Courtesy of FoodChannel.com

Pie, sausage, nutmeg and moonshine top the list.

In the food business, everyone’s looking for the “next” this, or the “new” that. Here are the foods and flavors we see making noise in the new year.

1. Small Pies. Pie, of course, has been around forever, but 2011 could be the Year of the Pie. Some are already calling it the “next cupcake.” We say, yes, pies will be hot in the coming year, but look for smaller pies to make it big—in both sweet and savory varieties.

Korean tacos, Southern comfort and “frugality fatigue” are among the leading restaurant trends predicted by Technomic for next year.

As the nation begins to emerge from recession, restaurants are seeing lapsed customers return. Same-store sales are inching up, signaling the industry’s initial rebound to health; hiring is also up, signaling positive expectations for 2011. But this isn’t the same restaurant industry as before. Big changes are on the way—on menus, in concept development and in the competitive landscape.

Technomic, the leading foodservice research and consulting firm, examines the future for restaurants through the lens of 40-plus years tracking the industry, and sees 11 top trends emerging in 2011:

Grant program honoring exemplary culinary training across the nation exposed food editors and other media to educators’ innovations on the plate during the 2010 IFEC Conference in New Orleans.

Olson Communications, a full-service agency that specializes in delivering innovative marketing communication strategy to its portfolio of select food-industry clients, held a Chefs of Tomorrow™ dinner for trade and consumer food media at Delgado Community College in New Orleans on November 10 during the International Foodservice Editorial Council (IFEC) Conference.

By Edward M. Korry, CSS, CWE

Having identified types of sparkling wines, here’s how to serve them.

While true service is the ability to read the customer and make appropriate suggestions to enhance a diner’s experience, it also includes the mechanics for seamlessly delivering a product to the customer. We have discussed the types of sparkling wines one might offer. The following article includes the basics of the mechanics for serving sparkling wines.

Sparkling wines should be chilled to 40ºF to 45ºF before opening. This allows the server greater control, as the gas is in a more stable form when chilled, thus preventing the all-too-frequent explosion of corks from the bottle and the resulting loss of wine.

When handling the bottle, the server should ensure that it is dry so that it does not accidentally slip out of his or her hands. Many restaurants set as a service standard the practice of wrapping a service towel around the bottle. This practice stems from a time when bottles were less uniformly made and prone to occasional explosion, and less necessary today.

Recent research suggests pecans, applicable in recipes for every season, are packed with nutrition.

It’s harvest time for the North American pecan industry. Loved throughout the world for their full flavor, crunchy texture and rich aroma, pecans are also recognized by health authorities and consumers for their nutritional value.

A study recently published in the journal Current Topics in Nutraceutical Research suggests pecans—in part because of their high level of vitamin E—might play a role in protecting the nervous system by keeping nerve cells functioning well as we age.

Commercial buyers utilize the following pecan products, according to the National Pecan Shellers Association.