A is for (Sea) Asparagus

For this month's Heart of the Matter, my co-host, Ilva, and I chose to go with the alphabet...and what better letter to begin a series of alphabetical themes than the letter, A? While you won't be seeing a complete series for some time (we want to change the themes up with all the holidays on the way), you'll be seeing different letters appear in the upcoming months.

So many of my favorite foods begin with the letter A: apples, almonds, artichokes, avocado and of course, asparagus. While asparagus is a year-round vegetable here in Hawaii, I know for many of you, it is only a short-lived springtime indulgence. And besides, I wanted to capitalize on some of Hawaii's bounty that maybe isn't so commonly known. For these reasons, I chose one of my new-found favorite vegetables here: sea asparagus. Despite it's name, sea asparagus is not very similar to the asparagus we typically think of. It's more like a seaweed, I guess...or better said, a sea-vegetable. Sort of a cross between a bean sprout and a sea weed...it's a little salty, a little juicy and adds a bit of fresh flavor to anything.

This little sea vegetable grows wild in many places, but in Hawaii, Marine AgriFuture grows sea asparagus hydroponically on Kahuku shrimp farms, harvests it by hand, and sells it at Farmer's Markets and some of the grocery stores on the Island. So, while it's not a food product native to Hawaii (so many of them aren't), it is locally grown. And delicious.

Sea asparagus is very versatile, and good for you. It's full of vitamins A, B12 and B9, as well as folic acid and antioxidants. It's thought to be a good detoxification agent and good for your muscles. And it's a good source of iodine. Since LB and I eat a lot of dark, leafy greens, which also grow very well in Hawaii and are good for you, but tend to interfere with the uptake of the important mineral, iodine, sea asparagus is one way we get our weekly dose of iodine (we use kosher salt for cooking, which does not have iodine added to it the way "table" salt does).

While many people prefer to blanch the sea asparagus for a minute or so before using it, we've found that with the type of dishes we like to make with it, we like to maintain it's salty taste. While it is a bit bitter when eaten raw from the package, when mixed with oils (like the recipe below) it doesn't taste bitter at all. Below is my entry for HotM and a salad that is perfect for a potluck or a light dinner (with some crusty bread or even by itself). It's also easily cut in half. If you want to try it at home and don't have sea asparagus, this is still good with a bunch of regular asparagus - blanched first, cut into smallish pieces, and a little extra soy sauce or shoyu added.

Sea Asparagus and Tofu Salad, serves 8

1 package sea asparagus, roughly chopped
1 japanese or english cucumber, diced
1/2 block of extra firm tofu, diced
1 large heirloom tomato, diced
1 tbsp. toasted sesame seeds

Dressing

2 tbsp. seasoned rice vinegar
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. toasted sesame oil
1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
1 tsp. honey

Combine all the salad ingredients, except for the sesame seeds, in a large bowl. Add the dressing to a small jar with a tight-fitting lid. Close the lid and shake. When the dressing is mixed, pour it over the salad ingredients and then mix, gently. Sprinkle the top with sesame seeds and then mix again gently. This is good fresh, or even after marinating over-night. Better still? I use the dressing for all kinds of things - lettuce salads, marinating chicken, just about any kind of anything that I want to add an "Asian" flavor to...try it!

Drink your Way to a Healthy Heart: Hibiscus-Ginger Cooler

The theme for Heart of the Matter (HotM) this month - hosted by Ilva at Lucullian Delights - was Flowers. In Hawaii, hibiscus grows wild and is commonly found in home gardens and as an ornamental plant, but this little beauty is also extremely high in vitamin C (maybe that's what gives it its beautifully rich color?) and preliminary studies show promising results that it may lower high blood pressure and even cholesterol when steeped and enjoyed as a drink. Sounds like the perfect heart-healthy drink to me!

Hibiscus has been used as a health "tonic" of sorts in cultures all over the world for centuries, and I think it's high time we bring it back! I've been taking some herbal classes lately, learning about the herbs, flowers and plants that are both native and invasive in Hawaii that can be used for tinctures, salves and more to improve health and reduce reliance on contemporary medicine. For my entry for HotM this month, I steeped dried hibiscus flowers with ginger, a rhizome known to be great for stomach problems, but which also has cholesterol-lowering properties. For a little kick, I added a bit of peppermint to the steeping liquid and then sweetened it slightly with honey. It came out great! I can imagine it as an extremely refreshing drink for the dog-days of summer, but it's been nice for the nice days this spring too, when you get a warm day. Add an umbrella and some sparkling water (or hey, rum if you are so inclined) and you've got yourself a fruity, tropical drink that can be made with completely local ingredients. We'll be drinking much more of this in the days to come!

While the flowers themselves are much more beautiful when they are not dried, the dried ones keep well in an airtight container and impart a gorgeous, ruby color to your steeping liquid. Hibiscus has its own distinct flavor...which is actually really difficult to describe, but good! And you don't need very many! I used 15 dried blossoms (I got these at the farmer's market some time ago, but you can also dry your own to about) but you could use the same amount of blossoms in a larger amount of water I think and not lose any flavor...I had a bunch, so I didn't mind using them because I wanted the hibiscus flavor to come through.

Hibiscus-Ginger Cooler, makes 4 cups.

4 cups filtered water
15 dried hibiscus blossoms
1 inch ginger root, organic and unpeeled - sliced into 1/4" slices
1 small sprig of mint
raw honey, to taste

Bring the water to a boil, then remove from the heat and stir in the hibiscus, ginger root and mint. Let steep for at least an hour or up to 4. Strain the mixture with a sieve (or cheese cloth if you want a clearer liquid). You could sweeten it with the honey at this point, or you can sweeten each glass as you want to drink it depending on your preference and who will be drinking it later.

