted brother; news that his first restaurant, Aubergine, was named for his naughty bits; and rumors of a last-minute walkout by nonunion workers, and there was more drama in the run-up to the restaurant’s opening than on Ramsay’s U.S. reality-TV show Hell’s Kitchen.—Josh Friedland

Even being listed in a Michelin guide is considered an honor, but earning stars can bring a restaurant international fame. Roughly 60 restaurants worldwide have earned the top rank of three stars from the French guidebook. For its first U.S. guide, Michelin selected New York City, awarding four of its restaurants three stars in 2005. A San Francisco Bay Area edition was released last October. Both books caused controversy; New York’s highly regarded Nobu and Gramercy Tavern received only one star, as did Berkeley, California’s Chez Panisse. Thomas Keller, however, got major French props: The chef’s French Laundry, in Yountville, California, and Per Se, in New York, both took home three stars.—Jason Horn

New Yorker writer Bill Buford’s Heat stormed the best-seller lists in 2006. The book, subtitled “An Amateur’s Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany,” follows the author, an amateur chef, as he … well, the subtitle’s really done all the work, hasn’t it? With zest and bravado masquerading as self-deprecating wit, Buford takes readers into that increasingly celebrated hell on earth, the restaurant “line.” It’s a nasty, Hobbesian place where cooks and underlings work punishing shifts to please insufficiently appreciative customers and dangerously unpredictable restaurant critics. The book’s portrait of Mario Batali as a punk-rock party-boy badass justifies the cover price by itself.—James Norton

Food Network’s leading playboy, Tyler Florence, teamed up with Applebee’s to create four signature dishes, such as Herb-Crusted Chicken Topped with Italian Country Salad, and the Bruschetta Burger. Touted by Applebee’s marketing as their “Huge Flavor” offerings (as compared with the chain’s typically bland food, like Honey BBQ Chicken Sandwich and Oriental Chicken Rollup), Florence’s menu items failed to impress foodies. One described the fresh mozzarella in the Bruschetta Burger as “so tasteless as to be pointless.”—Brian Abrams

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced this year that we’ve taken a major step toward an exciting future in which zillions of exact genetic copies of particularly fertile milk-bearing cows and exceptionally delicious pigs produce most of the milk and bacon we consume.

While opponents are promising a zesty courtroom battle, a conclusion favorable to big industry players such as Dannon, Kraft Foods, and General Mills seems almost inevitable.—James Norton

Major print publications, both food-centric and not, launched blogs en masse. Diner’s Journal, from New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni, debuted in February; Epicurious followed quickly with its editor-written Epi-Log and was accompanied by not one but two food blogs from House & Garden magazine. Then Michael Bauer, the San Francisco Chronicle’s restaurant critic, jumped into the fray with Between Meals. Just when it seemed like the blog-launching wave had crested, New York magazine sprang Grub Street in September, and prolific food-book author Michael Ruhlman started his eponymous blog the following month. Food-blogger book deals, coupled with increasing blog ad sales (and ever-declining magazine ad sales), have helped shift the motivation for these launches into focus.—Christy Harrison

Having a food blog is so 2005. Now it’s all SLR this and ISO that: Food pornography has hit the blogosphere. At restaurants, photographs used to record friends sharing a meal; now they document the plate. A Flickr group called Foodography enshrined the hobby-makers as an official community, encouraging people to post their food photos and critique each other’s images. Food & Wine got in on the action in its July issue, advising amateur pornographers to get the money shot with a sharp foreground and soft background. Foodography closed its doors in December, making way for a new challenge to pick up the slack. We’re all for visual gratification in our daily reading, and many bloggers shoot truly fantastic images. But perhaps there’s a limit.
—Davina Baum

The school of cooking dubbed molecular gastronomy graduated this year from geeky curiosity to major American culinary movement. The New Yorker, Wired, and Fast Company all ran fawning profiles of young chefs who use lab equipment (lasers! flash-freezing devices! liquid nitrogen!) to create surrealistic dishes such as a cocktail made with Pop Rocks and dehydrated bacon hung on a wire. A variety of related products aimed at home chefs also hit the market. Most notably, El Bulli, the Spanish restaurant credited with pioneering the movement, launched its Texturas line of chemicals and powders used to transform liquids into gels and foams. PolyScience ramped up sales of its Anti-Griddle—a device that flash-freezes anything, while leaving the middle unfrozen. Frozen hot chocolate with a warm, gooey center, anyone?
—Lessley Anderson

Although podcasting’s been around for over three years, food podcasting really only went mainstream in 2006. This year saw the launch of regularly occurring podcasts from print magazines such as Gourmet and Wine Spectator, newspaper food sections, and websites such as Hungry Magazine and eGullet.

