Share Your Table

Agritourism comes to Oahu

2010-02-04T11:46:00.016-10:00

A few weeks ago, as a guest on the Haleiwa Farmers' Market North Shore Farm Tour, a busload of us headed country for a tour of a few North Shore farms. Haleiwa Farmers' Market (partnering with E Noa tours) hopes to add more farms and tours (i.e. a chocolate tour and Waianae tour) in the future, but for now, it's just this one, running twice a week to Poamoho Organic Produce, Waialua Sugar Mill and North Shore Cattle Co.

Above, Al Santoro on 7-acre Poamoho Organic Produce, which lies between Poamoho Gulch and Mt. Ka'ala. A former naval intelligence officer, he and his wife, Joan, converted former sugar cane land to an orchard which now fruits (when in season) mangoes, longan, lychee, Meyer lemons, limes, papayas, starfruit, tangerines, avocadoes, among others.

Chickens and ducks eat any fruit that fall to the ground, helping to keep the bug population down, while also of course providing eggs.

After Poamoho, we make a stop at the Waialua Sugar Mill, which Haleiwa Farmers' Market manager Pam Boyar likes to include on the tour to give a sense of history of the region, where most of the land used to be in sugar production. The smell of roasted coffee greets us and outside, crates of cacao pods are being delivered. We also sample Island X's shave ice with syrup that's made with real, local fruit like mango and pineapple.

Last stop: North Shore Cattle Co, where Ryan Lum talks of their cattle operations at the top of Haleiwa. We finish with a picnic lunch amongst gorgeous views.

Generally, I'm not one for tours...they often make me feel like I'm part of a herd, and sometimes the experience feels less like a personal interaction with a farmer than a marketing pitch, but I understand the need for this tour and even as someone who's been to a lot of farms, I still learned something new. Everyone did. And given the small size of the tour, we had time to ask individual questions which the farmers answered pretty honestly. The more people that can connect the hard work these farmers put in and the obstacles they face with what's on their plate, the more chance we have in changing the agricultural landscape. We never know what the ripple effect will be...

Grow Community Festival at Wai‘anae High School

2009-11-24T15:17:00.013-10:00

Three or four times a year, Ka‘ala Farms and Wai‘anae High School organize a Grow Community Festival for WHS students in the Natural Resources Academy (which includes students studying agriculture, Hawaiian studies, marine sciences, and food service). The goal of Natural Resources Academy is "taking care of the natural resources we have in Wai‘anae," says agriculture teacher Lei Aken.

The Grow Community Festival is kind of a Hawaiian version of Alice Waters' Edible Schoolyard, an organic garden and kitchen classroom in Berkeley. The students learn to build dry boxes, dry fish, smoke meat (in this case, turkey, since it's a week before Thanksgiving), build an imu, pound taro, and use an earth oven to make pizzas.

Above, commercial opelu fisherman Domingo Gomes shows the students how to dry ahi fillets and scrape the meat out of oio which they'll later mix with taro and fry for oio andagi. Though Wai‘anae High School does have an organically-certified garden and some aquaculture where the students raise ogo, shrimp and tilapia, most of the food prepared this day was not raised at the high school.

Uilani Arasato (pounding above), one of 17 interns at Ka‘ala Farms over the summer, takes on an almost motherly role in showing the inexperienced (including me) on how to pound poi. While pounding, she talks of breaking down Wai‘anae stereotypes, the topic of her "I am Wai‘anae 2009" video.

Eric Enos, co-founder and Executive Director of Ka‘ala Farms, putting the pizzas prepared by the students (which includes a few "stuffed-crust pizzas") in the earth oven. Enos says Ka‘ala Farms partnership with WHS is natural. "Our mission is to preserve the living culture...connect families through food. Sustainability [has been] our mission from way back when..But it’s really important that we work with the youth. By empowering youth we really get momentum...Public education really has to be elevated. Otherwise it’s just recruit for the military."

Taro flatbread, made by mixing taro and water.

Taro andagi - the dough is made with taro, bananas, coconut milk, flour, baking soda and sugar, rolled into balls and fried.

Big Island farmers' markets and farm visits

2009-11-03T15:46:00.011-10:00

I won't bore you with all the million farmers' market photos that we always take, except for this one, because it's especially unique. This is Sandwich Isle Bread Co's levain, the best locally-made bread I've had on the islands (of course, there are stories of Chris Sy's levain fit for Japan's emperor, but I haven't tried it...yet). The best part is the wood-fired, dome-shaped oven on wheels that allows Kevin Cabrera (the baker who calls himself a "yeast-wrangler" among the cattle wranglers of Waimea) to bake bread on site.

