THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT  
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Thursday, January 4, 1996              TAG: 9512300110
SECTION: FLAVOR                   PAGE: F1   EDITION: FINAL 
COLUMN: Morsels
SOURCE: RUTH FANTASIA
                                             LENGTH: Medium:   54 lines

IN HAMPTON ROADS, 1995 WAS A VERY GOOD YEAR

AS FAR as all things edible, 1995 may go down as the year Hampton Roads hit puberty. After years of growth, the area food market really began to mature.

We saw the opening of the Hannaford grocery store in Virginia Beach and the ground breaking of the Harris-Teeter's stores in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake. Competition is good for everyone, but consumers come out the big winners.

Williams-Sonoma also opened a store in Virginia Beach, giving cooks another place to buy unusual foods, utensils and cookbooks.

Norfolk gained its first brewery in years with the christening of Steamship. The brewery's lager and raspberry ale are available in many specialty stores and supermarkets.

Other highlights in food from 1995:

``Desserts to Die For,'' Marcel Desaulniers' latest cookbook features a multititude of decadent creations. Try adding your own twists - such as making the Cranberry and Toasted Walnut Crostata with cherries and almonds - to the famed Williamsburg chef's winning formulas.

The Virginia Marine Products Board and The Virginia Waterfront, a regional tourism marketing group, teamed to promote Virginia cuisine through a cookbook, T-shirts and postcards.

``Virginia Waterfront Cuisine'' (Bicast Publishing) includes 50 recipes developed by some of the area's noted chefs. Artist Vicki Bruner illustrated the recipe postcards and T-shirts. They not only promote Virginia cuisine but are great fun.

The year also had its less-than-appetizing aspects:

Pork, ``the other white meat'' became even leaner with the introduction of Smithfield's Lean Generation line. Though this specially-bred pork contains less fat than the regular pork, we've found its uses to be limited. Lean Generation is great for grilling but in dishes that require longer cooking, it ends up with a texture like shoe leather.

New varieties of rice cakes. Now they don't just taste like Styrofoam, they taste like Styrofoam with artificial flavors.

Then there was the Congressional outcry in March about the price of breakfast cereals. The publicity has died down but prices have stayed up.

Smart Temptations 97% Fat Free Baked Potato Puffs were another product we could have lived without. As one colleague put it, ``They're like kissing your sister.'' It's the same motion without the excitement. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

``Desserts To Die For'': a treat for sweets lovers

by CNB