Local Food: This Is Tasty! A Recipe for Furikake
By Brittany P. Anderson “Like furikake onda rice?” the question comes over the poke counter. The patron hesitates and looks around quizzically. “Say, ‘yes’,” the local man behind him encourages. Furikake may be Hawai‘i Islandʻs favorite condiment. The basic formula…
Local Food: Magic of Mushrooms, and a Recipe for Mushroom Toast
By Brittany P. Anderson A newly fallen tree haphazardly leans against another, joining its fallen brethren to succumb to the weather and rot. The elder tree lays quietly adorned with rounded shelves of golden orange. These brightly colored frills are…
Local Food: Keiki in the Kitchen, and a Recipe for Frozen Yogurt Banana Bites
By Brittany P. Anderson The high-pitched squeals of three enthusiastic little voices filled the kitchen. Three little boys had just come in from the garden, their pockets full of random ripe vegetables they picked—a few golden cherry tomatoes, a red…
Local Food: The Ono Hua Moa (The Delicious Chicken Egg) and a Recipe for Dutch Baby
By Brittany P. Anderson A clamor of loud cackles and squawking erupts from the pasture. The flock of egg-laying hens continue their vocal display for the next 15 minutes letting everyone know that an egg has been laid. Just as…
Local Food: The Secret Life of Pears, and a Recipe for Poached Pears
By Brittany P. Anderson “Just passed a pear tree in Pepe‘ekeo loaded with pears,” read the social media post one sunny morning with an image of a heavily fruiting pear tree. The thread that followed was disbelief, shock, and eager…
Earth Day Meditation on Food: Recipe for Butterfly Pea Lemonade
By Brittany P. Anderson Hawai‘i Island is full of astounding wonders. Plants that grow to incredible heights and animals that are infinitesimally small. Some beasts blend seamlessly with their surroundings while flowers bloom in an array of shocking colors to…
Cool as a Cauliflower, and a Recipe for Roasted Cauliflower with Pesto
By Brittany P. Anderson Cauliflower is making a comeback as broccoli’s cooler, more versatile cousin. In supermarkets today, you can find riced cauliflower, cauliflower pizza crusts, even tortillas made from cauliflower. While it is now popping up in unexpected places,…
Local Foods: Family Traditions, and a Recipe for Lomilomi Salmon
By Brittany P. Anderson A holiday wouldn’t be complete without at least one night filled with traditional lū‘au foods. Family favorites are slightly sour fermented poi, slow-roasted kālua pua‘a (pig), squid lū‘au, and lomilomi salmon. Each dish is served in…
The Playground of Champions: Recipe for Oatmeal Recovery Bar
By Brittany P. Anderson Home to the Ironman World Championships, Hilo to Volcano Ultra Marathon, and the invite-only Ultraman World Championship, Hawai‘i Island is an endurance athleteʻs paradise. The unpredictable weather coupled with unforgiving terrain makes Hawai‘i Island the ultimate…
Local Food: Below the Surface, and a Recipe for Carrot Cake
By Brittany P. Anderson One of the greatest pleasures in life is pulling up a carrot and feeling it release from the ground. Indeed, a lot of faith goes into planting root vegetables because you canʻt quite tell what is…
Banana-rama: A Recipe for Gluten-Free Banana Pancakes
By Brittany P. Anderson With a loud thump, the machete slices through a thick green stalk. The upper half, now severed, leans in near slow motion until its pointed green bounty is reachable by nimble hands. Another swift cut and the…
‘Ōlena: The Dream-Filled Beauty & Golden Milk Recipe
By Brittany P. Anderson The sweet song “Pua ‘Ōlena” plays as the rows of turmeric sway in the fields, as if keeping time with the seductive melody. In this field, ‘ōlena, the name for Hawaiian turmeric, grows destined for commercial markets, but…
Flavor of the Earth, with Recipe for Molten Lava Chocolate Cake
By Brittany P. Anderson Hawai‘i Island is well known for its volcanoes. The 2018 eruption saw fountains of lava shooting into the night sky, hurling glowing orange orbs into the heavens like rockets visible from homes and backyards in lower…
Traveling to the Unknown with a Recipe for German-style Fruitcake
By Brittany P. Anderson Much of the year has been spent at home, distanced from loved ones, and separated from friends. It is as if we’ve been on a long voyage without knowing where or when we reach our destination. …
Embrace the Bitter with Recipe for Stir-Fry Bitter Melon