How to Buy from Whole Foods Without Spending Your Whole Paycheck

Foodies in Hawaii have been abuzz about the September opening of a Whole Foods store at the Kahala Mall - the first of these stores in the Hawaiian Islands. Whole Foods isn't exactly known for being a reasonably-priced, value-driven grocery store. In fact, the nickname for this corporate-owned natural foods store is, as I'm sure many of you who have Whole Foods in your area already refer to it by (at least we used to in Monterey, CA), "Whole Paycheck." The nickname is not without substantiation, either. You can easily walk into Whole Foods and spend a pretty penny for a very small bag of groceries.

In Hawaii, where food is already at premium prices no matter where you shop, I was curious to see how Whole Foods would hold up against the hype, and if it would be worth the 30-40 minute drive across the island to shop there, since I live on the other side. Luckily, I have a partner in food crime, so to speak, and received an email shortly after the store opened from my friend Deb at Kahakai Kitchen to attend a "Value's Tour" at Whole Foods - finding healthy food and doing high quality shopping at Whole Foods on a tight budget. Needless to say, I was game. While we attended this tour some time ago, and I am just now [finishing] writing it up, with the economy on a downturn, I thought the information we obtained during the tour is even more relevant now, so I'd like to share. They now run these tours weekly on Saturday mornings at 11AM.

We arrived to a fully-booked tour at 11AM, given by the very pleasant marketing supervisor, Elyse. She started off by explaining to the group (I think Deb and I may have been the youngest in attendance...and neither one of us is exactly a spring chicken either) why Whole Foods is different from other grocery stores - and I learned a few things about Whole Foods that I didn't know before this. For instance, they only feature foods that are free of artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, sweeteners, and hydrogenated fats - foods they consider "pure." I was skeptical about this claim, having just finished Michael Pollan's book, The Omnivore's Dilemma (yes, I know I am the only one out there that hadn't read it yet), but every processed product I picked up off the shelves didn't seem to have any strange ingredients that I couldn't name or a "red #5" on the label.

The store also had a very large selection of organic, gluten-free and local foods. Every organic item is 3rd party certified and no herbicides or pesticides can be used (maybe obvious, but now I've been hearing about the "natural" pesticides that organic companies can use like Rotenone - read the second sentance in that link if you dare...). Most of the fish are also certified by the Marine Stewardship Council, and many come from our local fishery fleet in Honolulu. They have a large selection of gluten-free foods too - and all of them are prominantly marked and many are segregated into their own areas to help with ease in finding what you need. The local foods are what really got me though (what can I say? I'm a locavore at heart!), because it was by far the largest selection of local products I have seen here in a single place, and they are all prominently displayed and easy to find. There are little tags everywhere sticking out from the shelves identifying local products and as soon as you walk in the door, there is a huge case of all locally grown produce (the picture above this is the other half of the case):
Yes, that is asparagus on the top shelf in the picture (from Waimea) and Kahuku sweet corn in the middle, both from Oahu. Apparently, asparagus grows year round here and believe it or not it's actually good year round here too (I know, go ahead, hate me all you want to - and then come and visit!). The produce prices are surprisingly reasonable, for some things. For instance, back in September, locally grown organic mangoes top out at $3.99/lb (not bad for here). A little (#1 recyclable, I might add) plastic box of Ho Farms family tomatoes (those cute ones you saw in this salad) are $4.99 (Foodland has them for $3.99 on sale usually, but 4.99 regularly priced). Locally grown papayas were going for $1.99/lb, and organic bell peppers were running for 3.99/lb (el cheapo!).

Many other products are priced similarly to Safeway or Foodland here or PC Market in Eugene - so basically, they seem competitive. Watch out for the prices on certain items though, dragon fruit, which I just bought at Foodland a few days ago for $4.99 was a steep $9.99 at WF. Unfortunately, since September, prices have risen a bit...while not completely outrageous, many things are a dollar or more expensive now than when I was first there. I'm not sure when they did as I only make it there probably once a month these days because I don't go into Honolulu that often - or if it's only a seasonal jump in price, but that remains to be seen.

One thing going for WF is that they definitely know how to make food pretty and it does help sell their products no matter how much it costs. Check out the coffee selection...feel like you're at some kind of Colombian farmer's market (or, perhaps, Hawaii since we do produce our own coffee here)? And not that you can read it, but their in-house coffee is locally grown - complete with a big sign to tell you exactly which island it came from. You have to admit, that's pretty cool.

And if the coffee station doesn't sell you, the fish case will (check out that moonfish/opah in the top picture!). All the fish had pretty eyes and pretty scales (yay - fresher!) and we even learned that you can pick out your fish, decide how you'd like to cook it that night, go off to do your grocery shopping - and heck, while you're busy picking out your Veggie Booty, they'll even cook it for you - free of charge! They smoke meats and fish in-house and don't even get me started on the glorious cheese and charcuterie sections and the enormous (and quite tasty) deli area. The meats, however, are not local, which I happen to find a good thing...our one local grass-fed beef supplier, North Shore Cattle Company, can barely keep up with the farmer's market...but when I asked, the guy behind the counter told me that WF is attempting to work with producers on Molokai and the Big Island to get some local meat later on.
Okay, so enough already about what it looks like, how can you save money?? Elyse gave us 7 ways to save and I'm passing them on to you:

1. Shop the Sales: Like most grocery stores, every other week WF begins a new sale on certain items in the store. The sale items are identified by the bright red "SALE" tags sticking out from the shelves - just like the green, local tags. You can simply browse down the aisles, looking for red tags and buy up what you can. But then you've got to be able to cook with whatever you can get on sale...we're used to using this strategy here because we practically only buy what's on sale anyway!
2. Search for Values: WF has another way of showing you how to save money by marking products that are already good values even without a sale price attached to it. For these items, WF is passing along to the consumer savings they've gotten from the producer of the item through partnership or by buying in bulk. These are labeled by another green sign (this one is dark green - the local foods tags are light green) that says "Best Buy!" or "Value!"
   
