Top 7 Specialty Food Trends For Local Food Crafters - 2011 is the Year of Home-Based Food Processing

The Cooking Channel, a baby sibling to Food TV Network is making its mark showcasing food crafters from around the nation. The old fashioned way to bring freshness and flavor to the community has found a rebirth in the form of homemade foods with a modern touch.

The sagging U.S. economy has motivated the creativity of many foodies who never thought about taking a family heirloom recipe from kitchen to market. Home-based food processing businesses are popping up all over the U.S. and the products are amazingly simple but sophisticated in taste and texture.

Desserts Food

The home-based food crafters of today are not in it to get rich quick but to build a brand and become the "Bush Beans" or "Sara Lee" of tomorrow. Food entrepreneurs at this year's Fancy Food Show in New York showcased everything from gourmet salt, an appropriate product since Kraft has announced it will reduce sodium by 10% for North American brands by 2012 thereby giving the consumer a healthy option.

In tracking the food crafters for the last ten years the prediction for 2011 is simplicity, good things in small packages. Food entrepreneurs are more calculating, seeking product ideas that will again shake consumer taste buds and offer up miniature desserts, breads and delicately flavored baked goods, snacks and condiments stressing quality over convenience.

1. Low sodium seasoning mixes are still popular along with curry spice mixes and adobe mixes. Unfortunately none of the Asian Mixes have made major headway with the American consumer.

2. Chocolate truffles are here to stay, for a while that is, particularly if the economy continues to dip into a black (dark chocolate) whole. There really is nothing more satisfying than good chocolate.

3. We also can't leave out those super flavorful snack foods like popcorn, baked potato chips and assorted nuts tossed in a variety of herbs and spices. The key here is less salt and more flavor.

4. Natural sweeteners are going to make a great comeback in the form of all natural candies and snack bars filled with nuts, seeds, dried fruits, nut butters and even chocolate.

5. Desserts are about to be reduced drastically in size. It is not longer fashionable to super-size anything. There will be no large chunks of cake or pie except in cheesy diners.

6. The year 2011 is also give way to the introduction of miniature loaves of bread. The type of loaf that will serve 2 to 4 easily; since the idea of "waste not want not" will be on the rise.

7. Bakers will start looking to the international market for unusual flavors and products. A number of European sweets will be introduced like cream horns and fruit tarts using exotic fruits. The skyrocketing cost of food toward the mid 2011 is going to leave consumers who can afford these sweet treasures seeking foods that are completely outside the box in both taste and texture.

Finally the last three gourmet foods for next year will be in the form of beverages; fruit juices, energy drinks and "all-natural" beverages that will take the place of breakfast and lunch. It is unfortunate, but next year Americans will finally be eating less, not by choice but out of necessity.

Top 7 Specialty Food Trends For Local Food Crafters - 2011 is the Year of Home-Based Food Processing

Detra "Denay" Davis is the author of How to Start a Home-Based Bakery and a former home based baker. Denay is a writer, cooking instructor, caterer featured in Bon Appetit and the Executive Director of HomeBasedBaking.com, a worldwide forum for the development and exchange of information, knowledge, and inspiration within the home-based baking community. We work with all food crafters in the develop of gourmet baked goods and specialty food products. For more information about HomeBasedBaking.com contact Denay at contact@homebasedbaking.com and visit http://homebasedbaking.com

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Mangiare E Bere in Abbondanza - Browse Wine and Food Specialty Shops in RI's Little Italy

The gateway arch with La Pigna (The Pine Cone) suspended from its center, overlooking Atwells Avenue, greets visitors from near and far. This traditional Italian symbol of welcome, abundance, and quality has become synonymous with Federal Hill, one of Providence's neighborhoods best known for its Italian-American community and predominant restaurants, wine, and food specialty shops. During the first two decades of the 20th century, an influx of Italian-Americans immigrated into the area, making it the city's informal "Little Italy." During the 34-year period from 1898 to 1932, more than 54,000 Italian immigrants arrived at the port of Providence with the majority of them settling on Federal Hill, a 300 acre land mass that stands high above Rhode Island's capital city.

Though the population of Federal Hill is more diverse today, it still remains a traditional center for the city's Italian-American community. Providence's annual Columbus Day parade marches along Atwells Avenue. Let's pick up the pace and loosen our belt for a tour of wine and food specialty shops within walking distance along and off of Atwells Avenue.

