Category: Spring 2019

Letter of Aloha – Spring 2019

FIRST, I WANTED TO SAY MAHALO to all of the subscribers, advertisers and readers who gave us such positive feedback in regards to our four, distinct cover selections for the 2019 Winter issue. We read each email, listened to each voice mail, and appreciated each time you stopped us in person to share how much you loved the four different covers.

I started the new year looking at our office space and feeling like we needed to lighten our load, refresh our space and to say goodbye to things that were holding us back and weighing us down. Boxes of items were donated, recycled or shared and now the space is clean and compact. How many of you join me in really taking the term spring cleaning to heart?

We have been focused on asking you to share the magazine, and inviting as many people as possible to become subscribers, and we are in gratitude to each of you for helping us share the message of edible Hawaiian Islands. Please continue to help us in this way so we can reach our 2019 goals of sharing the magazine with even more new readers.

Tucked into this issue of the magazine you will find a gift for you between pages 34/35. It’s our 6th annual Hawaii Farm Guide. What once was a labor of love has turned into a valuable resource guide for everyone looking for a TRUE farmers’ market across the state. Please be inspired to take a farm tour or seek another way to connect with the farming community. And don’t forget to mark your calendars now for our 2019 Farm Day on Saturday May 18, 2019.

Pickled Garlic

PICKLED GARLIC

Photography by Barry Frankel
Recipe by edible Hawaiian Islands
Our Do It Yourself department is meant to inspire and motive you to make items at home that you would normally buy at the store. We’ve been noticing pickled garlic springing up on menus all over the islands. We consider pickled garlic to be a condiment. You’ll love how the once pungent garlic flavor mellows out with pickling. Add it to sandwiches, as a soup topper, in a salad, or on a charcuterie platter. Try this recipe and snap a photo using the hashtag #ediblehirecipes, submit it to Instagram, and share how your DIY came out, plus any tips you learned along the way.
Course: Condiment, Side Dish

Equipment

  • Large Pot
  • Large Mason Jar With Tight Fitting Lids
  • Ladle
  • Tongs

Ingredients

  • 24 Whole Garlic Cloves
  • 4 Cups Distilled Water
  • 24 Coriander Seeds
  • 12 Whole Black Peppercorns
  • 2 tsp. Chili
  • 6 Whole Allspice Berries
  • 3 Cups White Wine Vinegar
  • ¼ Cup Sugar
  • 4 tsp. Canning Salt
  • Fresh Dill

Instructions

  • In a large saucepan bring all ingredients to a boil.
  • Add whole garlic and turn off heat. Allow to cool slightly.
  • Using the tongs, add the whole garlic to the mason jar, dividing the cloves up so there are 12 each to a mason jar. 
  • Next add the fresh dill and pour the cooled pickling liquid over the garlic to the top of the mason jar. 
  • Cover and place in a cool spot on the counter out of the sun. 
  • Your pickled garlic will be ready in 5 weeks and will keep up to 3 months.
  • Refrigerate after opening.

Notes

*Tip Use distilled water so your garlic doesn’t oxidize and turn blue.*

BREAKFAST: THE COOKBOOK

BY EMILY ELYSE MILLER

Start the day with the definitive cookbook of authentic home-cooking breakfast dishes from around the world. Breakfast is the most important – and comforting – time of day for billions of people everywhere. Here, for the first time, a collection of hundreds of home-cooking recipes celebrates morning meals as they’re prepared in kitchens across the globe. Each recipe is accessible and straightforward, with notes offering cultural context and culinary insight. Whether it’s sweet or not, classic or regional, it’s here: Egyptian Ful Medames (stewed fava beans); Mexican Chilaquiles; Chinese Pineapple Buns; American Scones; Scottish Morning Rolls; and so much more.

THE GARDEN CHEF: RECIPES AND STORIES FROM PLANT TO PLATE

For many chefs, their gardens are a direct extension of their kitchens. Whether a small rooftop in the city for growing herbs and spices, or a larger plot with fruit trees and vegetables, these fertile spots provide the ingredients and inspiration for countless seasonal dishes. Here, for the first time, The Garden Chef presents fascinating stories and signature recipes from the kitchen gardens of 40 of the world’s best chefs, both established and emerging talents, with a wealth of beautiful images to provide visual inspiration.

THE GREEK VEGETARIAN COOKBOOK

BY HEATHER THOMAS A delicious collection of accessible and tasty Greek recipes – perfectly matched to the current trend for meat-free eating. Fresh vegetables are an integral part of Greek cuisine, and The Greek Vegetarian Cookbook showcases an array of delicious meatless breakfasts, soups, salads, vegetables, grains, and desserts. Drawing inspiration from all
over Greece, the book simplifies this hugely popular cuisine with easily achievable, nourishing recipes so satisfying and tasty that they appeal to vegetarians and meat-eaters alike. Introductions to each recipe often provide additional information on ingredients and serving suggestions and many suggest variations to the dish itself.

