Sonia R Martinez
Sonia was born in Cuba and ended up living in Hawai‘i—from one beautiful island in the Atlantic to another beautiful island in the Pacific—with several years in between living in the American South. She lives in a beautiful rural rainforest area on Hawai’i Island where she enjoys growing herbs, collecting cookbooks, developing recipes, visiting farms and farmers markets, writing about food and cooking, reading voraciously, and working on crossword puzzles. Keep up with her adventures and ongoing love affair with Hawai’i by visiting her food and garden blog
Exotic Wedding Recipes
If you’re looking to get married in a beautiful place, where you can start your “happily ever after” in a dreamy location, look no further than Hawai‘i Island. Tropical breezes, stunning sunsets, lush, green rainforests, waterfalls, beaches, and mountain backdrops…Hawai‘i…
The Joys of the Season
By Sonia R. Martinez From Thanksgiving until the end of December is the perfect time of year to open your home for entertaining. Your house will be showing its best side by already being decorated and ready for the festive…
Edible Bamboo
By Sonia R. Martinez Bamboo is a grass. That was news to me. I knew you could eat the bamboo shoots or young canes, as I had eaten the canned varieties many times, however, I did not know what to…
The Pause that Refreshes
By Sonia R. Martinez Living in a tropical climate where fruit is abundant year-round and temperatures usually do not vary more than 5 or 10 degrees either side of 75°F, it is very refreshing to turn to “aguas frescas; fruit…
Keiki in the Kitchen
By Sonia R. Martinez Have any of you seen Master Chef Junior on TV? No? Well…if you have children at home, you should! Keiki (children) between the ages of eight–13 compete in a series of cook-offs in this fascinating series.…
Yuca
By Sonia R. Martinez The Manihot esculenta, or yuca plant (you-kah)—yuca with one c and not to be confused with the American Southwest yucca plant from the agave family)—is a tropical perennial and better known in some areas as cassava…
Tea Parties in Hawai‘i
Hawai‘i Island is known for great coffees. Did you know that it also has a small thriving industry in growing and producing tea? Tea was grown commercially in Hawai‘i from the time it was introduced in 1887 until 1892. The…
Yacón
The yacón (Smallanthus sonchifolius), a tuberous root that grows similar to jicama, is distantly related to the Jerusalem artichoke and a member of the sunflower family. It is a species of herbaceous perennial daisy originally found in the South American…
‘Tis the Season to Celebrate
By Sonia R. Martinez In Hawai‘i, as everywhere else I have lived, the holidays are a time of celebration and entertaining. Opening our homes to guests is always a daunting experience; I have found, however, that by keeping the menu…
From Soup to Nuts
Sonia has been writing the Local Agriculture food column in Ke Ola magazine since the Jan–Feb 2012 issue. We are thrilled to feature her latest book filled with ono (delicious) recipes. Author Sonia R. Martinez is a Honomū resident. These…
Chayote—A Different Kind of Squash
By Sonia R. Martinez The chayote (Sechium edule) also known as mirliton, vegetable pear, hayato-uri (Japanese), pipinola, or chocho, has many names all over the world. Pronounced cha-YOH-tey, the pear-like vegetable is a member of the Cucurbitaceae, or gourd family,…
The IncrEdible Coconut
By Sonia R. Martinez Coconuts have been cultivated for so long and become so naturalized on tropical shores all around the world that the origins are unknown. The coconut palm (Cocos nucifera) is one of the most useful tree species…
Plainly Vanilla
By Sonia R. Martinez The term ‘vanilla’ is used commonly as a synonym meaning plain or basic. Nothing is further from the truth! Vanilla is a rich and complex ‘spice’ used in almost all parts of the world. Vanilla originated…
The Mighty Guava
By Sonia R. Martinez Guavas (Psidium guajava) are one of those fruits that everyone living in Hawai‘i knows and loves, and yet sort of takes for granted. Loaded with more vitamin C than any citrus, one medium guava can provide…
Coffee Time
By Sonia R. Martinez Hawai‘i Island has been known for coffee for many years, and in the last 10 or so, several ‘new’ areas of our island have become award-winning coffee growing regions. Our island is also growing vanilla beans…
Passionately Yours: Liliko‘i
By Sonia R. Martinez There are many varieties of Passion Fruit (Passiflora edulis), or as we know it in the islands, liliko‘i. The most commonly used in Hawai‘i is the yellow fruit (flavicarpa). A less common variety also seen in…
Bok Choy
By Sonia R. Martinez Bok choy (Chinese cabbage or pak choi as it is sometimes called) is one of those veggies we are able to find year-round in most of our island farmers markets. Brassica chinensis, the scientific name of…
Chocolate: Food of the Gods
By Sonia R. Martinez One of the perks of living in Hawai‘i is we can grow our own chocolate. Yes! Chocolate is made from cacao, and cacao trees grow very well on our island paradise. When strolling through the farmers…
The Pineapple: A Symbol of Hospitality
By Sonia R. Martinez Although the pineapple has long been associated with Hawai‘i, they are actually recent malihini (of foreign origin) residents of the islands. Pineapples (Anana comosus) are thought to have originated in Paraguay or Brazil and were used…
Hawaiian Grinds: Homemade ‘Ōpakapaka Laulau
By Sonia R. Martinez The early Hawaiians didn’t have any way of knowing they were in the vanguard of haute cuisine when they came up with the idea of making laulau. The French cook ‘en papillote,’ the Italians ‘in cartoccio,’…
Island Tropical Fruitcake
By Sonia R. Martinez Fruit cake (or fruitcake) is traditionally a dark and dense cake made with chopped candied or dried fruit, nuts and spices, and usually wrapped in linen and soaked in spirits for several weeks. Comedians have made fun of…
The Avocado
By Sonia R. Martinez As you visit the different farmers markets around the island, you will find avocadoes being sold in all of them during season. This is because although Kona’s terrain is known to be suited best for growing…
Mangoes
By Sonia R. Martinez The mango (Mangifera indica), a native of Southeast Asia and India is a member of the Anacardiaceae family, which includes cashews, pistachios, poison ivy, and poison oak. The tree was transported to the Philippines and other Pacific…
Ginger
By Sonia R. Martinez If I had to guess what item is bought most often at any of our Hawai‘i Island farmer’s markets, I would say, fresh ginger. Although edible ginger (Zingiber officionale) is found today growing in many tropical…
Heart of Palm
By Sonia R. Martinez One item often missing in most farmers’ markets is the heart of palm, so when you find it, it’s like striking gold. You can harvest heart of palm from any kind of palm tree, including the…
Warabi—Fiddlehead Ferns
By Sonia R. Martinez Whether you know them as warabi (Japanese), ho‘i‘o (Hawaiian) or ostrich fern (most of the mainland), the fiddlehead ferns are the young, edible, tightly coiled shoots of the fern that resemble the end of a violin…
