bold, fresh and focused I can think of few enterprises as exciting as launching a new magazine. Chances are, you're probably asking the same question we asked ourselves before creating Plate: Does the foodservice industry really need a new magazine? After sifting through this premiere issue, we think you will agree with our answer. There is a need for a professional magazine devoted solely to food -- only food. And that's where we have staked our claim, delivering innovative dishes, profitable ideas, presentations, techniques and a heaping helping of recipes. Plate is boldly flavored, full-bodied and focused. No smorgasbord of financial, operations, labor or equipment information. No random buffet of meat, fish, fowl, fruit, vegetables and sweets. Instead, we concentrate each issue on a single ingredient -- in depth and in the context of current menu trends. Our debut issue puts pork, the world's most widely consumed meat, in the spotlight. Lean and versatile, fresh or cured, today's pork has a distinctive taste all its own, yet is uniquely suited to support any flavor chefs might choose from their ever-expanding repertoire of world cuisines. I took this culinary conjunction for granted until a recent trip to Italy. On a mountain road in Tuscany, from the relative safety of my seat in a small vehicle, I was confronted by a big, bad-tempered wild boar: terrible tusks, rows of teeth, in no hurry to move along. The thought of eating him never crossed my mind. But at a restaurant that evening, I was served cinghiale (wild boar) that had been marinating in red wine, herbs and garlic for a couple of days. A few bites gave me a renewed appreciation for the tender, delicate pork we are used to in the United States. I also gained a newfound understanding of Italian chef Marcella Hazan's comment that she likes wild game preparations, but not undomesticated taste. When Hazan applyies traditional bold marinade flavors to pork tenderloin, she touches two other trends explored in this issue: the renaissance of brining, and the move toward embracing and adapting authentic ethnic dishes. There is a growing mandate to represent them accurately within the framework of available ingredients, contemporary cooking techniques and a profitable kitchen. In this issue, our case in point is Mexican cuisine. Did we cover every bold idea? Capture every new trend? Not by a long shot. Among the untouched discoveries: feijoada, Brazil's national dish based on multiple cuts of pork (Otro Mas, Chicago); soul-violis, raviolis stuffed with barbecued pork and served with sweet potato sauce (Amy Ruth's, New York); housemade and cured salamis and pigs' feet (Cafe Rouge, Berkeley, Calif.): pancetta (Savoy, New York): prosciuttos (Oliveto, Oakland, Calif.); and steamed ground pork topped with Chinese black olives (Dim Sum Go Go, New York). Now, who knew the Chinese cured olives? Nancy Ross Ryan, culinary editor

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