The Top 10 Everything of 2010

In 50 wide-ranging lists, TIME surveys the highs and lows, the good and the bad, of the past 12 months

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1. The New Naturalism

Top 10 food trends, The New Naturalism

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Chefs have returned to nature in ways ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous. The former would be the sudden rise in seasonal cooking, heritage breeds, rooftop gardens and pared-down, elegant cooking that focuses on food in an almost puritanical way. (Figs on a plate, anyone?). It gets ridiculous, however, when a chef like Michael Mina has ocean water flown in to a Las Vegas seafood restaurant to poach his fish in. At that point, we're talking Marie Antoinette and her dress-up milkmaids.

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