3. Buy 365 (WF Brand) Items: Similar to Trader Joes (Oh TJs - how I miss you!), WF arranges with a specific producer to make a product that is specifically for them at a set, nearly unbeatable price and which they can put under their own label. These are often the cheapest brand in the store and the producer has to follow all the other WF requirements of good, clean, pure food so you're still getting a high quality product, even if you don't know the name of who actually produced it (or so they say).
   
4. Bring in your Manufacturer's Coupons: WF will accept manufacturer's coupons - you know the ones, from all your favorite health food magazines - so bring them in and use them to save money!
   
5. Buy a Lot of One Thing: If you really like papayas, buy yourself a case! Or how about boxes of Peace maple pecan cereal? Similar to how wine stores give a 10% discount if you buy a case of wine, WF offers a 10% discount off cases of your favorite foods.
   
6. Oh, and if you like wine as much as I do, did I mention they also have a special rack of $10 or less wines too? So that even if you're in a hurry, it's easy to find the cheaper vino.
   
7. Buy in Bulk: As any self-respecting crunchy individual like myself knows, bulk foods are a great way to save money and you can buy as much as you want to. WF has a fairly decent selection of granolas, beans, pastas, dried fruits and other bulk items. It's far better than many of the other grocery stores here and many of them are organic.
   

So, while I won't be trudging over into Honolulu every week to do my grocery shopping, in part because of the cost of food and gas (driving over there and back takes nearly a 1/4 of my gas tank and I drive a ford escort), the more I hear of WF working with local farmers and fisherman from the local farmers and fisherman, and the better variety of local foods and food in general, I have to say I'm happy to patronize this big organic chain store on occasion. I go over and stock up on essentials (and the occasional fun goodie too) when I want something healthy, organic or specific (they are the only store I've been to on the island that carries broccoli rabe!), and heck, armed with value savy information from the tour, sometimes I even save a few dollars too.

Labels that Lie?

One of the most difficult things about the Eat Local Challenge is deciphering the labeling of products. I shop for all of my veggies at the farmer's market, where you can actually talk to the producers of your food and there are some regulations about the type of food that can be sold there and where it was grown, but even this has it's own issues because some of the markets are so incredibly busy that the vendors simply have no time to chat. The bustling of the markets is both good and bad - good because more people are visiting and buying from farmer's markets but bad because we're losing one of the best things about farmer’s markets, being able to form a relationship with the farmer or producer of the food you are going to eat.

However, none of the farmer's markets on the windward side that I can go to have meat or fish readily available. When I can make it to town (Honolulu) on Saturdays, and when it is available, I can get free-range chicken from Greg Yee at Blue Lotus Organic Farm or grass-fed beef from North Shore Cattle Company. NSCC also has meat available on the windward side at the Kailua Farmer's Market, but they often run out before either market even begins (many people go early and buy before the bell rings to begin the market, then go around and pick up their bags after it officially "starts"). We actually buy our beef wholesale (1/8 a cow) through an arrangement between Puu’o’Hoku Ranch on Molokai and the Slow Food group here on Oahu instead of NSCC in part because of availability, but also price and because we support the way the farm is run.

The fish counter at Whole Foods in the Kahala Mall -
they actually tell you where their fish is from, but most of it is not from Hawaii.

With the new labeling laws in effect, I've been seeing more countries of origin on the labels of some meats and fish many of the grocery stores I've recently visited. But while it does tell me the country, the label “Product of the USA” does not tell me where in the USA it is made or caught or produced. And it most certainly does not tell me whether it was caught or raised in Hawaii. The fish has been the biggest surprise. Even though this is an island with it’s very own fishing fleet, much of the fish is still shipped in from all over the world – even things we can, and do, fish for here (Ahi, Opah, Opakapaka) and have farms for here (tilapia and prawns)!
Keep in mind that there is a paucity of local products in the grocery stores in general, even at Whole Foods, who actually makes it part of their "mission" to get as many local products on their shelves as possible. When it opened about a month ago, only about 1/4 of the fish selection and none of the meat selection at Whole Foods was locally caught or raised.

The windward side is even worse than Town – we have one vegetarian natural foods store with very few locally grown produce options and one non-vegetarian natural foods store with absolutely no local meat. While it is sometimes helpful to talk to the people at the meat or fish counters at other grocery stores, they often have no idea where the food or fish or meat is from either. Some stores have their own “local” labeling buzz words: "Island Produced," "Locally Grown," "Island Fresh," or some other variation on these phrases, and that’s primarily what I’ve been looking for and relying upon to make my grocery selections.

"Island Produced Pork" from Foodland: The label in question.

You might remember my story about the first day of the Challenge, wandering around Foodland, picking up anything I could scrounge for dinner and breakfast those first few days because I wasn’t quite prepared and the farmer’s market was still two days away. You might remember I picked up a pork leg steak under the “Island Produced” label. While I wondered to myself what “Island Produced” meant, I figured it would do as a local product for the day. I went home, grilled my steak and enjoyed it for dinner. For this, the second week of the Challenge, I went back and bought myself an “Island Produced” pork belly – figuring it would be fun to make my own bacon or roast it with veggies since this isn’t a cut that I see very often.