I love traveling with like-minded foodies. In this case, Laurie Carlson, president of Slow Food O‘ahu. With some time on our hands, we went to see the attractions: KTA, a local supermarket chain in Big Island known for its commitment to sourcing locally. It didn't disappoint. Here, behind the poke counter, the seafood man breaks down a yellowfin tuna brought in early the same morning.

Again, Laurie and I are of the same mind...we wonder if we have a pot big enough in our vacation rental to throw this fish head in. Unfortunately, our dining cards are fully booked for our stay, so we have to leave it behind.

A visit to Mauna Kea Tea in Ahualoa. Big Island agriculture seems to be betting on tea being the next Kona coffee. The green tea and oolong tea from Mauna Kea Tea is extremely light, though fragrant, and the tea farm one of the tidiest farms we've seen.

A friend of ours works on Jan Dean's Maluhia Farm and Hawaiian Homegrown Wool Co. as a sheep-shearer (how much more of a country job can you get??). Though Jan's main business is producing wool (for which we're actually eyeing wistfully for the chilly Big Island nights), she also keeps chickens.

We catch one of their hens in the midst of laying.

Unperturbed, she grants us a picture-perfect shot of her nest and freshly-laid egg.

For more pictures of the farm (check out our friend's new living space under the tarp!) and some fascinating pictures of chicken processing check out her gallery.

Return to Frankie's Nursery

2009-09-30T13:51:00.011-10:00

Back to Frankie's Nursery for the first time since November. I spent over three hours walking around with Frank, realizing only later that I had become a buffet for mosquitoes. Rubbing citronella grass on my legs was too little, too late. We harvested bamboo shoots and nibbled on the stem of a taro plant, from a variety of taro that's low in calcium oxalate--the stuff that usually makes your throat itchy if any part of the taro plant isn't cooked thoroughly. We probably ate a dozen or so fruits, Frank scrambling up trees to pick them, as lithe as a ten-year-old. Unfortunately, I remember the names of few of them and my hands were too sticky to take pictures.

What I did manage to document: above, nutmeg, flanked by yuzu and a fruit similar to a plum.

A star anise-like variety of spice.

Jackfruit as big as a linebacker's torso.

Cut open, there's something so primal about jackfruit...so fleshy and large. Tastes of pineapple and cantaloupe. Frank sent me home with a champedek, similar to a jackfruit, but has hints of garlic. As it ripens, it smells like natural gas...Ben kept moving it to the farthest corners of the yard, as far away from our house as possible. Frank has many stories of people who have called inspectors to investigate a gas leak, of valets who are afraid to start a car all because of a champedek ripening inside.

Miracle berry. First heard about it in a New York Times article...still have "throw a miracle berry party" on my to-do list, even if it's so last year. Without thinking, I ate it halfway through our farm ramble, and everything afterwards just tasted absurdly sweet. I went through the citrus grove, sucking on limes and lemons while Frank got a kick feeding me unripe fruit. After an hour, I felt like I had drank a six-pack of soda and was craving something, anything, salty or sour.

Lotus flower...when they open, they're as big as my face.

When the "shower heads" dry up, they open and you can pry out the lotus seeds. Perfect for the next time I make ba bao fan.

Kupa‘a Farms

2009-09-17T07:44:00.010-10:00

Kupa‘a Farms is a 4-acre organic farm in upcountry Maui run by Gerry Ross and Janet Simpson. A few of my favorite things about Kupa‘a Farms:

- When we were visiting, Kupa‘a's CSA box contained pineapples (how many CSAs in the country can boast that?!) and red, white and blue potatoes in time for July 4.

- Like other good organic farms, Gerry and Janet are truly cultivators of the soil; last winter, while heavy rains washed away neighboring farms' crops, so that onions were found rolling around Kula Highway below, Kupa‘a Farms lost barely an inch of soil, a testament to its soil health.

- In a recent cupping competition hosted by the Hawaii Coffee Association, Kupa‘a Farms coffee placed 7th out of 69 entries. It placed first of all the Maui coffees and bested quite a few Kona coffees.

- And my absolute favorite thing about Gerry and Janet: with a trap, they catch would-be predators of their crops–small birds and pheasants, mostly–eat them. Gerry admits that sometimes they're kind of tough, but it's all part of eating what the farm provides.

Market Fresh Bistro

2009-09-07T00:41:00.009-10:00

A reliable tip when traveling is to ask chefs where they like to eat. Our new favorite idea is to ask farmers where they like to eat and where they send their produce to. For farmer Gerry Ross of Kupa‘a Farms in Kula, Maui, the answer to both questions is the same: Market Fresh Bistro. These days "local" is a favorite buzzword marketers love to attach to food, but the eateries that truly embody the philosophy, such as places like town in Kaimuki, and now, Market Fresh Bistro, capture my heart and palate completely. Here, it's not really about the fancy flourishes and sauces a chef could put on a plate, but rather, letting fresh, local ingredients shine.

