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- FOOD, Page 70BEST OF 1991
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- 1. CAL-ASIAN CUISINE, a.k.a. PACIFIC RIM COOKERY.
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- It was the year's best new gourmet trend, and its most
- renowned pioneer was Los Angeles' superstar chef, Wolfgang Puck.
- Pacific Rim cuisine_more for dining out than cooking in --
- features American, chiefly Californian, staples subtly accented
- by Oriental herbs and spices such as lemongrass or ginger. The
- result: dishes that have a Western look but an Eastern aura,
- like shrimp and papaya salad with Thai peanut dressing.
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- 2. MCDONALD'S MCLEAN BURGER.
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- The best news for fast-food devotees was that, after years
- of helping clog the nation's arteries, McDonald's introduced
- its new McLean burger with 320 calories and only 9 g of fat, in
- contrast to 410 calories and 20.7 g for a Quarter Pounder.
- Burger King and Wendy's have yet to follow suit.
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- 3. COOKING AT THE ACADEMY.
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- The hottest and most savory TV cooking show is produced by
- San Francisco's California Culinary Academy and KQED. The
- series, which has been shown on PBS channels, features no-name,
- no-frills chefs who skip yuks and patter in favor of precise
- instructions on how to concoct their light, low-fat, au courant
- recipes. In just four months, a cookbook featuring dishes from
- the series sold more than 90,000 copies.
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- 4. CHENIN BLANC AND COLOMBARD WINES.
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- Some top California vintners have begun to make lively,
- fruity and moderately priced white wines from these two
- neglected varietals, which had long been thought suitable only
- for blending into generic jug wines. An end to the tyranny of
- overpriced Chardonnay.
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- 5. FILET MIGNON STUFFED WITH ROQUEFORT CHEESE.
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- Yes, really. This was probably the only food gimmick to
- come out of the Persian Gulf war. One of Manhattan's top
- steakhouses, Gallagher's, reported a big increase in orders for
- this cholesterol-heavy dish after General Norman Schwarzkopf
- pronounced it a favorite.
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- 6. VEGETABLES.
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- The best health news for foodies this year was fresh
- scientific evidence that what your mother said was true; veggies
- really are good for you. One study showed that eating garlic may
- help lower blood pressure. Other medical surveys suggested a
- relationship between specific foods and a reduced risk of
- certain diseases: broccoli and breast tumors, for example, or
- grapefruit and clogged arteries, soybeans and liver cancer.
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- 7. EXOTIC FISH.
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- Sated with salmon and sole? Tired of tuna? Creative chefs
- have begun to challenge taste buds with such species as
- amberjack, cobia and pout. For good measure, some imaginative
- toques are cooking the sea creatures with ocean-born vegetables:
- alaria, arame, hiziki, kelp.
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- 8. DESIGNER VINEGARS.
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- Vinegars -- herbed, balsamic, home made, you name it --
- took on added cachet as American chefs continued their
- ceaseless quest for less fattening flavor agents. The shelves
- of specialty stores groaned with an ever increasing array of
- novelty mustards, oils and sauces, including a typically macho
- salsa concocted by that iron-mouthed amateur, actor Paul Newman.
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- 9. THE NEWS FROM TOULOUSE.
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- Amazing but true: the region surrounding this city in
- southern France, whose robust cuisine embraces foie gras, fatty
- duck, preserved goose, chewy red wines and Armagnac brandy, has
- the lowest rate of heart disease in the entire country. And the
- French as a nation, despite their substantial lunches and
- dinners (wine included), are only one-third as likely to die of
- heart attacks as Americans are.
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- . . . AND THE WORST
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- Gourmet magazine's sugar-cookie recipe. In its July issue,
- the magazine mistakenly substituted oil of wintergreen, which
- in substantial doses can cause nausea and vomiting, for
- nontoxic wintergreen extract. Gourmet hastily mailed a warning
- notice and correction to subscribers; no casualties were
- reported.
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