Then I opened my email this morning and found this story. Then I read this story. And watched this video. While the claims in the story haven’t been “verified” by state and local pig producers, which doesn’t surprise me, pork produced under this label are raised in Montana or California and shipped the 2,400+ miles to Hawaii in very inhumane conditions. They are then brought in, kept and slaughtered here on Oahu in similarly inhumane ways. Read the stories or watch the video if you want the full grisly details. Suffice it to say that I’m appalled and disgusted and there is no way I’m eating that pork belly now, nor buying from this label ever again.

Sigh. There’s also a “50th State Brand” chicken producer here. I’ve been staying away from it because the label says only that the chickens are “Processed and Packaged in Hawaii,” which to me indicates the chickens are not born and raised here at all…and now I’d question how they arrive here too. Not that the mainland has any more scruples than Hawaii though. I’ve read the books, I know the drill: the state of food production in the USA is horrible. LB and I typically buy organic or humanely raised meat and eggs and from small farmers when/if we can find it (in Eugene, this was easy), but even corporate organics, where we get our meat now, has its issues too. And there are no small, family farms shipping their organic goods to Hawaii. At least we have a few good beef and chicken producers here, and I think I’ll be sticking to them for my meat the rest of the time I’m here.

Grass-fed, organic Puu'o'hoku Ranch beef burger on Bale Bakery bun
with fresh, backyard guacamole, local veggie pasta salad (leftovers from a potluck) and warm okra salad.


To read more about the challenge, and find more local products, see these posts: 1, 2 and check the Eat Local Challenge website for updates on what's happening both locally and nationally.

Learning to be a Locavore

Just Add Water CSA Beets (Oahu)

As the first week of the Eat Local Challenge comes to a close, I’ve learned a few things. My emotions have run the gamut from thinking I live in a land of plenty to feeling like I live in a land of none. I’ve gone from wishing I my “exceptions” list was closer to that of a fellow locavore to reveling in the abundance of the new local products I’ve discovered or heard about from friends, relatives and other Hawaii food connoisseurs. I have felt frustration at grocery store fish counters, delight at talking to farmers, bewilderment while reading websites that say little to none about the actual production of the foods they make, sadness at the enormous loss of local dairies, rice paddies and egg farms in recent years, and even a smidgen of confidence as I try and explain to curious grocery store clerks, friends and coworkers about what I am trying to do and why I feel it is important.

It’s been a strange, winding trip from the beginning of the Challenge until now…Day 1 had me scrambling around my pantry, unprepared, trying to find things that I knew were local. Breakfast was easy, oddly enough – a few “island-fresh” Kalei eggs scrambled with scallions from the farmer’s market and a mango from our CSA box. Since I teach Wednesday mornings, I came home for lunch to a lovely salad made by LB containing the last few, scraggly CSA vegetables in my refrigerator drawer. Somehow the small, single, whole Roma tomato rolling around the bottom of the Tupperware felt like an unusually poignant finale to the whole meal as I bit into its juicy flesh, it’s seeds spraying into the back of my mouth.

Farmer's Market Finds: Pepeau (black tree fungus) from Maui
and oyster mushrooms from Oahu

Running to the grocery store to gather things for dinner was a rude awakening: I spent 30 minutes (on a hungry stomach) searching for local products and ended up paying $7.56 for a locally grown dragonfruit that became Thursday’s breakfast. I found “Island Produced” pork that didn’t say where on the “Island” it was produced and couldn’t find anyone who could answer my questions about it – still, I took the least unusual of the cuts (a leg “steak”) and added it to my basket. $50 and a small basket of a few local products later, I headed home. Dinner became the pork steak, grilled, with a warm okra salad (the okra came from a friend’s garden). We had planned to have steamed potatoes to go with the rest of our dinner, but thanks to a bit of oversight and distraction, our cheap plastic steamer melted into the pot when the pot ran out of water. Oops. We shared a bit of Oahu-produced Wailua Estate 70% dark chocolate to end the meal, treasuring the fact that chocolate is actually produced here. Exasperated from ruining one of the pots I use all the time, and knowing the following day would be difficult until I could head to the Farmer’s Market that evening, I decided I had to start fresh the next day.

Having made it through that first day, the rest of the days have flowed much easier. I now have my sources for a diversity of whole foods: organic (and some non-organic) fruit and vegetables; Hawaii-raised grass-fed beef, organic free-range chicken, and pork (although the “leg” cut is about the only one I think I could stomach); and organic eggs. Sugar, coffee, tea, chocolate, goat cheese, beer and wine have also been easy to find. I’ve found several local sources for delicious “processed foods” too – bakery breads; shoyu (soy sauce) and vinegars; tofu; granola; asian-style noodles and wrappers; tortillas and more.

Ono, fresh off the boat; Honolulu Fish Auction

Is it right to trade in my locavore card and eat processed foods whose ingredients don’t come from here? Some people in the midst of this challenge may think so. Some days, even I would agree – it feels almost like cheating. One thing I’ve learned this week is that the rules can, and will, change as I go along – just as my feelings do. I’m learning a lot more about my local food-shed than I thought I would. I’ve found it can be a roller coaster of trying to do what’s right, only to find that sometimes it’s not. Locally caught varieties of fish aren’t necessarily sustainable fish. I've heard that Meadow Gold Dairy products are strictly from the mainland, despite what their website says. It’s like reading Michael Pollan's books again and realizing that it’s not just the big box companies in far-away places that you have to worry about – sometimes the trickery is happening right in your back yard – as you learn that your milk travels 2,400 miles, unchilled, to become the only milk in the USA that is double pasteurized, after it's arrival 8 days later.