Above, Maui organic strawberries on mini Belgian waffles (actually, probably the menu item with the fewest local products, but I have a weakness for food in miniature) and below, Maui Cattle Company shortrib with polenta and fried egg.

The last Thursday of every month, they have a farmers' dinner, showcasing a different Maui farm. We almost made a special trip for the Kupa‘a Farms dinner, having seen all of Gerry's beautiful produce, but we suspect when we find ourselves again at Market Fresh Bistro for a future farmers' dinner, the showcased farmer and food will be just as radiant.

Thoughts: Misleading Advertising, Farm Theft

2009-08-01T23:04:00.008-10:00

What's wrong with this picture? A "Locally Grown" sign over clearly imported apples...even if the sign doesn't specifically say the apples below are local, its placement is deliberately misleading. What's most infuriating about this is that it's at the Kapahulu Safeway. Safeway has the least amount of locally-grown produce of all the supermarket chains (I can get more local stuff at Costco even!). This day, in all of the produce section, the only locally-grown items were the pineapples. Safeway obviously sees a growing market in consumers interested in purchasing local, but instead of actually trying to source local produce, they resort to shady marketing tactics.

Other disheartening news: stolen tomatoes at Jeanne Vana's North Shore Farms, right before the farm fair. Not only do farmers here have to contend with year-round diseases and pests, when crops are actually healthy, they're vulnerable to thieves. Based on conversations with farmers here, theft is a serious issue. One farmer talks of needing dogs, guns and alarms to try to protect his property, but is afraid of the fallout should he actually catch a thief. Gustavo Diaz, of Kapalua Farms in Maui, who used to farm in Virginia, says it was never a problem there because of the remoteness, but on Maui, he's considering giving up the fruit orchards because he loses so much to theft every year. Like a lot of crime, it's hard to tell whether the best solution is a reactive (tighter security with government funding because small farms don't have the resources) or a proactive stance (developing community around the farms so to discourage theft? Sounds a little too idealistic to me...would need to see it in practice on a for-profit farm) or a mix of both.

2009-08-01T23:01:00.001-10:00

It's hard to stay positive when it seems that local ag faces an uphill battle on so many fronts. But being pessimistic is no use to anyone. So I have to end on a delicious note: poi-battered kajiki with limu and lomi tomatoes from lunch at Downtown at the HiSAM about a week ago. town and Downtown are always cooking local, challenge or no.

Mango Mascarpone Tart

2009-07-28T14:44:00.006-10:00

The problem with recipes is, I can never follow them, even if they're my own. You know the phrase "you never step in the same river twice"? That's what it's like eating and cooking in my kitchen...you never eat the same dish twice. Most of the time I don't mind...it's fun cooking with what you have, substituting on the fly, but when it turns out stellar, I'm unable to recreate it because I don't remember what I've done.

In the throes of mango season, and inspired by the mango recipe contest at the Moana, I set about making a mango mascarpone tart. But while I'm providing a recipe below, it's merely a launching point because honestly, I probably wouldn't make it the same way again. For one, it's an incredibly expensive recipe, with the mascarpone and Sauternes, and it's really not worth it when the mangoes are stellar in themselves. Also, the filling is a little bit loose with the added yogurt. So ideas for next time: skip the mascarpone and whisk the yogurt with egg and bake into the tart, and then top with mangoes; omit the Sauternes and macerate the mangoes in lime and ginger syrup.

Mango Mascarpone Tart

Sweet Tart Dough (from Alice Waters' Art of Simple Food)

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg yolk
1 1/4 cups flour

Cream together the butter, sugar, and salt. Add egg yolk and mix until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add flour and mix just until incorporated. Chill for 4 hours or overnight. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Roll out and press into an 8-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Chill tart shell in freezer for 15 minutes. Line tart shell with foil and fill with pie weights. Bake 20 minutes, then remove weights and bake another 20 minutes, or until shell is deep golden. Cool completely in pan before filling.

Filling

2 mangoes, peeled and diced (reserve mango pit with attached flesh)
1/2 cup Sauternes
8 ounces mascarpone
1 cup yogurt
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon grated lime zest
Chiffonade of mint, for garnish

Squeeze flesh around mango pit to extract the juice and add Sauternes in a bowl. Add mangoes and macerate for 1/2 hour. Strain in a sieve set over a small saucepan, reserving mangoes. Reduce liquid until syrupy, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together mascarpone, yogurt, sugar, lime juice and lime zest. Pour into cooled tart shell. Top with mangoes. Drizzle syrup all over tart and garnish with mint.

