What's 2009 bringing in the way of food trends? This year, the big picture, at least, is very clear.

1. Cooking at home. Trend-spotters agree that this year's main theme is a return to the kitchen. We've already seen people cutting back on dining out, and we can expect the economic pinch to push more people away from expensive convenience foods and into doing more cooking from scratch.

2. Cooking with a conscience. The local-food movement, one of the big stories of recent years, is still gaining momentum. We should see more local produce in supermarkets and on restaurant tables and more home cooks planting gardens. In restaurants, look for more local sourcing and chef-grown gardens, as well as "greener" restaurant practices.

3. Steaming, braising and sous vide. We're sure to be doing a lot of steaming in 2009, with a plethora of microwave steaming-bag products hitting shelves. But braising — low, slow cooking with liquid in a covered pot — is the big story. It's ideal for the times, because it can transform cheaper, tougher cuts of meat — often the most flavorful — into meltingly tender main dishes with minimum hands-on attention. Think pot roasts, chicken and dumplings, smothered steaks.

Slow cookers will also continue their comeback, along with Dutch ovens. Look for clay pots — Moroccan "tagines," Spanish "cazuelas" and even the Romertopf clay bakers popular in the '70s — to be trendy among food-forward types.

And we may see more home-kitchen experimentation with the sous-vide process of cooking under vacuum, with retailers such as Sur La Table beginning to sell home sous-vide equipment and the publication of uber-chef Thomas Keller's new "Under Pressure: Cooking Sous Vide" (Artisan Books, $75).

4. New ingredients and "functional foods." The zero-calorie South American plant-based sweetener stevia got FDA clearance for use in processed products this year, paving the way for stevia-sweetened soft drinks from Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Dr Pepper Snapple, as well as individual packets of stevia sweetener from the folks who make Sugar in the Raw. Yacon, a tuber that also originated in South America, is another sweetener that's beginning to generate some buzz.

Also, look for a landslide of low-sodium products and gluten-free items. The functional food boom hasn't peaked yet, either; in 2009, the new direction will be relaxation drinks and products, "detoxifying" products and "brain" food and drink.

5. Global cuisines. Peru, India, Morocco and more Mediterranean; Spain continues very strong.

6. Trendy flavors. Persimmon, hibiscus, lavender, the African hot sauce "piri-piri" and the Argentine salsa "chimichurri."

7. Sherry, viognier and classic drinks. Wine-wise, we're predicting that sherry will be shedding its slightly fusty image to become the next big thing among oenophiles. Among varietals, look for viognier to be the hot grape.

As for spirits, look for more classic cocktails, made current by the use of savory ingredients and flavorings such as ginger, cucumber and chiles. Cocktail addition of the year: St. Germain elderflower liqueur.

8. Frugal entertaining. This could be the year of the potluck, as hosts seek to spread the financial burden of hosting a dinner. For weddings and other large-scale events, punch — cheaper than offering an open bar — will be making a comeback, though with contemporary ingredients rather than the '50s recipes.

9. Comfort foods in restaurants. High-end restaurateurs beleaguered by the economy will be embracing the comfort-food-with-a-twist trend more vigorously and coming up with more deals and promotions to lure back shell-shocked spenders. This may finally be the year that caps soaring sticker-shock prices, and homey, economical neighborhood spots may find themselves ruling the roost.

In some upscale restaurants, we're seeing a lot of hot air, with lofty popovers, souffles and gougeres making a comeback.

10. Nutty ingredients. Nuts and seeds are enjoying a real boost from a series of good nutritional reports. We're picking pumpkin seeds and pistachios as the foodie faves.