I’ve also learned that things are more complicated than I could have foreseen…there are two sides to every story. You may decide to cut one company off your list because everything isn’t from here, even if there are no reasonable alternatives. Then you learn that the company was just bought and is now owned by its employees and has a long-standing history of community on the island, even since before World War II. You pick your battles, I guess, and then choose the path that is right for you. First and foremost, this Challenge is about awareness for me, and I know I feel more alert and aware to every item that enters my kitchen these days.

locally grown "French Sorrel" (Oahu)

I may not be able to eat like a locavore for 100% of my diet (there are no whole grains or dairy are produced here, and I prefer to have both in my diet), but I’ve founds some gems for some things and had my fair share of disappointments for others. My dinners are simple, un-complicated and unfussy, but nearly everything has been tasty (minus, perhaps, those potatoes that the steamer melted into, but we decided not to try eating those). Still, no matter what, my eyes are now open to a new world of farmers, producers, grocery store clerks and friends that I didn’t even know were foodies deep down inside – offering up their own recommendations, secret sources, and sometimes food from their back yard. And you know what? There’s a plethora of delicious options out there.


Local products I’ve been eating and drinking this week:

• Raposa mangoes, apple bananas, kale, chard, collard greens, green and red lettuce, beets, sunflower and daikon sprouts, sweet basil, sweet onions, napa cabbage, beans, oyster mushrooms (Just Add Water CSA; $25/week)
• Oahu-grown Dragonfruit ($5.99/lb from Foodland on sale, but also at the Kailua farmer’s market for a bit cheaper)
• Oahu-grown Molokai, Ho'olomahia, and Okinawan sweet potatoes ($3 for 6; Kaiula farmer’s market)
• Tangerines, avocados, macadamia nuts, apple bananas and okra (from our own and from friend’s backyards; free)
• Big Island Goat Dairy feta cheese (R. Field Wine Co., Foodland); Surfing Goat Dairy goat cheese and feta (Maui, $6/round; Kailua farmer’s market)
• Nalo Farms baby romaine (Oahu, Kailua Farmer’s Market; $4 for 2 small heads)
• Ono “Island Fresh” (Hawaii caught; Foodland; $8.50 for 2 small fillets) *on the "good alternatives" list
• Big Island Bees Organic Honey Ohi’a Lehua Blossom (KCC farmer’s market – but we get it from our neighbor who sells it there; $5/4.5 oz.
• Kona Sea Salt (Big Island, Kailua Farmer’s Market; $9/small bag)

Some good locally produced “processed” foods I've tried this week:

• Anahola granola (Kauai; Foodland; $8.50/bag)
• North Shore Naturals Hawaiian Spirulina popcorn (Oahu; Down to Earth; $5.19)
• Wailua Estate Malie Kai Chocolate, 70% (Oahu; Whole foods, $4.99/1.5 oz. bar)
• Mehana Brewing Co. Volcano Red Ale (Whole Foods, $9.99/6-pack)
• Kona Brewing Company Limited Release Wailua Wheat Beer with Passionfruit (Big Island, Foodland, $9.99/6 pack
• Kaiulani Spices “Exotic Curry” (Oahu, Whole Foods, $6.99/ 3 oz. jar - also at KCC farmer's market)
• Ba-Le Bakery Sliced Loaf (Oahu, Kailua Farmer’s Market; $5.00/loaf)
• Waialua Soda Works Root Beer (Maui, Kailua Farmer's Market; $1.50)

I’ll be telling you about some of my favorite foods and products in the next week, as well as some of the recipes for some of the dishes we’ve been creating, so stay tuned! If you have suggestions for products or places to discover new foods, please feel free to leave me a comment - I'm learning from all of you too!

Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24: `Aha`aina - Recapturing the Global Flavors of the Luau

"24 Meals, 24 Hours, 24 Blogs" is a global blogging event, devised, collected and showcased by the amazing folks at Foodbuzz.com. This event celebrates the scope and diversity of food blogs by capturing the cultural diversity and unique local perspective of bloggers from around the world: it's real food, experienced by real people, and shared real-time.

In Hawaii, community celebration comes in the form of feasting on delicious food in the company of family and friends. Today this feast is often called a luau, but sadly, the only luau that visitors to Hawaii (even long-term visitors) are able to participate in has gone the way of many other fine traditions – turned to entertainment for tourists and comprised of a pared-down menu of accepted (and expected) dishes...and I believe, losing the very reason for its being in the process.

Green Salad with Papaya Seed Dressing (Hawaii)

The luau didn’t begin this way. It originated with King Kamehameha II, who brought peace and equality to the ancient Hawaiians in the early 1800s by finally bringing the social classes together and banishing the arcane rules that had long dictated their lives. This historic change was christened and celebrated by a great feast, called an `aha`aina. Suddenly, commoners were permitted to eat with royalty and women were allowed to eat beside men - everyone rejoicing around a single table.

Korean Pancake (Korea)

For the first time, Hawaiian delicacies such as bananas and coconuts that were previously reserved for royalty were enjoyed and shared between all and traditional Hawaiian staples such as poi (taro), crab, pig and yams, were eaten alongside exotics from the New World. Since the inception of the`aha`aina, culinary influences such as miso, rice and teriyaki from the Japanese; sweet bread, sausage and malasadas from the Portuguese; and dishes like lomi lomi salmon from the West have been incorporated into Hawaiian cuisine.