Hawaii State Farm Fair

2009-07-20T05:44:00.009-10:00

I've been to county fairs as a kid, but never had as much fun as I did this past weekend. Just goes to show grown-ups (if I can call myself that...that's me on the right shoving watermelon in my face) can have just as much fun as kids. I didn't win the contest, but at least I didn't throw it all up like the guy next to me. That's him, just as he's about to blow.

Then, judging the cook-off between the firefighters and Councilman Dela Cruz. The firefighters, calm, serious and composed. The day before, in a face-off with Mufi, they won with a fried rice topped with a red hot dog cut to look like an octopus.

Dela Cruz, more light-hearted, using every last second.

Dela Cruz's fried rice slippah, plus extra Big Island portuguese sausage. Because we can always use a little extra!

The fire fighters' pineapple, mac nut fried rice. I have to confess, though I try to fight the kitsch, I have a weakness for hollowed-out pineapples and cocktail umbrellas. The firefighters won by just a hair, or perhaps I should say, by a grain of rice.

One of the judges offered this advice for cooking competitions: use extra sugar because it makes the flavors explode. Not so much for regular cooking because it would make you sick, but for competitions when judges take only a few bites, he says it's a guaranteed winner. Personally, I prefer spices and textures over sugar.

An egg scale. What looks like an antique just for display is actually Peterson Farm's actual egg scale. Sharon Peterson Cheape, manager of the egg farm, wasn't kidding when she said a lot of their equipment was as old as her grandparents.

During the livestock auction, I got swept up in the moment and desperately wanted a hog. Ben set up a spreadsheet as I fed him hog weights and bid prices, calculating price per pound of actual usable weight from the live weight. Usually the voice of reason, suddenly, he had no limits. We lost out by 10 cents. When we came to our senses we realized we had come too close to writing a $1100 check in exchange for a 200 pound hog. The star of the night was a red Duroc hog, bid up to $13/lb for a 250-lb hog by Roy's Restaurants.

If not a hog, then maybe a chick? Not this time...

In the midst of all the fun, the difference between going to a farm fair as a kid and as an adult is having a keen awareness of the sponsors and their presence at the fair. As a kid, it's just about rides, cotton candy and corn-on-the-cob; as an adult, it's contemplating the state of Hawaii agriculture, in which growing food for our island loses out to Monsanto, Pioneer and Syngenta fields. There's also the irony of Aloha Air Cargo's banner at a farm fair that promotes eating locally: "If it's grown, it should be flown." No doubt, to neighbor islands in addition to mainland, but the slogan has the sensitivity of Chevy's marketing of "Nova" in Mexico (i.e. "no va" or "doesn't run" in Spanish)

Angel of Agriculture

2009-07-16T04:57:00.012-10:00

A few weekends ago, I spent the morning with Dan Nakasone for the North Shore Cattle Co story. We kept loading activities in, so our schedule became packed with breakfast at Haleiwa Farmers' Market (giant burrito for Dan and his wife Linda and two cups of shave ice for me and Ben...we couldn't resist trying all of Waialua Sugar Mill's homemade shave ice syrups), tour of North Shore Cattle Co, and Kahuku Farms' new vanilla venture, all before a tomato patch luncheon at Jeanne Vana's North Shore Farms.

At Haleiwa market, Dan is no less than a celebrity. Sabrina St. Martin of Naked Cow Dairy calls him an "angel of agriculture", a phrase I'm to hear again later on other farm visits and interviews, and Laurie Carlson, publisher of the Honolulu Weekly, calls him a fixer, the ag equivalent of a local guide who helps foreign journalists in providing local connections, translation and transportation. Just recently, he was guiding Conde Nast Traveller journalists through the Hawaii local ag landscape. But his expertise isn't exclusive to "foreign" journalists; he's also responsible for sourcing much of the local products used in Alan Wong's restaurants.

At Haleiwa market, I see Mohala Farms' beautiful produce that I had seen in the fields just a few days prior.

And Twin Bridge Farms' stand, there's the asparagus, of course. Milton Agader stands behind his produce, like a proud parent, guiding me to the purple bell peppers, potatoes (I'm still absurdly excited when I see local potatoes) and four different varieties of hot peppers.

Then to North Shore Cattle Co...we feel especially privileged to be up here, and Kay Lum takes time to talk to us right before she jets off to the Phillipines with family. I never met Doc Lum, and as cliched as it sounds, his presence is still felt on the ranch--in the cattle, in the family that work there. The resulting story is inadequate in capturing the scope of his life.