Scialo Bros. Bakery (257 Atwells Avenue): In 1916, when Luigi Scialo and his brother arrived from the Italian province of Pomigliano d'Arco, they established the bakery in the heart of an Italian neighborhood. In the 1920's Luigi became the sole proprietor and ran the business with the help of his family for the next seven decades until his death in 1993 at the age of 103. Since 1993, the Scialo Bakery tradition has been carried on by Luigi's daughters, Lois (Scialo) Ellis and Carol (Scialo) Gaeta. All products are made from scratch on the premises in brick ovens that date back to the 1920's. They do not buy any frozen or pre-prepared breads or desserts.

Gasbarro's Wines (361 Atwells Avenue): Established in 1898 by Antonio Gasbarro as Gasbarro's Liquors on Knight Street in the capital city, he moved the operation down the road to 481 Atwells Avenue where it prevailed for 70 years. During Prohibition, Gasbarro's was a malt and hop merchant as well as a retailer of wine making equipment. Progressing from selling whiskey and bourbon out of the barrel and a half dozen homemade wines, today the store has 2,300 products to sell, including 1,800 different brands of wine. Complimenting their Italian wine selection of over 900 labels, more than 450 Californian wines are featured, constituting over 80 % of their sales. A highway relocation project in 1973 forced the store to move a few blocks to its present location. Now In its fourth generation of proprietors, since 2009, the store front includes a new tasting area. The "Table for Ten" experience provides a private setting for wine education after store hours, and is customized to fit tastes and budget.

Antonelli's Poultry (62 De Pasquale Avenue) - The only store that kills and processes poultry while the customer waits, this 148-year old butcher shop is not for the squeamish. "Fresh" is the operative word when it comes to eggs, rabbits, and fowl - chickens, ducks, partridges, and geese. You can go into the back room and check out the live rabbits in their cages or poultry in their coops. Should you choose a bird for slaughter, the butchers will make a quick slice through the neck, drain the blood, and steep it in hot water, and pluck while you take a gander.

Costantino's Venda Ravioli (265 Atwells Avenue) - Offering more than 150 kinds of fresh and frozen pasta in the Old World tradition since the 1930s: jumbo stuffed shells, manicotti, tri-colored egg noodles, tortellini, tortelloni, agnolotti, angel hair and lobster ravioli; Italian meats and gourmet food too! Originally a tiny storefront, Venda Ravioli was purchased in 1972 by Alan Costantino. Over the past three decades, the operation has quadrupled in size, necessitating a move to its current location in 2001, and flourishing as one of the most respected Italian food emporiums in the Northeast. The glassed-in, state-of-the-art kitchen with its marble counter affords guests a glimpse of Chef Salvatore Cefaliello and his staff in action. The cafe offers 30 seats inside, 6 at the espresso bar, and 40 outdoors during warm weather. Their website features an on-line store.

Tony's Colonial Market (311 Atwells Avenue) - Since 1952, Tony's has provided discriminate shoppers with the finest imported and domestic Italian foods. Quality meats and cheeses, imported olive oils and vinegars, gourmet pasta products, antipasti, porcini mushrooms, Italian candies and confections, and freshly prepared foods can be purchased at their market or on-line. A cheesy fact - Tony's accepted delivery of a 610-lb. provolone in October 2000!

Pastiche (92 Spruce Street) - In 1983, Eileen Collins and Brandt Heckert started making desserts for local restaurants. Their dedication to "provide quality and consistency" is the heart and soul of their small shop. All desserts are made "in house" from scratch which you can nibble inside the intimate European style café. The building was erected in 1875 and seats 40 people. I can attest to the interior's cramped quarters as it's usually packed for desserts to go by the slice or whole. Then there are those of us who enjoy our desserts with a cup of tea or cappuccino by the warmth of the fireplace.

A digital or virtual tour of wine and food specialty shops along Atwells Avenue in the Federal Hill district of Providence is a cultural and culinary experience worth expanding your horizon and waistline. From points north of RI, take Route 95 South to Exit 21 (Atwells Avenue). From points south of RI, take Route 95 North to Exit 21 (Broadway). At the second light, take a left over the bridge on Atwells Avenue. A vast assortment of fine wines, breads, pastries, gourmet foods, meats, candies, confections, and decadent desserts is one mangiare e bere in abbondanza smothered with hospitality.

Eva Pasco - Author
UNDERLYING NOTES (238 pgs)

A Midlife Journey of Self-Discovery: Winding past Rhode Island's affluent coastal communities, prominent landmarks, cherished institutions, and olive oil spills of the underworld.

FREE EXCERPT (Chapters 1-3)/Convenient Ordering: eBook or Print

http://www.booklocker.com/books/4431.html

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