Huli-Huli Yakitori (Japan)

Modern Hawaii is a global melting pot more than ever. Across the Islands, people celebrate life and pay tribute to their heritage by bringing and sharing dishes that reflect their own cultural customs and backgrounds. In keeping with the spirit of celebration for life and fellowship that began so long ago, we wanted to revive the `aha`aina for the for the Foodbuzz “24 Meals, 24 Hours, 24 Blogs” event. To create this `aha`aina and to promote the sharing of cultural ideals and food traditions, we brought our friends and coworkers – all home cooks - together to celebrate global diversity in true Hawaiian style…to simultaneously recreate and reinvent the `aha`aina on a tiny island off the coast of Oahu.

Tortilla Espanola de Patata (Spain)

For the event, rather than devise a specific menu, we challenged them to do one of two things:

1) Create a new version of a traditional Hawaiian dish, using ingredients that are prominent staples of their country or ethnic background; or
2) Make a traditional dish from their country or ethnic background using locally available Hawaiian ingredients.

Lau Lau with a Fijian Twist (Fiji)

The response was overwhelming – we had nearly 30 people, most of whom didn’t know each other prior to the `aha`aina. Our one requirement, beyond the creating of the dish, was that each person be willing to share a bit of themselves, their culture, and their cooking with the rest of us. The group embodied the global community that has been drawn to Hawaii because of its unique location and spirit of aloha, and included people from over 16 different nationalities - from Hawaiian to Guamanian, Japanese, Mexican, Lithuanian, and beyond.

To bring home the concept of community, not only between those of us living here in Hawaii, but across the world wide web as well, we even invited other Foodbuzz Featured Publishers in Hawaii to join us - to bring their own cultural identity and cooking prowess to the table, and to cover it on their own blog and in their own style. Only one, Deb, was able to attend and you can read her thoughts about the whole experience on her fabulous blog, Kahakai Kitchen.

Kalua Pork Cabbage Rolls "Kaldomar" (Sweden)

For the `aha`aina, cooks and non-cooks alike came out swinging – the food was a veritable feast, both for the stomach and for the eyes. Since each recipe was newly created by the person that brought it to the table, many people were hesitant when they arrived – worried that their food wouldn’t taste right, wouldn’t be right; that it might not look or taste “good enough,” but as the tables were set up and filled with beautiful food, there were satisfied faces and smiles all around. There was no “best dish” of the day – instead of competition between dishes and people, there was only sharing, tasting and discovering the tastes of everyone’s unique heritage, combined with the flavor of land we live in and love (Hawaii, of course!).

Roasted Vegetables and Pineapple Provencal (Italy)

The quality and deliciousness of the feast was clearly evident in the audible exclamations and sounds of surprise and delight that were heard across the table amid the other conversation (and in how much and how fast all of the food disappeared). Before long, as the scent of coconut, mangoes, and pork wafted out into the air, we even had "neighbors" that began to trickle in and ask if they could join the feast. The food literally brought an unexpected and unique group of people together. There were kids running around exploring the new surroundings and providing the feeling of a large family joined together, while the adults were having a different kind of new experience – on the palate and in the spirit of fellowship and new friendships forming.

Many people reflected that they reconnected to parts of their heritage through the experience of coming up with their dish – to mothers, to grandmothers, to childhood memories and family gatherings, and even through traditional recipes they had never heard of nor tried before. Some created their dish as a way to thank the land and the people there – using ingredients from Hawaii and integrating a piece of themselves and their culture with the land they now live in, and sharing it with the people there. One even swore off the luau, exclaiming they would "rather have an `aha`aina any day! Everyone agreed they would definitely come back together for another one (next year, perhaps?).

Kadon Pika (Guam)

We believe this feast represented the true meaning of the `aha`aina and the aloha spirit of the people of Hawaii, reinvigorating the tradition of fellowship and community celebration in the hearts and minds of the people who attended. But the `aha`aina needn’t be specific to Hawaii. It could be recreated anywhere - near or far, around a smoldering imu (an underground oven for cooking Kalua pig) or in your own backyard...you can recapture the global flavors, and the spirit, of the luau in your own way.

As you know, the food blog world truly represents a global community – connecting people across the world at tables and in kitchens, regardless of any borders. But food itself is the universal language of the planet: no matter who you are, where you live or how much money you have, you have to eat – it’s a requirement of human survival and part of the whole human experience. But there is a global community, and a world of creativity, existing right outside your doorstep too – in yourself, your family and your friends. Bring them together, ask them to share a bit of themselves with you, and relish in learning something new about them. I guarantee you’ll be feasting and celebrating life together around a table of amazing food...and what could be better, or more worthwhile, than that?

Dobos Torte with Lilikoi Curd (Hungary)

Stay tuned for the incredible recipes (plus more photos) from this amazing event - they'll be posted soon!

Victorian Sponge Cake with Coconut Cream and Guava Jam (England)

Got Figs?

Figs are definitely on the list of my five top favorite food and they are certainly one of my favorite fruits. My first taste of a fresh fig occurred while living in northern California when I was house-sitting for my (then) boss - he and his wife had a huge Black Mission fig tree in their backyard and told me to "help myself" to as many as I would like. I did. I had never seen nor tasted fresh figs before then. In fact, the only figs I'd had any contact with previous to that little fig tree and its hanging jewels were (gasp!) Nabisco's Fig Newtons.

But after eating that first fig, I couldn't get enough of them. I cleaned the tree out in a few days flat.