This is the second ranch I've been to in Hawaii, and it confirms my belief that during the cattle's life on pasture, their lives are worthy of envy for this writer: beautiful views and endless hours to ruminate. The grass during the summer is a little drier than the ranchers would like. Hence the constant refrain: "Pray for rain!"

Then to Kahuku Farm's vanilla project in Haleiwa. They just finished hand-pollinating the flowers, and we're too late to see any of the vanilla orchids, but if we bring our noses close to the green pods, we smell the hint of what's to come. Harvest is projected to be in January, and it's then, via the curing the process, that vanilla begins to develop its prized fragrance.

Dan leaves us at Jeanne Vana's tomato patch, for a Slow Food lunch. I wish had pictures of the spread and of our tables between the tomato fields, but by then I'm simply ravenous for the good food and good company in the warm North Shore sun and I ditch the camera.

Maui Film Festival: A Taste of Chocolate and A Taste of Wailea

2009-06-25T13:28:00.004-10:00

I suppose it's telling of our life that we couldn't tear the camera (and our grubby little hands) away from the spread at the food events at the Maui Film Festival long enough to take pictures of the celebrities. That and it's especially hard to approach a celebrity to ask for a picture when you just know you've got chocolate smeared all over your teeth.

Throughout the weekend, it was a tough call of what was more beautiful...watching movies under the stars, or the food.

I have a weakness for ice luges. Or maybe it's just things sculpted from ice.

Sweet & Sour glazed island fish in lettuce cups with Macadamia Nuts and Ginger Vinaigrette from Spago

Filipino Lumpia with Chicken and Hamakua mushroom Tempura Oishi Sushi with Spicy Ahi Grilled Miso Tiger Prawns on Buckwheat Soba from Ko

Sous-vide Lamb Loin, creamy quinoa, hibiscus reduction from Bistro Molokini

Overlooking the Celestial Cinema screen and the sunset.

Food Sovereignty Conference

2009-06-18T17:17:00.010-10:00

With another busy weekend looming, I've just now begun to sift through notes and pictures from the last weekend. Last Friday was spent at Mohala Farms in Waialua as part of the ‘Aina Ho‘ōla o Ma‘ilikukahi conference, a food sovereignty movement that MA‘O first started five years ago.
(‘Aina: land, Ho‘ōla: restore, Ma‘ilikukahi: a great king of O‘ahu; during his rule, the land prospered and there were enough resources to sustain its people.)

Broadly, the movement is about educating youth and community in land stewardship so that we may feed ourselves. To help make the lessons more tangible, attendees worked at one of five farms/one fishpond to see the projects that people are currently working on to make O‘ahu sustainable, and to gain some practical experience. At Mohala Farms, some of us worked with Evelyn Giddings, composter extraordinaire, making compost piles and learning what goes into compost (everything she can get her hands on, including other people's rubbish). Mark Hamamoto shared the struggles in acquiring ag land, getting water, and fighting off bugs as an organic farmer. I like the experimental attitude at Mohala and the delight they take in working the land. It's amazing...Evelyn and Kathy Maddux are over sixty years old, but in the fields, they're lithe and strong.

My big question, though, after leaving Mohala Farms, was: how do we make farming economically viable for farmers? How do we expect farmers to farm organically, to plant diversified crops for O‘ahu's people rather than seed to be exported for large ag companies, when the latter is what pays the bills? How do we expect to win the fight against unsustainable development if it's more profitable (not to mention much easier) to sell the land to developers than to farm it? I admire all the small farmers on O‘ahu who have strong ideals and the extraordinary will to see them through, but for the rest of us, we need a little more assurance before we take the plunge.

These were questions I hoped to have answers for on Saturday, when we all convened in Kahana Valley and attended panels like Viability and Food Advocacy. But of course, if the answers were so easy to obtain, perhaps we wouldn't need a conference in the first place. The very simplified answer appears to a combination of policy changes, education, and just doing it. The personal problem, then, becomes what can I do that will make the most impact? There's only one of me, where do I direct my energies?

I have to come clean...while I'd like to say the most memorable part of the conference was hearing from engaged youth, or talking with inspirational people, really, the hedonist in me says the best part was the kalua pig for dinner on Saturday. A whole roasted pig killed and stuck in the imu the day before, the whole thing, head and all, shredded into juicy, flavorful pork...it's quite possibly one of the best things I've ever had. If you could give people a piece of that and tell them that this is what we're fighting for...I bet you could convince a lot of people to join the fight.

Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

2009-06-10T10:45:00.006-10:00

When I was younger, I relished everything that was new...probably why I was filled with insatiable wanderlust. These days, whether it's the extra years or having the good fortune to live in Hawaii, I find myself just as excited to be back home after travels. Whether it's stumbling across new exotic things at home (an invitation to a "mountain oyster" sampling), revelling in seemingly mundane new events (Nalo Greens at Whole Foods! Finally!), or welcoming the return of old friends (lychees and mangoes flooding the stalls in Chinatown), it's great to be back.