TU CASA MI CASA: MEXICAN RECIPES FOR THE HOME COOK

BY ENRIQUE OLVERA Learn authentic Mexican cooking from the internationally celebrated chef Enrique Olvera (featured in the Netflix docuseries Chef’s Table), in his first home-cooking book. Enrique Olvera is a leading talent on the gastronomic stage, reinventing the cuisine of his native Mexico to global acclaim – yet his true passion is Mexican home cooking. Tu Casa Mi Casa is Mexico City/New York-based Olvera’s ode to the kitchens of his homeland. He shares 100 of the recipes close to his heart – the core collection of basic Mexican dishes – and encourages readers everywhere to incorporate traditional and contemporary Mexican tastes and ingredients into their recipe repertoire, no matter how far they live from Mexico.

MELI WRAPS – KAUA‘I

Do you see a theme here? We are supporting small businesses and young people who have started their own business. Here, two childhood friends who became moms are the brilliant minds behind Meli Wraps. Each wrap is handmade with Aloha in Ha-waii and on the mainland. They use quality natural and organic ingredients to make earth-friendly wraps as an alternative to plas-tic wrap. All Meli Wraps are made with organic cotton, beeswax, plant oils and tree resin. We found Meli Wraps on Kauai, but they are made in Hawaii and Oregon and ship worldwide.

MELIWRAPS.COM

This new department is designed to showcase some of the creative and delicious things we find as we travel across Hawai’i. We are storytellers in search of people who are bringing their innovative ideas to life, so if you have something to share, please reach out to us.
IMAGES BY BARRY FRANKEL PHOTOGRAPHY

CROPSTICKS – STATEWIDE

This company, www.cropsticks.co is on a mission to leave behind a greener environment for future generations. They focus on producing products that are environmentally friendly at full circle. From choosing materials that are sustainable for the environment to recycling used products, they are committed.  As a new com-pany, they carefully evaluate each step they take with attention toward improving the processes along the way so that, while their carbon footprint is small, their commitment to their mission re-mains big.  Made from fast-growing bamboo, which re-grows after being chopped down. CROPSTICKS.CO

This new department is designed to showcase some of the creative and delicious things we find as we travel across Hawai’i. We are storytellers in search of people who are bringing their innovative ideas to life, so if you have something to share, please reach out to us.

IMAGES BY BARRY FRANKEL PHOTOGRAPHY

WAHI BAMBOO STRAWS – STATEWIDE

This new-ish company popped up on our @Instagram feed one morning so we took a leap of faith and purchased their bamboo straws. Reasonably priced and utilizing plastic-free packaging, we have been using them ever since. Our initial purchase was a set of two bamboo straws with their own carrying bag and cleaner. But what we loved more was the story on their website – please take a moment and read their heartwarming efforts to teach their family while making one giant step to help their island home.

WAHIHAWAII.ORG

This new department is designed to showcase some of the creative and delicious things we find as we travel across Hawai’i. We are storytellers in search of people who are bringing their innovative ideas to life, so if you have something to share, please reach out to us.

IMAGES BY BARRY FRANKEL PHOTOGRAPHY

PARTY PROFESSIONAL GROWN IN LOVE

WRITTEN BY SHANNON WIANECKI
IMAGES BY BARRY FRANKEL PHOTOGRAPHY

PARTY PROFESSIONAL GROWN IN LOVE

WRITTEN BY SHANNON WIANECKI

IMAGES BY BARRY FRANKEL PHOTOGRAPHY

ON A BEACH ON MAUI, CHEF LEE ANDERSON’S BUSINESS IS BLOOMING

“There are events and there are events,” says Lee Anderson. The chef-turned-entrepreneur clearly specializes in the latter. When we meet at her opulent beachfront catering venue on Maui, she wears candy pink lipstick and a matching pareau. Pink is her signature color; Anderson regularly works in hot pink chef’s coat, and in 2018 for her fiftieth birthday she threw herself a party awash in pink French tulips, toile, and paths carpeted in 60,000 pink rose petals. That was most definitely an event.

Anderson moved to Hawai‘i in 2004 with a vision. She wanted to create a top-class catering company. She came from Charleston, South Carolina, where she had worked in restaurants since age seventeen. “After so many years cooking, I wanted to learn about the front of the house,” she says. For on-the-job training, she took a hostess position at Spago in the Four Seasons Resort Maui. Her boss recognized her talents and promptly promoted her to banquet manager. During her time at Spago, Anderson catered to the resort’s celebrity clientele, ensuring their rehearsal dinners and anniversary parties were both flawless and memorable. 

In 2007 she launched Aloha Events, a small offsite catering company. Traveling from party to party, she got to know Maui’s booming wedding and event industry firsthand. She saw that what the island really needed was a one-stop shop for celebrations—an en vogue venue with a kitchen and coordinators included. So she leased a parcel of North Kīhei real estate from her father and began drafting plans.

