PO‘IPU — The pear and pumpkin bisque offered by Helen Lacono of Hanapepe Cafe was the perfect answer to a vegetarian Thanksgiving, Wednesday, at The Shops at Kukui‘ula. Grace O’Brien’s family, visiting from California, were searching for a vegetarian meal
PO‘IPU — The pear and pumpkin bisque offered by Helen Lacono of Hanapepe Cafe was the perfect answer to a vegetarian Thanksgiving, Wednesday, at The Shops at Kukui‘ula.
Grace O’Brien’s family, visiting from California, were searching for a vegetarian meal for Thanksgiving and following a tasting of Lacono’s creation, settled on the bisque instead of the Hungarian Mushroom Soup.
“This is using a lot of locally-grown products,” Lacona said. “It’s been a good seller as long as we can get the kabocha squash. The locally-produced items are the kabocha, coconut milk and fresh ginger.”
Melissa McFerrin, the market coordinator for the Kaua‘i Farm Bureau, said Lacona’s use of the kabocha squash makes the vegetarian soup a fall favorite, the kabocha giving a slightly sweeter taste than Mainland pumpkins.
“Right now, we’re doing little things for the holidays that people can do without spending a lot of time in the kitchen,” McFerrin said. “Aletha Thomas of The Monkeypod Jam has several items which can take care of unexpected visitors.”
One of those quick-to-make dishes is the tartlet which uses mini “fillo” or phyllo tart shells (available from Times Big Save, Lihu‘e), some cream cheese sweetened to taste, and a jar of Cranberry Sauce.
“We’re just small batch, seasonal jam producers,” Thomas said. “Which means, we don’t have a large inventory which has been sitting on shelves. Usually, we have about a two-week supply.”
Thomas said they purchase a major part of what they produce from local farmers, adding that if customers look under the table skirts, there are usually containers of fruit and items which she has picked up from other vendors at the farmers market.
“Another quick and decadent dessert is the Orange Marmalade Truffles using the Caracara Marmalade,” Thomas said. “The Caracara Orange is from South America and grows well in Hawai‘i. We’re fortunate John and Daphne McClure of Moloa‘a Bay Coffee have about 40 trees from which we get our supply.”
Recipes for the Thomas preparations can be found by visiting www.monkeypodjam.com where she also lists what is available based on seasonal availability.
“This is the essence of the farmers market,” McFerrin said. “The small business owner takes what the farmers produce and change them into consumerable items.”
She said they dynamic face of the farmers market at The Shops and Kukui‘ula and Kaua‘i Community College has brought Pua Kalo farms and ‘Oliko and Isobel Storch, a mother-and-daughter team, into the marketplace, ‘Oliko being one of the suppliers of fresh produce for 22 North at the Kilohana Plantation where their farm is located.
“What makes ‘Oliko special is she is a young lady doing the work of farming and producing some very good products,” McFerrin said. “You don’t see too many young ladies farming.”
‘Oliko, sporting a shirt she said came from a Moloka‘i farmers market, said they have about 60 chickens on their farm and once the vendors of fresh eggs have exhausted their supply, she brings out her stock to supplement her offering of fresh vegetables and fruits, all produced at the Puhi farm using natural, locally-produced fertilizers.
The community markets hosted by the Kaua‘i Farm Bureau unfolds its offerings twice weekly, Wednesdays at The Shops at Kukui‘ula from 4 to 6 p.m. and Saturdays at KCC from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“We’re also promoting the holidays by encouraging local people to exchange their recipes using Kaua‘i Grown ingredients,” McFerrin said. “The idea is to get some good recipes we hand out during the big Kaua‘i Grown/Kaua‘i Made event, Dec. 17. If we get enough, we can even publish them as fun ways to share the use of Kaua‘i Grown ingredients in family and holiday dishes.”
There is a deadline of Dec. 12 to enter recipes with one entry earning a dinner for the submittor and his family by Chef Kahau Manzo of the Nanea at the Westin Princeville, winner of this year’s Kaua‘i Coffee Celebrity Chef Cookoff.
Visit www.kauaicommunitymarket.org or call 337-9944, or email kcfb@hawaiiantel.net for more information on the recipe exchange, hours of the community markets, or the big Kaua‘i Made/Kaua‘i Grown event, Dec. 17 at KCC.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