Right before we left, in an effort to preserve a carton of local milk in the fridge, I made yogurt. With the hot, summer weather in mind, I picked up a box of Kula strawberries and blended them with Maui raw sugar and yogurt and churned the mix in my ice cream maker for frozen yogurt. There's no place like home...or maybe more accurately, the kitchen.

Strawberry Frozen Yogurt
adapted from David Lebovitz's cookbook: The Perfect Scoop

1 pound (450g) strawberries, rinsed and hulled
2/3 cup (130g) sugar
Optional: 2 teaspoons rum (for an all-local fro-yo, try Maui Rum from Haleakala Distillers)
1 cup (240g) plain, whole milk yogurt
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Slice the strawberries into small pieces. Toss in a bowl with the sugar and rum (if using) until the sugar begins to dissolve. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for 2 hours, stirring every so often.

Transfer the strawberries and their juice to a blender or food processor. Add the yogurt and fresh lemon juice. Pulse the machine until the mixture is almost smooth.

Chill for 1 hour, then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Makes 1 quart.

Some Images from Norway

2009-06-10T09:02:00.009-10:00

We were in Norway for the past few weeks, hence the silence on the blog. Here are some of our favorite food-related pics from the trip. Okay, the above is one of our many scenic pictures from Norway (an extremely photogenic country), but just out of the frame is a small fish farm. The interesting thing about Norway is how they manage to tuck their farms into every seemingly inaccessible and hidden (well, not so hidden, since we found them) corners of Norway. And they're everywhere. For a country that seems to have largely non-arable land, with long, dark winters, Norway manages to produce about half of their own food, from what looks like small, family run farms. Next time we go back to Norway, I'd like to go through WWOOF (Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms). I imagine there's a lot we could learn from them.

Another thing Norwegians do well: bread. Any grocery store or bakery in the larger cities had at a minimum, twenty different types of fresh-baked loaves, made of walnuts, spelt, oatmeal, graham, or rye...and more than Google Translate could translate for me. Even gas stations and convenience stores carried at least a few loaves of fresh bread and had small ovens where they could bake off boller throughout the day--soft, sweet, round buns sometimes studded with raisins and cardamom, or chocolate chips.

In the Lofoten Islands, above the Artic Circle, dry cod is a huge industry. The islands smell of the drying fish, hung by their tails, with mouths wide open on these wooden racks all over the islands.

Fjord trout, slightly pinkish like salmon, but with a milder taste.

A restaurant that sells only one cut of steak with a choice of sides like asparagus, cauliflower, or baked/boiled/mashed potatoes. This chalkboard outside proclaims its commitment to only the best meat from the best suppliers ands details some of their steps in preparing the best tasting steak.

Strawberries, so beautiful, glossy, red, and perfect that when I put them in our shopping basket, Ben wondered why I was buying plastic strawberries. How about the taste? Some of the sweetest we've ever had.

Locavore Dinner at Alan Wong's

2009-05-06T20:00:00.000-10:00

Back during my Eat Local Challenge, if I wanted to stay true to my diet of eating only locally grown ingredients, eating out was not an option. But on May 20, Alan Wong will be taking on the locavore challenge by cooking a locally-sourced dinner, all the way down to the seasonings. It's an impressive undertaking by a restaurant, one that probably only a chef as well-connected with island producers as Wong could pull off. (I imagine the town restaurant chefs would come a close, too, but would never give up their olive oil and parmesan cheese.)

One thing Wong has, though, that I didn't, is dairy products. Naked Cow Dairy, which won't officially open until the end of June, is supplying the butter and cheese for the dinner. Though I lament the loss of Oahu dairies, their extinction is giving rise to such innovators as Monique and Sabrina van der Stroom who are not only bringing dairies back to Oahu, but taking a hard look at why they disappeared in the first place. Story soon...

Above: a brown Jersey cow among the more common Holsteins at Naked Cow Dairy

Sugar and Spice Mother Daughter Tea

2009-05-06T12:03:00.000-10:00

Most of my childhood eating experiences revolve around time with my grandmas, who would make an army of jiao zi on the kitchen table, or with my dad, forever experimenting with French and Chinese food, seafood and duck breasts in the kitchen. It was only occasionally that I would spend time alone with my mom, just eating (and not working on calculus or physics or whatever I was failing at the time). Sometimes she would make an afternoon snack of peeled tomatoes and sugar (funnily, the only other time I've had something remotely similar to this is in Alan Wong's restaurant kitchen), but some of my favorite memories were when we'd go to the Strawberry Tea Room in our neighborhood and order afternoon tea with cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches, little cakes, and my favorite: bubble-and-squeak, if only for the name. It seems appropriate, then, to spend Mother's Day weekend enjoying afternoon tea. Though I suspect I'm now too old to join the "Sugar and Spice Mother Daughter Tea" at the Moana Surfrider, I can only imagine the memories that will be made over little finger sandwiches and scones and clotted cream.