Look for more vlogging, or video blogging, in the upcoming year. Like blogging, vlogging is homegrown and usually features one person onscreen in his or her living room or kitchen sharing sometimes-dubious information. Think Wayne’s World meets Julia Child. The Vloggie Awards’ creation of a cooking category (with only four nominees in 2006) is a sign of things to come.—Meredith Arthur

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Artisanal ice creams made with fresh, seasonal, and unusual ingredients popped up around the country. In September, former Chez Panisse pastry chef Mary Canales opened the highly anticipated Ici, in Berkeley, California, serving churned-in-house flavors such as Sugar Pie Pumpkin and Nutmeg Candied Orange. Whole Foods began carrying Laloo’s Goat’s Milk Ice Cream this spring, which comes in flavors such as Strawberry Darling, made with balsamic vinegar, and Lemon Chiffon, made with tangy chèvre cheese. SheerBliss “ultra-premium” ice cream made its national debut in a fancy metal tin with four—yes, four—pomegranate flavors—plain pom, pom and chocolate chunk, vanilla with pom seeds, and “freedom”: pom, blueberry, and vanilla.—Jason Horn

Jamón ibérico—the highest expression of the Spanish curing art, and priced to prove it—finally began arriving on our shores this year. Not the larger hams (which will ring in at $1,000-plus when they arrive in 2008: They’re still curing) or the shoulders (2007), but the sausages and cured loin.

That’s exciting enough for those who have waited years for the meat from the acorn-fed patas negras pig, long barred from the U.S. because there wasn’t a Spanish producer who was USDA certified. Anticipating the meat’s arrival, chef José Andrés recently described it on an eGullet board as “like caviar. You taste and you want to cry is so good.”—Nicholas Day

Enrollment in culinary institutions shot up by 14 percent this year, as increasing numbers of young people grasped the (potential) glamour of slaving over a hot stove for strangers. “The Food Network [has] made people see that there are actual careers in the culinary industry,” said Drusilla Blackman, dean of enrollment management at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA). Thirty-three new culinary programs debuted at accredited colleges across the country, offering would-be Bobby Flays an alternative to the most exclusive of them all, the CIA, which turned away half of its applicants last year.—Michele Foley

Hot Dog Makeover Hailed in publications from The New York Times to Vogue, sous-vide cooking—sealing food in plastic and slow-cooking it in a water bath—was the “it” technique of the year. And like any proper celebrity, sous-vide has suffered a scandal, which came in the form of a crackdown by the New York City Department of Health, which argued that the technique poses a food-poisoning risk. Fines were charged. Chefs got angry. Sous-vide got even more famous. If fame leads to popularity, that’s a lucky break for the American diner, who can expect to enjoy silken carrots and feather-soft lamb shank from coast to coast.—Emily Matchar

Once upon a time, eating a hot dog was a death-defying voyage into a land of pulverized mystery innards. As a general rule, the less you knew about your frank, the better. But this year, dogs went upscale—and got healthy. A chain of Miami eateries called Franktitude opened, serving salmon dogs on whole wheat buns with toppings such as wasabi mayo. In grocery stores, Applewood Farms debuted its Great Organic Hot Dog, an organic, nitrate-free frank made from grass-fed beef. Smaller producers also expanded their offerings; San Francisco’s Let’s Be Frank began selling its high-end beef and heritage turkey dogs at local specialty grocers.—Michele Foley

The Next Big Thing This may have been the Chinese Year of the Dog, but by all culinary accounts it should have been the year of the pig. The porker has become the “it” meat—fattier cuts have caught the attention of chefs across the nation, with pork bellies and whole suckling pigs being served from Lucques in Los Angeles to New York City’s Peasant. Patrick Martins of Heritage Foods USA says the trend has spread from chefs to home cooks. The increased interest in pork is “especially for lesser cuts such as bellies and shanks…. There’s been a total renaissance in these pork products and for pork in general.” And the pork passion includes charcuterie too.—Aïda Mollenkamp

Those lucky enough to have tasted the [blank] understand why some of America’s most innovative chefs risked steep FDA fines for serving the banned [blank]. With an earthy flavor described as “truffled [blank]” and “sweet, earthy [blank],” the [blank] drove foodies to the Internet in desperate search of the delicacy. And then, after an appearance on tasting menus from San Francisco to Boston, it vanished into the ether.

Every year has its “it” foods. This year’s?

Huckleberries: Leave it to the food world to “discover” something that Native Americans have been enjoying since Columbus was a pup. Though probably not as a huckleberry gin fizz.