Yep, every last fig.

And that was only the beginning of my affair with figs. They had soft, succulent flesh that went with everything from honey to goat cheese to blue cheese to port. Sweet or savory, the figs fit the bill. They were fabulous whether roasted, baked or scraped off the inside of their tender skins with my teeth. They were like sex: even a bad fig was a good fig. And there were no bad figs that time of year. Later, I remember wandering aimlessly, hopefully, into a tiny, out of the way Mediterranean market in October that year to ask if they ever had fresh figs. The proprietor of the tiny store laughed. He told me to come back next August.

Next August? But that was a whole year away!

And so, there was nothing I could do but wait. The next year, I loaded up again. When I moved to Oregon, I bought my own tree. It was small, and it didn't produce many figs, but each one was like a prized possession. Every August and September, I bought them in quantity at the market, from Freeman. I even went so far as to preserve them in rum.

Well, it really is true: the best things come to those who wait. Figs are one of the few produce items that you simply cannot get in the grocery stores the whole year. And often, many grocery stores don't even carry them. Figs are sweet, fragile and ephemeral. Like a coy lover, they are here one moment and gone the next - leaving your tastebuds longing for more. No wonder they're considered aphrodisiacs. Consider yourself lucky if you have them in your grocery store (and if they're ripe). Scour the farmer's market for them or scout out the neighbor's tree...bring the neighbors cookies or pies if you have to, for trade. Or, seek out a tree near the sidewalk that you can snatch a few from in desperation.

Figs are also somewhat finicky - they don't grow well everywhere. They require wasps to pollinate them. They don't grow in Hawaii.

Or so I thought.

That was until I received a tip from a couple of foodies in LB's office that there had been figs at the Farmer's market in town (Honolulu). I didn't know who the vendor was, but I told LB we were going. And we went. We arrived at 9 AM (it begins at 7:30) and finally found the vendor in question: Blue Lotus (Organic) Farm. We asked if they had any figs.

They laughed at us. They asked us, "What time is it?"

We said, "Almost 10," looking down at our watches. They said, "Come back next week, early. We've been sold out for hours."

And so, we did. We arrived the following week at 7:35 AM and went straight to the booth. No figs. He was already sold out. We got the last 3, very bruised specimens for half price. But oh, they were tasty - heady, even. The first bite transported me back to all the other Augusts when figs had touched my lips for the first time each year...I instantly wanted more, needed more. I put the charm on and worked out a deal with the farmer and he offered to set some aside The next weekend, I called and he was going be out of town...he promised the following week he would be there, figs in hand.

So it took me three weeks to get my figs, but it was worth every moment.

The figs are here, friends. And they're organic!

Go see Greg Yee, at Blue Lotus Farms. Get them while they are still here because before you know it, they'll be gone. Go early and bring something to place these jewels in - a safe, gentle resting place - while you do the rest of your shopping. It'll be worth it when you get them home, perfect and unblemished.

Most of the figs Greg has are Calimyrna figs. They are more subtle and delicate than Black Mission figs; and not quite as sweet or rich as their darker cousins. With the two pounds of figs I bought, I ate many of them simple, fresh and unadulterated. Then I topped these mini mascarpone tarts with them - a modified version of this tart, but scented with Grand Marnier and honey and with a toasted hazelnut and graham cracker crust. I also made a fresh fig, date and ginger (mascarpone) ice cream. Delicious. Seductive. Heavenly.

Resources:
Greg Yee
Blue Lotus Farms
KCC Farmer's Market (Row E - over by the boiled peanuts)

Consequently, Greg also sells organic chicken and duck eggs (prices dependent on size) and even better - whole, free-range local chickens. The chickens are about 6 lbs each and come out at approximately $20 per bird. He didn't have any chicken the day I was there last, but he says he usually does. On an island where local eggs are rapidly disappearing and local chicken is even more rare, farmers like Greg are a blessing and need your support. But trust me, my friends, nothing - and I mean nothing - compares to the figs.

***Update, Jan 9, 2015***

Courtesy of a commenter: Greg Yee passed away January 8.  He was a beautiful person who loved life and always had a smile to share with others. It brought him great joy to see people enjoy his fruits, vegetables and eggs. He will truly be missed.

Rest in Peace, Greg.  You were a blessing to all at the Market and we did enjoy your products!  Thank you for the light you brought and the beautiful things you shared with us. You will be missed.

Green Food (Literally and Figuratively)

There are few places in the U.S. where as many things are imported as in Hawaii. We get nearly everything we have from the mainland and that means nearly everything gets in a boat or a plane and travels the 2400+ miles from the mainland states (western coastal states, mind you) to get to our supermarkets, big box stores or gas stations. Thus, our carbon footprint is astronomical. As gas continues to go up, so do the prices for nearly everything else. Don't get me wrong, I know it's happening everywhere else too...it's just that we're already paying $6.99 for our eggs and $6.49 for our half-gallons of milk and living off the same salaries we would have if we lived anywhere else, so we're feeling the pinch. I'm not complaining (anymore) and I've come to terms with how much things cost here, but if you think of the miles our food is traveling and the amount of gas, pollution and carbon we're wracking up, as people who care about the environment, we've got our work cut out for us.