Details: Sugar and Spice Mother Daughter Tea, Saturday, May 9, 2009 from 1-4pm at the Veranda at the Moana Surfrider. For reservations or information, call 921-4600 or visit www.moanasurfrider.com

Mesclun, Tokyo turnips and cardoons at MA‘O

2009-04-29T11:13:00.012-10:00

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.

Ka‘ala Farms

2009-04-25T12:37:00.006-10:00

I visited Ka‘ala Farms the other day because a friend's description of the beauty of the ancient lo‘i being restored here was irresistible. To get to Ka‘ala Farms, we were told that when we reached the fork in the road, to take the road that was more forbidding. Truthfully, to this outsider, all the roads in Waianae look a little forbidding. But Ka‘ala Farms, deep in the Waianae Valley and surprisingly lush and green, welcomed us with the sight of terraced lo‘i planted with kalo at various stages of development. Ka‘ala Farms, more of a cultural learning center than a farm, encompasses 97 acres, of which about 9 acres are actively being tended. Various programs are cobbled together here: school groups come to learn about Hawaiian culture via kalo, poi and kapa, and individuals work in the lo‘i as part of a substance abuse treatment program.

I'm under the assumption that growing kalo is a practice handed down generations upon generations. And so I'm surprised to learn that when Eric Enos, director of Ka‘ala Farms, first stumbled upon these abandoned lo‘i, he didn't know what they were. He says that he was so removed from Hawaiian culture he had to ask UH for advice on how to grow kalo. That was a while ago...now, he invites us to a bowl of kava (dipping his fingers in the bowl and sprinkling it on the aina, and then one sprinkle over each shoulder for maternal and paternal ancestors) and shows us the fish he's drying in a simple, screened sun box. The dried ahi is like candy--chewy, sweet and salty. The other fish, simply salted, he gives us to take home, and my friend (and chaffeur for the day) is not so happy about the smell it gives off in her car under the hot Waianae afternoon sun.

Stage restaurant

2009-04-15T10:25:00.012-10:00

As much as I love dense, rich content full of food politics and stories, I do whittle away a fair amount of time in shallow depth of field, soft focus food porn on the internet. So I admire those who can take beautiful pictures of their meals in restaurants. For me, unless I'm doing a Metromix gallery, I'm happy to just sit back and eat without fussing around with the camera. But when the above plate arrived in front of us at Stage Restaurant, I couldn't resist.

Above, Stage "Sashimi": Japanese Hamachi Sashimi, Kabayaki Sauce, Wasabi Paint, "Shoyu Gelee", Wasabi & Orange Tobiko, Crispy Radish Salad with Shiso

Seared Japanese Hamachi: Radish Salad, Cucumber, Togarashi, Caramelized Onion Vinaigrette

Ahi Carpaccio: Soy Wasabi and Chili Pepper Pearls, Concasse Tomatoes, Avocado Puree, Bubu Arare

Braised Short Rib
Mountain Meadows Grilled Lamb Chops: Marcona Almond Herb Crusted, Parsnip, Baby Zucchini, Baby Carrots, Yellow Squash, Lamb Jus

"Deconstructed S'mores": Cinnamon Toast Powder, Liquid "Teddy Grahams", Burnt Marshmallow Ice Cream, Swiss Dark Chocolate

There was also Crispy Fried Calamari, Grilled Kurobuta Pork Chop, Grilled Seafood Risotto, and four other desserts that didn't get their beauty shot because we just couldn't wait. Actually, I didn't even have the patience after the appetizers and had to hand off the camera to Ben. Yes, we may have been a little overindulgent in ordering, but this week is their 50% off special to celebrate their third year anniversary...and all five of us are greedy little pigs who know not to wear tight jeans when eating together.

Seinfeld's Soup Nazi in Manoa

2009-04-08T09:02:00.007-10:00

I’m at Coffee Line, working, and it's becoming a little too bohemian for me...all the conversations are distractingly lively and empassioned and I can't concentrate. Frustrated, I get up to leave when a woman comes in who hasn’t been here in almost twenty years. "What a beautiful surprise!" she marvels, finding that the coffee shop she used to frequent as an undergraduate is still around.