Chaat: Americans no longer have to buy a ticket to Mumbai in order to get these sweet, savory, spicy, crunchy Indian street snacks—chaat cafes have arrived stateside.

Pluots: Seventy-five percent plum, 25 percent apricot, these hybridized fruits, used in chutney, puddings, and salsa, are sweeter than either of their parents and 37 percent trendier.

White anchovies: Difficult to obtain, beloved in Spain, white anchovies, or boquerones, are clearly a cult hit in the making. Think plump, tender fillets with just a hint of salt.—Emily Matchar

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More proof that it’s always possible to put dangerous ideas into attractive packages: Chef Homaro Cantu of Chicago’s Moto restaurant blazed new trails in the land of copyrighted food. Within the Cantu model, to borrow another cook’s recipe you’d need to get explicit permission and/or pay a licensing fee. No more “borrowing,” as in the Case of Robin Wickens Stealing Other Chefs’ Recipes, a tale that captivated eGullet this spring. First out of the gate on the corporate side of this new legal arms race? Surprise, surprise: McDonald’s.—James Norton

‘Tis the year to go steakhouse, especially if you are a celebrity chef. Jean-Georges Vongerichten paved the way with Prime in Las Vegas, and Laurent Tourondel followed with BLT Steak. Now everyone from Wolfgang Puck to Todd English has added a steakhouse to their restaurant empire. At press time, Michael Mina had just launched Stripsteak, and David Burke is due to join the wagon in early 2007. And no longer is a simple piece of sirloin sufficient. These days, a diner must know the difference between American and Japanese Kobe, grass fed versus corn fed, and the preferred age of the meat. Never mind the wine guide—it’s the beef manual that we need.—Ya-Roo Yang

Yum! Brands, which owns Pizza Hut and KFC, decided this year to do the business equivalent of shipping coal to Newcastle: It’s opening Chinese restaurants in China. Its new East Dawning chain is expanding slowly but ambitiously, and TV ads for the new restaurants are planned to run as soon as next year. The East Dawning difference, according to The Wall Street Journal: “Yum says its advantage comes from how it runs restaurants, including providing fast, friendly service and keeping the bathrooms clean.” That, and providing local favorites such as crispy pig ears and marinated egg served with seaweed.—James Norton

Hoping for a piece of Starbucks’ action, marketers pushed the chocolate-café concept hard. Part retail space hocking packaged bars and truffles, part lounge with hot drinks and comfy seats, the cafés target women in urban shopping corridors. This year saw Ethel’s Chocolate Lounge, a Mars, Inc.–owned shop with ten Chicago-area locations, open its first Las Vegas store, and Portland-based Moonstruck Chocolate Café open its eighth spot in San Francisco. Max Brenner, a “chocolate bar” based in Israel that serves an extensive menu of desserts alongside chocolate cocktails, opened its first American location in New York’s Union Square. Probably next on the retailers’ agendas: chocolate spas, featuring fudge body rubs and cocoa-powder facials.—Jason Horn

For a while, Americans just couldn’t get enough of the pleasure-palace mode of dining—those hangar-sized temples of Asian-fusion cuisine, replete with giant Buddha statues and Dali-esque bonsai trees. But in 2006, the backlash began. People are growing tired, it seems, of dining on $30 plates of toro tartar to the sound of pulsating electronica. In late 2005, New York’s Ninja was slammed by New York Times critic Frank Bruni in one of the most scathing reviews in recorded history. In fact, places such as Megu, Morimoto, and Buddakan are being denounced in publications from New York magazine to Gawker. Score one for the neighborhood sushi bar?—Emily Matchar

Responding to a national cry in 2006 for innovative ways to consume pork and heavily diluted maple syrup, McDonald’s has been hard at work creating a wave of new breakfast items. Moreover, a new kitchen configuration may mean that McBreakfast will soon be available all McDay long. The moves come in response to a booming year of growth fueled in part by customer enthusiasm for the restaurant’s morning offerings. The breakfast bonanza seems to have impressed investors, too—Motley Fool ran a commentary piece naming the company the best-bet blue-chip stock for 2007.—James Norton

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Following in the footsteps of Britain’s Jamie Oliver, former president Bill Clinton added another page to his do-gooding portfolio this year by broadening his charge against childhood obesity to include fast food and sodas. The policy-wonk heartthrob has a personal stake in the topic, having weighed 210 pounds at age 15. Clinton’s campaign has been complemented on the local level by the likes of Ann Cooper, a chef from the Berkeley, California, area who was hired to get kids to eat healthier food at school. For Cooper, the fight has been about more than just obtaining fresher, healthier ingredients; it’s also been about getting finicky kids to eat something other than pizza.—James Norton

