Mesclun, Tokyo turnips and cardoons at MA‘O

Ben signed up for an earth building class at MA‘O over the weekend because 1) he likes to build and 2) because someday, I want a clay oven in my backyard, and somebody's gotta build it. I came out on Sunday to play around in the mud a bit and to roam MA‘O's fields, ridiculously picturesque against the Waianae range.

Kale, chard, beets and mesclun lettuce flourish in MA‘Os rich soil, along with some other less common veggies, like tiny, round Tokyo turnips, which we had prepared raw, stems still attached, with a Kula lavender mustard dressing at the Friends of the HiSAM benefit the night before. Ed (of town and downtown) likes to call them "little water bombs" and they're crunchy, slightly sweet, slightly peppery. I pulled a few cardoons, grown at the request of the guys at town. Raw, cardoon leaves are probably one of the worst things you could put in your mouth--harsh and bitter don't even describe the extent of it--but the stalks, when braised with a little lemon juice taste like a cross between a celery and an artichoke. There's also fennel, sweet and aromatic with a light anise flavor.


MA’O just acquired 11 acres and among many other projects for their new land, like building a teaching kitchen, cafe, and clay oven, also plans to plant a grove of fig trees. Figs in Hawaii! It's so exciting that farmers and chefs in Hawaii are getting together and breaking down the long-held beliefs that dictate what can and can't be grown in Hawaii.