Hawaii is a relatively small chain of islands - so small, in fact, that it cannot support a commercial industry for things like chicken (neither organic nor conventional). While we do have "Island Fresh" eggs that are locally produced and commercially distributed, there isn't enough land to support enough chickens to make enough money for a farmer to survive on selling poultry alone. That said, we're lucky that we live on Oahu and actually have a grass-fed beef company here, the North Shore Cattle Company, as well as many other local food suppliers for things like pig (nobody calls it pork here, and nearly 85% of it is still imported), tofu, tropical fruits, many international and ethnic foods (Thai watermelon, Okinawan sweet potatoes and saimin noodles to name a few), and there are even specialty items like figs (yay! picking up my first basket this weekend!), flavored salt and ginger syrup.

Worse than the food supply (maybe), very few things can be recycled most of the year. We can only recycle white and colored paper (no glossies, including magazines), newspaper, aluminum cans, glass bottles and corrogated cardboard. Only #1 and #2 plastics can be recycled, which cuts out just about everything from yogurt containers to most of the packaging materials that food comes in here. This was a big change from Eugene where nearly everything was recycled - and we composted (which we're not sure how to do here yet because of the massive cockroach problem, but we're working on figuring that out) - leaving us with only 1 bag of trash between 3 people, every 2 weeks. Amazing, really.

LB and I now generate nearly 3 - 4 bags of garbage per week, while recycling as much as possible. It actually hurts to throw away so many things, and I hope we never become immune to that. That said, the communities are trying to bring in curbside recycling this Fall and it will be great to see if it will be possible to add a bit more to the recyclable list. Unfortunately, no matter what gets recycled, most of it has to make the trek back to the mainland to be recycled there. Again, upping the stakes and leaving me wondering how much good it does in the long run. Well, we try.

To do our part to support the local economy and reduce our carbon footprint, we've been buying as much local food as possible, including shopping primarily at the various farmer's markets, picking out "Island Fresh" logos from the supermarkets (and Costco!) and joining the one and only Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) group here on Oahu. The CSA is called "Just Add Water" and it's run by Kimberly Clark, who has been running it for nearly 15 years. Better still, it's organic, which is a huge bonus here. We pay $25 a week for the mid-sized box, which is just about right for two as long as you like to cook and cook mostly vegetarian.

Everything we get from Kimberly is beautiful, healthy and crisp - so long as I can get over to the pick up site before 5 pm to pick it up (it gets delivered at 2 in Kaneohe, which makes it rough if you've got a 9-5 job). Trust me, that's a huge bonus as much of the supermarket produce is extremely sad-looking and limp. And you can't beat the price around here, as we would be paying at least twice that for the amount of organic produce we're getting. So, just what do we get? The picture below shows the standard fare, and by that, I mean standard. We get essentially the same produce every single week, and we have now been members for almost 3 months. But that's okay with me - I love everything we get and it forces me to get creative. LB, on the other hand is not such a big fan of cooking greens and we get a big (at least 2 meals worth, cooked down) bag of chard, kale and collards every week. I'm determined to show him the light with greens and have found a few recipes that he'll eat, but I'll write more about that later ;)

While the beautiful nasturtiums are gone now (maybe they were only in our welcome box!), we always get: a head of romaine lettuce, a bag of mixed greens (which includes some great herbs like dill and some very interesting leaves I have yet to identify that smell like basil but don't look or taste like it), apple-bananas (we now have a full-on love affair with apple-bananas), a BIG bag of cooking greens (mixed chard, kale and collard greens), sunflower sprouts, daikon sprouts, sweet basil, and one or two beautifully buttery avocados. Then, we get one or two of the following, depending on the week: a small bag of green beans, cabbage (napa or purple), a lemon or lime or meyer lemon, a papaya, or a small eggplant. Most of it is green, so I supplement colored fruits and veggies from the farmer's market to make sure we're getting all the vitamins we need (eat the rainbow, right?).

The only downfall is that everything comes in a plastic bag, so I re-use them for anything I have that doesn't come in one and so far, I haven't felt the need to ask her to not put things in them (though I have debated it). Curiously, nearly everything at the farmer's market comes in bags too, prepackaged into 2 or 3 pieces and sold by the bag for a set price. It doesn't make for the prettiest pictures, which is one reason why I haven't taken any there. I guess maybe it's easier than weighing it at the market? Some things come on styrofoam platters and wrapped in plastic. I try and stay away from those. It's the same way at the supermarkets too. Why? I have no idea. We are an island after all, you'd think they'd want less trash accumulating around here - although much of it gets shipped to the mainland too. The same goes for the "plate lunch" - a Hawaiian institution consisting of one meat item, 2 scoops of white rice and a big scoop of very mayonnaise-laden macaroni salad - which for whatever reason has gone from paper plates to styrofoam boxes, regardless of whether you're eating in or eating out.

Overall, I'm a very happy CSA member and am thrilled to support Kimberly and all she's doing. I tell everyone I meet about it (which isn't too many people yet, but hopefully that will change soon!), and I've already gotten her two new members - yay! If you're living on Oahu and haven't checked her out, please do! Not only are you supporting our island economy, but helping her out financially as an individual and as an organic farmer too, something that is difficult in its own right.

And if you are here, or if you're visiting, here's a tip: these don't come in the CSA box, but she sometimes swaps with friends on other islands that have organic farms, and her Raposa mangoes are to die for. They're the best-tasting mangoes we've found here, and you can get them at her booth at either the KCC Farmer's Market or the Thursday night Kailua Farmer's Market. Just look for the organic produce vendors (there are only 3 at the KCC Market and she's the only one at the Thursday market, though one of the other vendors occasionally has organic produce). I wish I could send them to all of my friends and family, but then that wouldn't be reducing the food footprint would it...and that also means that there is more for me!

Resources:
Kimberly Clark
Just Add Water (CSA)
http://www.just-add-water.biz/index.html

Oahu Farmer's Market Information