Food-industry conferences aren’t so different from other industry conferences, except the buffet table is better. Three large ones—Fusión in Madrid, Taste3 in Napa, and Slow Food’s Terra Madre in Turin—found mainstream footing this year, appreciably upping the navel-gazing quotient. The events tended to stick to familiar ground: recognizing trends (“Cheese trolleys and trays: A booming fashion”—seriously), identifying next waves, and studying how the global market impacts craft. The good things that come out of all this intellectualizing: widening awareness of issues like ancient baking methods and the secrets to the best cup of coffee that eventually trickle down to you, the consumer.—Davina Baum

Americans got concerned about the way their wine was made. “A lot of people are looking at or asking for biodynamic and organic wines,” says Matt Deuriendt, general manager of Brooklyn, New York, wine shop Smith & Vine. (Biodynamics is a method of organic farming that takes into account things like the phases of the moon and considers the land and soil a living organism.) The wine world responded. Last October, heavy-hitter Fetzer Vineyards turned on a 75,000-square-foot solar array built atop its bottling plant that will provide 80 percent of the plant’s power. Fetzer joins smaller, 100-percent-solar-powered vineyards such as Cline Cellars and Frog’s Leap.—Jason Horn

Au Revoir Foie
Chicago is one of the eatin’-est cities in the country, but the idea of delicacy is not something most Chicagoans wrestle with very well. Sausage? Hell yes. Foie gras? Hold on a minute. Thus, there was relatively little alarm when Chicago aldermen heeded the call of anti-cruelty advocates and voted in April to ban the stuff. But then came major controversy. Mayor Daley called the ban “silly” and “embarrassing,” and a move to repeal the ban is already emerging. It would seem that the only thing harder to stomach than animal cruelty is national ridicule.—Aemilia Scott

The raw-milk underground got the spotlight this year. Nina Planck’s book Real Food: What to Eat and Why (Bloomsbury USA, 2006) included a passionate endorsement of raw-milk cooperatives, which are more popular than ever. But the trend hasn’t made public health officials happy—they cite the pathogens, such as salmonella and streptococcus, sometimes carried by the unpasteurized milk. Many states have cracked down. In Michigan, for example, a massive raid on a farmer supplying raw milk included at least ten officers and an undercover agent.—Nicholas Day

Whole Foods Market made it harder for urban shoppers to enjoy one of summer’s most beloved meals—a whole boiled lobster—in June. After an extensive study, management chose to stop selling live lobsters and soft-shell crabs, citing ethical concerns. The crustaceans, it seems, inevitably face some miserable and dangerous living conditions as they make their way along the lengthy Whole Foods supply chain. But we can’t help but look at bans in 2006 on foie gras and trans fats and think, is this the start of a new era of culinary martial law?—Jessica Battilana

The New York City health department passed a ban this year on trans fats, the artery-clogging lipids present in hydrogenated oils. This led to a similar proposal in New Jersey and sparked impassioned responses from the restaurant industry and consumer-rights advocates. At NYC’s first public hearing in October, the ban received overwhelming support. New Year’s Day 2006 was the deadline for food manufacturers to list trans fats on their labels, and this growing awareness—along with a lawsuit filed in June by a Maryland doctor—prompted a growing chain reaction among fast-food joints.—Christy Harrison

It’s official: Buying organic is no longer a grass-roots movement. Superstores such as Wal-Mart have ramped up sales of organic brands, and labels such as Cascadian Farm and Silk are now owned by food giants General Mills and Dean, respectively. As organic has gone mainstream, consumer fears about quality have spiked as well. This isn’t mere hippie hysteria; organic standards are vulnerable to redefinition, and corporations hold a lot of political sway.—Aemilia Scott

The controversial bovine growth hormone (rBGH), a 15-year-old Monsanto product that can boost a cow’s production by at least 10 percent, may be slowly disappearing from America’s milk. Years of complaints from consumer groups, who link it to various diseases and claim it overstresses cows, have suddenly snowballed: This fall, two major New England dairies announced they’d only buy hormone-free milk. The trend’s even reaching the shelves in Monsanto’s hometown, St. Louis. If rBGH use dies out, it’ll be in part because dairy is where many Americans draw the line: Milk has long been the gateway drug of the organic market.—Nicholas Day

Greener Waters Slow Food USA held its first-annual Sustainable Seafood Gala this September in Washington, D.C., confirming that ethical seafood sourcing has become an “it” issue in the food world. Forward-thinking chefs, such as Eric Ripert of Le Bernardin and Peter Hoffman of Savoy, have long supported the sustainable-seafood movement, but now big food producers and distributors are getting on the boat, so to speak. Earlier this year, Wal-Mart announced that it would begin selling sustainably procured fish, certified by the Marine Stewardship Council. And in February, socially responsible catering giant Bon Appétit Management persuaded its parent company to adopt a new sustainable-seafood purchasing policy. The shift comes just in time: A study published in November reports that our oceans have only 50 more years of fish left in them.—Christy Harrison

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When food becomes a political football, the result is almost always unappetizing. No exception to this rule in 2006, when Iran, in a fit of pique against Denmark’s prophet-mocking cartoonists, decided that Danish pastries should be called “Roses of the Prophet Mohammed.”

