BUZZWORDS FOR 2010: Authentic Neapolitan pizza. Lamb riblets. Too many food trucks, not enough curb space. Latino street food. Farmed trout creeps up on farmed salmon. Curry- and Indian-spiced fried chicken. Vietnamese sandwiches (bahn mi). Gelati. Global comfort food. Artisan hot dogs. Made-to-order ice cream. Chefs turned butchers. Casual comfort. Touch-screen kiosks and home delivery in fast food outlets. Latino street food. Wood oven cooking. More energy drinks and adulterated waters. Mood food. Backyard and rooftop bee hives. Stevia. Kimchee. Urban farms. Griddled burgers. Free food. House-made everything, especially in sandwiches.

I wish we had Messrs. Baum and Whitehead here with us to talk a little about these. Free food, for instance, is sort of slipped in there. Is that like free hors d'oeuvres or oysters during happy hour? I have noticed more of those this year.

Obviously any and all of these are interesting and fun to talk about -- well, maybe not "casual comfort" or energy drinks -- but what would make them even more interesting would be if they have a good chance to be true in '10. (That looks weird, doesn't it? First time I've written the new decade that way.)

Anyway, I thought it might be fun to show you last year's buzzword predictions so you can judge for yourself:

BUZZWORDS FOR 2009: Maple syrup – in vinaigrettes, in sauces, as glazes on savory food. Brussels sprouts. Mozzarella bars – there’s one in LA, one in New York, and a San Antonio pizzeria recently opened a “burrata bar," so expect more restaurants promoting hand-pulled mozzarella in various forms. Shisito peppers and pimientos al padron – thumb-size peppers from Japan and Spain that vary randomly from hot to sweet, showing up as blister-fried bar snacks and atop grilled meats. With more and better types of mangos are entering the country, they’ve become the sweet fruit of choice. Porchetta. House-made pickled vegetables are enlivening the palate, especially when served with fatty foods such as charcuterie. House-made charcuterie is taking off as chefs demonstrate their artisan talents. Osterias. Spray cans of olive oil and balsamic vinegar for interactive customer experiences. Stevia. Ultra-slow cooking, either in pouches (sous vide) or in ovens (four-hour chicken at 250 degrees) that yields less shrinkage so that portions look larger, more succulent, and easier control in restaurant kitchens – so long as no one gets poisoned. Duck Eggs. Breakfast all day long. Nutella. Old fashioned Dutch gin with lots more flavor impact. Comfort food like baked beans in gourmet concoctions, and peanut butter. More drinking places calling themselves gastropubs. Korean food (tamed for western palates) as kimchee goes multi-culti; Peruvian cuisine, as we predicted last year, will make big strides; and other Andean countries’ foods will emerge this year. Basque and Catalonian cookery, as people explore the flavors of northern Spain beyond their local tapas bars. Salt will be the new trans-fat and there’ll be attacks on bottled beverages, especially energy drinks. Superfruit flavors and extracts added to gins and vodkas. Chickpeas are the vegetable of the year.

Chickpeas aren't my vegetable of the year, but it seems to me a lot of these were right on. So does that mean we'll have beehives in our backyards by the end of next year?

(Barbara Haddock Taylor/Sun photographer)