Edited by Joan Namkoong and Hayley Matson-Mathes
Fresh island products from A to Z.Avocados fully ripen only after they have been picked from the tree. Leave avocados on your kitchen counter until you feel them give when you gently squeeze them…After ripening, an avocado can be stored in the refrigerator until ready to use, though its texture may suffer.
If you’re like me, the produce department is your favorite part of the grocery store—and a farmers market, piled with shiny red tomatoes, golden pineapples and bountiful bok choy, is some kind of heaven. The Hawai‘i Farmers Market Cookbook is the ideal companion for those who are at their happiest picking out papayas.
The colorful, spiralbound book lays out Hawai‘i produce from asparagus to zucchini, pairing each entry with a photo, background, usage and selection tips, along with at least one recipe. The simple recipes are non-intimidating but look delicious, like “Roasted Beet and Goat Cheese Salad with Macadamias” or “‘Ulu and Corn Chowder.” Perhaps the most intricate is a two-pager for “Kona Coffee Mousse Cake on Dark Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookie Crust”…yum!
The book came about as part of the Green Tables initiative by the Honolulu Chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier, with the aim of supporting civic agriculture and sustainability in communities. Les Dames is a society of professional women of high achievement in food, fine beverage and hospitality, with esteemed Maui members who include Beverly Gannon (check out her recipe for “Hearts of Palm, Avocado and Jicama Salad”), Teresa Shurilla and Juli Umetsu, among others.
Les Dames worked with the Hawai‘i Farm Bureau Federation to produce the cookbook, fulfilling a long-held dream of Dean Okimoto, HFBF president. Okimoto and Joan Namkoong opened the first Kapiolani Community College Farmers Market in 2003 as an all-Hawai‘i-grown and -produced market with no Mainland produce or flowers allowed.
“I hope this book will not only put delicious food on your table but better connect you to our local growers, so that agriculture in Hawai‘i will continue to play an important role in our community,” Okimoto writes in the foreword.
One of the best parts of the book is the emphasis on local farmers, with colorful sidebars about Maui farmers like Alex Franco of Kaupo Ranch Ltd. and Geoff Haines of Waipoli Hydroponic Greens, and their insights as to the biggest challenges of being a farmer today (“how the state feels about agriculture,” Franco says). Warren Watanabe, president of the Maui County Farm Bureau, shares a recipe for “Kolors of Maui Sunset Slaw,” showcasing a colorful array of Upcountry vegetables.
Other features include a short island-by-island overview of Hawai‘i ag, fruits and vegetables seasonality charts, and “Six Reasons to Shop at a Farmers Market.” (“4. By shopping at a farmers market, you’re supporting local farmers and their families. Your dollars help to perpetuate a vital part of our state’s economy.”)
The book steers clear of any mention of organic versus non-organic or genetically modified foods, sticking to the basic tenet that all farming is good farming.
I learned a lot from this little book, about everything from asparagus (“thickness is not a good guide to freshness”), to bananas (“bananas contain tryptophan, a mood-enhancing protein”), to lotus root (“a symbol of purity because its interior structure remains untainted even though it grows in muddy ponds”).
And with all the pesky guavas around our house, I can’t wait to try the book’s suggestions on how to make your own guava puree concentrate for juice, pies, breads, sorbets and sauces. As they say, if life gives you guavas, make “Tropical Mimosas!”