Back in the States, Congress woke up and smelled the fryer grease. “Freedom fries,” the more patriotic and less despicably Continental version of good ol’ french fries, quietly reverted to their old name in June.—James Norton

A chow hall became a battlefield this year when food poisoning struck more than 350 Iraqi policemen in the southern town of Kut. Six food-service workers were arrested, suspected of waging an intestinal insurgency. Meanwhile, on some of Iraq’s largest U.S. military bases, U.S. troops are eating safer (if not healthier) at Halliburton-supplied fast-food restaurants. These front-line Burger Kings (and the like) are crucial components of U.S. military mini-cities, which also boast multiple bus routes, pools, and even mini-golf courses. So while it may be tough to get body armor or helmet liners, a Whopper is just around the corner for America’s brave troops.—James Norton

In a year rife with food-related controversy, the most paradigm-shifting story originated in Boston, Massachusetts. The Hub raged over a proposed ban on Fluffernutters, sandwiches composed of peanut butter and Marshmallow Fluff. Outraged that his son had been served one at his Cambridge, Massachusetts, elementary school, State Senator Jarrett T. Barrios introduced legislation in June that would have severely limited the serving of marshmallow spreads in state school-lunch programs. But with state pride swelling and even nutritionists weighing in to defend Marshmallow Fluff as (relatively) harmless, the Barrios amendment went down in a toastily delicious ball of flame later in the month.—James Norton

If 2005 was the Year of Hurricane Katrina, 2006 was the Year of Cleaning Up All the Crap Left Behind by Hurricane Katrina. In New Orleans, this meant dealing with damaged homes and trying to revive a world-class culinary culture. A year after the hurricane hit, 54 percent of the city’s restaurants were still closed, according to the Louisiana Restaurant Association. And although that number is slowly ticking upward, many of the city’s eateries remain closed down. Even as high-profile French Quarter and Uptown restaurants, such as Antoine’s and Commander’s Palace, have reopened, many smaller family places have closed for good. NOLA’s still home to great food, but the long-term vibrancy of the culinary scene remains an open question.—James Norton

In addition to coastal cities’ being flooded off the map and extreme (meaning bad, not awesome) weather, global warming could have a serious impact on the world’s winemakers. To quote USA Today: “If it gets much hotter, many world-class wine regions, including southern France and the Napa Valley, may be either at or nearing their optimum climates for the varieties now grown there.”

France and California’s loss may be Britain and Oregon’s gain in the short term. But over the next 100 years, if climate trends proceed as expected, “viable grape-growing regions in the world will be reduced by nearly 80 percent.”

Gulp. Drink ‘em while ya got ‘em.—James Norton

Like a Slayer: Madonna's Canned Hunts The international Kabbalah community must have been glowing with pride this year as Madonna and husband Guy Ritchie purchased 1,000 baby shootin’ pheasants to be raised alongside a further 31,000 birds on their 1,200-acre Wiltshire estate.

Although the material girl and her film-maker hubby say they’ve given up shooting, they opened their estate to pheasant-plugging clients who paid up to £10,000 a day. Although 2006 wasn’t the Year of the Canned Hunt, Madonna and hubby managed to bring Dick Cheney’s favorite sport back for another unseemly twirl in the limelight.—James Norton

You gotta hand it to Representative Katherine Harris—when she set out on her failed run for U.S. Senate in Florida, she blew it with verve and style. When she wasn’t saying, “If you’re not electing Christians, then in essence you are going to legislate sin,” she was wearing bosomy outfits and going horseback riding.

But it was a $2,800 check at D.C. hot-spot Citronelle that may have sunk the campaign. Harris atoned for her meal with defense contractor Mitchell Wade by donating $100 to a Jacksonville church. But that didn’t erase the perception that something more significant than “a beverage and appetizers” went down between the lawmaker and the contractor.—James Norton

We’re winning the war on hunger: In 2006, the number of overweight adults (1 billion) outstripped the number of people who don’t have enough to eat (800 million). And although out-and-out obesity is largely a problem in rich countries these days, the World Health Organization estimates that by 2010, the developing world will have more than caught up, likely making heart disease, diabetes, and stroke serious issues for overweight people from Tanzania to Terre Haute.