“I LOVE THE WHOLE IDEA OF THE PARTY, THE CELEBRATION,” ANDERSON SAYS. “THERE’S NOTHING LIKE THE STRESS OF MAKING IT PERFECT—THAT’S WHAT MOTIVATES ME.” 

DON’T JUST DREAM IT — BUILD IT

Anderson worked with local architect George Rixey to design a space that functioned like a banquet facility but felt like a home. The result is a palatial two-story house shaped like a Hawaiian hale (house) with a pitched roof and huge open interior. Unique columns inside and out are shaped like poi pounders—painted jet black and textured like lava rock. 

Rixey and Anderson outfitted the house with every necessity for throwing epic parties: an extra-long commercial kitchen, custom bar, roomy dance floor, separate bride and groom quarters, and nautilus-shaped staircase that practically begs for a bridal train. The biggest draw, naturally, is the wide lawn that empties onto the beach. Sweeping her hand towards the panoramic view of the sparkling Pacific, Anderson says, “I tell everyone: ‘you’re sitting in my life’s dream.’”

Sugar Beach Events—a full-service catering venue—opened for business in July of 2013. Anderson’s assessment of the industry need was accurate; within three years she had made enough to purchase the property outright. The business has logged twenty-five percent annual growth over the past five years. It’s now a multimillion-dollar operation that employs sixty full and part-time employees and supports a wide range of community fundraisers. Anderson hosts wedding industry professionals at Sugar Beach for an annual holiday party, in addition to multiple year-round benefits in support of student filmmakers, people living with disabilities, and other local causes. 

This summer she’ll participate in “The Longest Day,” a global effort to cure Alzheimer’s disease.

While Anderson feeds her soul by giving back to the community, she satisfies her creative impulses with an ever-evolving inventory of décor. Her storage closet resembles a theater prop room, with opulent fabrics, various types of risers, and accent pieces designed to dazzle. She proudly shows off one of her most notable pieces—a European bicycle cart, which she climbs onto and effortlessly pedals around the dance floor. Dutch vendors traditionally used large pedal-powered contraptions like this to sell cheese or bread. Here on Maui, this one serves as the Sugar Beach Events mobile barista bar. The antique accoutrement gives Anderson’s events a contemporary chic feel.

Keeping ahead of the trends in entertaining is no easy feat. Anderson regularly invests in new servingware: Nick and Nora glasses for celebratory toasts, mini wooden cutting boards for cheese platters, and cigar boxes for smoked appetizers. To accommodate it all, she first filled her ample closets, then an outdoor hutch, and finally rented space next door in a neighbor’s garage. The extra effort and expense is worth it when she sees her guests’ delighted response. “Vintage tumblers are what’s hot right now,” she says. “Those glasses from the 1970s with Smurfs and other cartoon characters…It’s all about nostalgia.”

STAY SHARP

Anderson keeps her skill set as sharp as her kitchen knives. She belongs to the International Caterers Association and routinely attends culinary conferences. She seeks out opportunities to work with celebrity chefs and encourages her employees to do the same. “My role is to share and teach and help people be successful,” she says. Three of her chefs have won scholarships to study in New Orleans. As a member of Les Dames d’Escoffier, a philanthropic culinary organization led by women, she helps cultivate emerging cuisines and chefs worldwide.

When Anderson travels—which is often—she takes cooking classes wherever she lands. “I try to learn what’s local in each place,” she says. This year alone she will visit New Orleans, Nashville, Salt Lake City, Portland, Portugal, and Morocco. Back at home, she develops new recipes based on her excursions and incorporates the stories behind each one. Inspired by a milk-poached pork dish, she created a coconut-milk-poached fish entrée that suits Hawai‘i’s tropical atmosphere.

SHARE THE LOVE

Like most savvy business owners, Anderson credits much of her success to her exceptional staff. She slowly built up her team from ten to sixty. “It takes a lot to find the right people,” she says. “We’re like a family here.” It’s true. That eye-catching lipstick she’s wearing? It’s a gift from employee who knows her taste well. The pareau is another gift. Upstairs, in the groom’s quarters, three party planners laugh and work side by side, piecing together the elements of someone’s big day.

Sugar Beach Events hosts well over two hundred events per year. Despite the heavy traffic, Anderson strives to give each special occasion a personal and intimate feel. “Our clients mean something to us,” she says. “This building is filled with the love and emotion from every event that has happened here. I think people feel that when they walk in the door. It seeps in.” 

Using Sugar Beach as a springboard, Anderson aims not only to fulfill her guests’ desires, but also those of the community at large. Maui residents can attend on site cooking classes and movie nights under the stars. “I try to anticipate what the island is going to need,” says Anderson. Next on her to-do list: establishing a mid-tier catering company for local customers. Maui Ohana Catering will offer affordable, more casual menu selections for residents and business professionals. She also plans to offer a stand-alone barista service for clients who want fancy coffee drinks on demand. 

“Anything that keeps me in the party business,” she says, flashing a bright smile. “I really love what I do.” [eHI]