Now run by a different owner, Dennis, it’s really the kind of place you don’t forget. The outside sitting area is airy, bright, and lush with foliage and filled with mismatched seats and tables that Dennis says he found in the trash. Even more crammed is the kitchen, filled with pans, mugs, plates and bric-a-brac on every surface. Where does he even prepare the food? Dennis is sometimes likened to Seinfeld’s Soup Nazi in his strictness and eccentricity, for which you get a sense on his menu which includes baked potatoes (when have you ever seen baked potatoes at a cafe?) and “Big ‘hippie’ sandwiches” and a coffee menu in which he admonishes people who don’t bring reusable cups for coffee-to-go.

Though intending to leave, I find myself buying a coffee and sitting on the stool in front of Dennis as he brews it. He took over this cafe 16 years ago, in his retirement. He’s here and open everyday because he likes it.“I don’t need a vacation from this,” he says. That’s the best kind of job, right? “It’s not a job,” he responds firmly.

It’s past 3, and it’s time for his run and workout at the gym. He’ll return in about two hours for dinner service, but we’re allowed to stay and hang out. It’s finally quiet, but now, all I want to do is push work aside.

Restoring tradition and eating the benefits at He‘eia Fishpond

2009-03-31T20:06:00.010-10:00

I'm always amazed by how small O‘ahu is, but there are pockets that I've never trekked to...pockets that remind me that I don't have to travel far to experience something new and be inspired. Hidden from view behind a residential cul-de-sac in Kaneohe, a group of young people are restoring the He‘eia Fishpond, which we visited last week with Slow Food O‘ahu.

He‘eia Fishpond was constructed some 600 years ago as stocking ponds to raise fish...a small, small scale version of modern-day fish farming. These days, they raise moi, barracuda, Samoan crabs, Australian mullet, and sardines, all of which we prepare for lunch (except for moi, as they are not in season. As much as we are proponents of eating seasonally, we cry when we are deprived of moi).

Above, we scale sardines and Australian mullet (an invasive species) with an opihi shell, which works so well I consider retiring my fish scaler. These are fried and eaten whole.

Here, Hi‘ilei, executive director of Paepae o He‘eia, scales barracuda, which she wraps in leaves and steams with salt. We also steam sweet, meaty Samoan crabs. There are two limu salads, again, made with invasive species. Some people think we might be able to solve the invasive species problem by eating them. I say it's an appetizing way of approaching the problem.

Taro farmers, themselves preserving Hawaiian traditions, join the potluck, pounding taro to produce fresh, thick pa'i 'ai.

As usual at Slow Food potlucks, there's delicious food, and there's a ton of it. We're still eating and talking, getting our hands sticky with poi, grabbing fish with our fingers, cracking crabs until our fingers bleed, spending extra time around the desserts, when everyone else starts packing up to leave. Are we the last to leave because we're eating so much or because we're too busy talking? I can't tell...

Taro Festival at State Capitol

2009-03-24T20:20:00.011-10:00

As we approached, we could hear the knocking of stone pounders on wooden boards. When we turned the corner, though, we didn't expect to see as many as we did...40 some wooden boards lay in the middle of the State Capitol, some only large enough for one person to pound, others big enough for four or more to sit around, and others long and narrow and raised, like seesaws. Families, young and old convened for the largest unified gathering of Ku'i Kalo (pounding taro) to celebrate Hawai'i's living taro traditions. Every family, every board, every stone pounder could tell a story, about the power of tradition, about preservation, about kalo. And knowing how much Hawaiians love to talk story, what stories were being exchanged at that moment, over the methodical pounding?

Kona Brewfest!

2009-03-17T21:14:00.000-10:00

Beer and ribs. What a combination. Unless it's Lent and you've given up meat for 40 days. Then it's pure agony...at least as much agony as one could be in around so much beer. So instead, we drown our sorrows in beers, smoky, gingery, extra hopped-up, chocolatey, coffee-y. By the time of this picture, I've had enough beer that I'm waiting for my grapes to turn into wine.

Strawberry Mochi from Two Ladies Kitchen in Hilo

2009-03-17T19:21:00.005-10:00

Eating these mochi is more like eating a hamburger or manapua...they're so big you almost need two hands to eat them. To make them, they take a handful of mochi, slather it with adzuki paste, roll it around a giant strawberry, and pinch the ends together to make a smooth seal. They're wonderful.

Peeking into Two Ladies Kitchen was like entering a kitchen full of moms, or church ladies making dinner for fellowship. They asked how old I was, and when I told them my age, they said, shocked, "Oh, that's OK. We know boys who like to date older women." I didn't have time to tell them that I was already married before they were listing some kids they knew who might accept me, even though I'm apparently waaay over the hill. I think I'm going to start lying about how old I am.