The problem doesn’t end with chunky adults; an estimated 22 million children worldwide are considered obese. The future doesn’t look bright so much as it looks very, very large.—James Norton

The War on Liquids Winds Down Semi-good news! After the initial scare of August’s “liquid explosive” plane plot, the Transportation Security Administration has relaxed its initial restrictions on carrying liquids aboard flights … somewhat. While liquids, jellies, sauces, and everything in between is no longer completely forbidden, you still can’t tote such items on the plane unless they fit within the 3-1-1 guidelines: Liquid “item(s)” must be in three-ounce plastic containers, which all need to fit in a clear, one-quart plastic zip-top bag—one bag per customer. But starve not! Three ounces may not seem like much, but it’s enough to make an in-flight PB&J. Or save yourself the embarrassment of begging for a second pack of pretzels and consider freezing your food. As long as it’s still frozen when you pass through security, you’re in the clear—no three-ounce containers necessary.—Laura Neilson

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Rapper and Def Jam label chief Jay-Z touched off a hip-hop food feud this year when he declared a boycott of Cristal Champagne in June. The furor was sparked by an interview with a Cristal executive in The Economist, of all magazines. The beverage’s managing director, Frederic Rouzaud, agreed that hip-hop’s lyrical celebration of Cristal was “unwelcome,” spurring Jay-Z’s declaration that he would dump the Champagne from his New York nightclub, 40/40.—James Norton

If 2006 was the year of Mint Chocolate Bailey’s, it was also a year that saw much activity among small distilleries creating handcrafted products. Philadelphia Distilling rolled out Bluecoat American Dry Gin. Hangar One offered its well-regarded seasonal Fraser River Raspberry. The Welsh whisky maker Penderyn Distillery brought out vodka and gin brands to shore up its premium-spirits line. And Heaven Hill Distilleries launched a new $150-a-bottle version of rye. Not everyone can afford a new BMW at Christmas, but the craft distilling movement allows more folks to sip a little bit of the good life.—James Norton

The Rise and Fall of the American Pilsner
Domestic pilsner-style beers have long been the bane of serious brew fans; to paraphrase an old joke, they’re much like making love in a canoe. Which is to say that they’re f@&#in’ near water.

But the category has broken out on the regional and micro-brew level, with the recent debut of varieties that boast a robust, malty character accented by a floral, spicy taste of hops. From Oregon’s Rogue to Blue Paddle (via Colorado’s New Belgium Brewery) to the Brooklyn Brewery and the Boston Beer Works, “high-quality American pilsner” has moved from being a virtual contradiction to a fact of life in most major metro areas.—James Norton

As gas prices have soared to nausea-inducing altitudes, scientists and engineers have scrambled to adapt. One key option: ethanol, which is produced by fermenting and distilling simple sugars from corn and other plant-generated materials, and is currently the third-largest production use of U.S. corn crops. It can be either blended with gasoline to create an alternative fuel product or used in a pure form on its own, but only in specially modified cars. Relatively speaking, America is behind the curve—Brazil’s alternative use of sugarcane has met nearly half the country’s demand for car fuel, and unsold Italian wine has backwashed into the European market as an energy source. Vive il vino!—Laura Neilson

Thanks in part to good press (Bon Appétit was one of many pubs that plugged it in an article), its low price, and its food friendliness, Riesling became the wine that everybody was drinking this year. San Francisco’s K&L Wine Merchants introduced its own house-label Riesling from Rheingau this summer to meet rising demand. “It’s not just during the daytime with the girls,” says Belinda Chang, director of wine and spirits for Chicago restaurant development company Cenitare, “it’s the boys in the business suits that like it, too.—Jason Horn

Those who thought energy drinks would peak with Red Bull had a tough year in 2006. Caffeine- and guarana-laced vodka hit the shelves, Coca-Cola introduced its new, horrific coffee-laced Blak variety, and the limited national release of Cocaine—the drink enlivened PTA meetings throughout the land. The commercial success of Red Bull has not only demonstrated demand for caffeine-laced whatever; it’s started an arms race to create the most potent product on the market. The makers of Cocaine proudly claim that their beverage is 350 percent stronger than Red Bull and boast about its secret “throat-numbing” ingredient.—James Norton

Thirty years ago, California wines were widely viewed as inferior to French wines. Until 1976, that is, when a panel of French wine experts judged a California chardonnay and cabernet better than the best Burgundies in a blind taste test. The Judgment of Paris marked the official entrance of Napa Valley into the finest wine circles. This year the test was repeated. Twice. In May, the mastermind of the original taste-off hosted a simultaneous event in California and London of the same wines used in 1976, and the 1973 Stags’ Leap cab won again. An international wine-tasting organization called the Grand Jury Européen conducted a tasting of 1995 vintages four months later. Napa swept the top three spots.—Jason Horn

An Internet-aided diffusion of growing techniques, an increased passion for all things local, and experimentation with native grapes (such as the Norton) all fed this year’s boom in non-California wine. Articles sported surprising headlines such as “Iowa, the New Wine Country” and “A Toast to Michigan Wineries.” As of the founding of a North Dakota (!) winery in 2002, there are now wineries operating in all 50 states. Is any of their wine worth drinking? Some of the stuff is terrific, but odds of a world-class Utah pinot noir emerging remain long.—James Norton

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Haute Goes Pop When the boyfriend in The Devil Wears Prada was changed from being a teacher (the book) to working as a chef (the film), you know that the culinary arts have made some real pop culture headway. Meanwhile, food-themed books clogged the best-seller lists. And celebrity chefs were everywhere (except perhaps the kitchen). Whatever its cause, the food fad has become a many-headed hydra. A new publishing genre has arisen, the “food politics” tome exemplified by Fast Food Nation. Specialty stores hawking heirloom organic everything are eating the lunch of old-school supermarkets. Emeril sells three different kinds of golf towels! Gluttony: It’s the sin that’s in.—Joyce Slaton

This was a big year for polarizing foodertainment superstar Rachael Ray. Ray is the maddeningly chatty symbol of the Food Network’s calculated pivot away from great chefs and toward increasingly accessible—and entertainment-driven—programming. The past 12 months have seen the launch of her daytime TV talk show (Rachael Ray), an Emmy for outstanding service show for 30 Minute Meals, and her appearance on the Time magazine list of 100 most influential people of 2006. Then again, Travel Channel personality Anthony Bourdain also called her a vomit-inducing “bobblehead,” so it hasn’t all been gravy.—James Norton

Named best new magazine of 2005 by Amazon.com, CHOW proved that high-concept food writing doesn’t have to be lifestyle porn. Thronged by culinary zealots of all skill levels since 1997, Chowhound proved that the collective food smarts of the grass roots can be awesome to behold. In 2006, both were incorporated into one smoothly integrated online bastion of culinary badassery.—James Norton

The close of last year saw how handily the prison-slimmed Martha turned her first (and hopefully only) competitive reality show, The Apprentice: Martha Stewart, into a big lemon. While Martha strenuously insisted she had no plans to do more than one season, the show’s ratings fell faster than a cheese soufflé, and its subsequent cancellation led to a very public breakup between former BFFs Trump and Stewart. Martha had reason to bleach her smile, however, because while her talk show’s ratings were down 24 percent this year and Rachael Ray’s new talk show proved to be a thorn in her ponchoed side, Martha was renewed for a third season. —Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic

Online food media continued to grow, with the launch of several start-ups and offerings from established players. Yahoo! launched Yahoo! Food, featuring recipes, culinary travel guides, and other food-related articles, including content from Food & Wine and Martha Stewart Omnimedia. Two email newsletters, Belly DuJour and Tuttifoodie, debuted with twice-weekly tips on specialty foods. Beverages haven’t been forgotten; ExtraTasty! and Cork’d launched, allowing users to rate different cocktails and wine, and catalog their favorite bottles, respectively. And last, a MySpace for the foodie set called FoodCandy. Finally: an opportunity to trade recipes and poorly lit nude photo shoots, all at one convenient URL.—Michele Foley

According to the Gray Lady, the $40 entree arrived in 2006 at “restaurants that are merely upscale, where diners wear jeans and tote children.” While it’s easy to hail this as an apocalyptic cultural bellwether, the rising prices also indicate an increasingly serious dedication to fresh produce and high-quality meats, as well as an increasingly broad pool of eaters willing to shell out serious ducats for good eats.

But even that positive spin can’t cloud one of the more chilling and cogent points made by the Times: “A $43 entrée makes a $36 one look like a deal.”—James Norton

With nonchefs such as Amy Sedaris dipping into the cookbook world with hysterical results, it’s no surprise to hear that Joan Cusack decided in 2006 to take a role that (for once) doesn’t include her famous brother. On Travel Channel’s new food show Local Flavor, Cusack “explores how food, family, and culture influence each other to express the unique personality of a great country.” See, the Food Network may be this generation’s MTV, but there are plenty of non-celebrity-cheffed food shows you might not be chewing over on a regular basis, such as Taste of America, Dinner Date, and World at Your Table. Without a perky, sexy, or asshole celebrity chef as the headliner, the show has to hang together on its own merits of food, information, and fun, and they often do.—Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic

If you’d pitched a competitive- cooking show in 1995, you would’ve been met by slack-jawed stares. But now cooking is big, and Top Chef is the field’s flagship chunk of reality TV. Ratingswise, the show is strong. But if you believe the Interwebs, there are still some kinks to be worked out: “New host Padma Lakshmi dresses as though she should be wearing roller skates. I still can’t believe this is Salman Rushdie’s wife. She talks as if she’s stoned, and has half a Grab Bag of Fritos in her mouth.”—James Norton

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It’s difficult to overstate the influence of chef Mario Batali, who has reached millions through his restaurants, cookbooks, and multifaceted television career. Nonetheless, Food Network mainstay Molto Mario taped its final new episode in 2006.

But the end of Molto Mario shouldn’t be read as a sign of a star on the wane; it’s a network re-creating its image. Instead of concentrating on chefs who can cook, Food Network decided in 2006 to bet its chips on entertainers who can make us laugh, and/or look hot.—James Norton

Although avian flu first broke out in 1997 and reappeared in 2003, influenza H5N1 continued to freak out Americans this year, particularly when The Oprah Winfrey Show aired an episode titled “Bird Flu: The Untold Story” last January, telling us to stockpile food, water, and prescription drugs for the coming pandemic. The Southeast Asian poultry market took a beating—Thailand, formerly the fifth-largest exporter of poultry, had to slaughter 29 million birds between 2003 and 2004 and lost as much as 1.5 percent of its GDP. Many Americans avoided chicken, fearing the U.S. was next. It wasn’t—our poultry avoided infection.—Jason Horn

Edna Lewis, who died this February at the age of 89, introduced many grateful Americans to chicken fried in lard, skillet cornbread, and other delicious dishes from the American South. The granddaughter of emancipated slaves, Lewis opened a Manhattan restaurant that became a favorite haunt of boho artists such as Tennessee Williams and Richard Avedon. In 1978 she wrote The Taste of Country Cooking, which emphasized fresh, seasonal ingredients cooked simply. The book helped establish regional Southern cooking as a refined, unique American cuisine. One of her parting gifts was a cookbook called The Gift of Southern Cooking, cowritten in 2003 with Scott Peacock, that contains the best chocolate cake recipe known to man.—Lessley Anderson

A national E. coli outbreak caused by contaminated spinach sickened more than 200 people, killed 3, and sparked a national discussion of food-handling standards. Less than two months later, something served at Taco Bell and Taco John’s restaurants sickened more than 40 people. What that something was had not been identified by press time; tests were being conducted on green onions, lettuce, and cheese served at the restaurant chains. As debate continues over the best way to prevent similar disasters, vegetable growers in California alone are facing a possible $74 million in losses. The upside: a new fast-acting E. coli detector and an edible food wrap that kills bacteria on contact. The latter even supposedly provides a “flavor boost.”—James Norton

R. W. Apple died on October 4 at 71. Nicknamed “Three Lunches Apple,” the man whom friends and associates called Johnny put in 40-plus years as a political correspondent and editor for The New York Times, but he was also one of the country’s most respected food writers—and he wasn’t shy about letting people know. Apple’s relentless pursuit of definitive culinary experiences (and their accompanying expense reports) became legendary. He was a symbol of the old-school, gregarious gourmand, and his passing leaves a void that may only grow in the coming years; will any of Generation X’s writers ever approach the same loving but bossy authority?—Sara Bir

The market for gourmet coffee continued to explode this year—quite literally, in the case of Wolfgang Puck’s doomed self-heating canned lattes. When the celebrity chef introduced the product in 2005, it seemed like a marvel of food-packaging technology: With just a push of a button, a chemical reaction in the can produced enough heat to warm a latte to a steaming 145 degrees. But complaints soon emerged about strange goings-on with the drinks, including incidents of leakage, overheating, melting, and even explosions. Before long, the lattes became a liability, and in March, Wolfgang Puck Worldwide, Inc., recalled the drinks.—Josh Friedland

Americans concerned about mad cow disease were given a little more to worry about by the U.S. Department of Agriculture this year. In order to prevent a panic over the deadly disease (and the damaging trade implications of its discovery), the government barred ranchers from testing their cows for bovine spongiform encephalopathy. This March, premium Black Angus beef producer Creekstone sued the USDA in order to lift the test ban. A vital question hangs in the balance: Does the U.S. government exist to protect people from the spread of dangerous disease, or to protect big business from the spread of bad news?—James Norton

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