By Brittany P. Anderson You’ve probably come across bitter melonʻs mass of coiled tendrils, deeply lobed green leaves, and small yellow flowers. Their distinctive warty oblong light green fruits hanging on the vine waiting to be picked. Bitter melon is…
Oh, Honey! With Recipe for Green Bean Salad with Honey Vinaigrette
By Brittany P. Anderson The first honeybees arrived on Hawai‘i Island in 1857. They made the journey from California by boat, after several unsuccessful attempts to bring them around South America from New England. Can you imagine sailing aboard a…
Keiki Garden and Grindz: Fruit Leather Recipe
By Brittany P. Anderson Some kids just don’t like vegetables. As the stepmother to a child who consistently picked tomatoes out of tomato sauce, I had to get creative. Hiding nutrient-rich veggies in smoothies, breads, and sweets was a weekly…
A Fabled Fruit Orchard and Apple Crisp Recipe
By Brittany P. Anderson Along the side of Maunakea in the Hilo Forest Reserve is an old orchard. Sitting at 6,000 feet elevation, the Keanakolu orchard, also called the Humu‘ula orchard, is a remnant of a bygone era. The twisted,…
Local Food: Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō Trail & Island Birder Trail Mix Recipe
By Brittany P. Anderson One of my favorite hikes on Hawai‘i Island is the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō Trail, located off Saddle Road (Daniel Inouye Highway/Route 200) at the base of Maunaloa, between the 22 and 23 mile markers. The nearly 9-mile…
The Sweetest Mistake, with a Recipe for Pains de Macadamia
By Brittany P. Anderson Macadamia nut tree orchards are a common and welcoming sight on Hawai‘i Island. Many a summer afternoon I find a cool respite in the shade of their branches. Greedily, I’ve filled the pockets of my overalls…
Cool for the Summer: Vanilla Lemonade Granita with Whipped Banana Cream
By Brittany P. Anderson Lemonade is the official drink of summer. When I was 11 years old, my sister and I briefly had a lemonade stand. We sold cups of lemonade during rush hour when cars were stopped in traffic on our street. She…
Local Food: The Gift of Kalo, with a Recipe for Taro Greens and Feta Phyllo Triangles
By Brittany P. Anderson Something stirs inside of me with each writing assignment, yet diving deep into kalo (taro) farming on Hawai‘i Island for this issue felt a little more profound. Waipi‘o Valley in its truest untamed form is a…
Local Food: The Bounty of ‘Ulu
By Brittany P. Anderson There is something effortlessly regal about an ‘ulu (breadfruit) tree. The dark green leaves look like oversized hands gracefully waving in the breeze and the attractive trees’ towering size, up to 60 feet, give them a…
Local Foods: Naughty and Nice–The Chocolate Ghost Pepper
By Brittany P. Anderson “I just don’t know what to do with these hot peppers,” my friend Barbara said to me, “They’re beautiful, but they are just so hot.” Barbara has a thriving chocolate ghost pepper plant in her bountiful…
Hala Kahiki: A Brief History of Pineapple and Pineapple Pavlova Recipe
By Brittany P. Anderson Pineapple is one of my favorite fruits grown on Hawai‘i Island, with the white pineapple being absolute perfection. One of the only edible varieties of bromeliad, the pineapple is neither pine nor apple and many a…
Local Foods: A Sandwich for the Season
By Brittany P. Anderson This time of year when it is still spring, yet starts to feel like summer, is one of my favorite seasons on Hawai‘i Island. The weather is a bit unpredictable–warm, sunny summer days are on the…
Local Foods: Going Bananas
By Brittany P. Anderson I used to think that all bananas were the same. Yellow skin, bland taste, mushy, and eaten on the go for breakfast. The Cavendish banana was all I had ever known. Chopping down the thick stalk…
Local Foods: For the Love of Chocolate – And a Recipe for Maunakea Truffles
By Brittany P. Anderson What better way to say ‘I love you’ than with a delightful chocolate candy? As Valentine’s Day approaches, lovers all over the country will be in pursuit of the melt-in-your-mouth confection. Victorian age etiquette books warned…
A Taste of History: The Magic of Malasadas
By Brittany P. Anderson I can still remember the first time I tasted a malasada; fresh and warm, the sugar glistening. First, there was the crunch of the fried outside as I bit into it, then the rich soft eggy…
Recipe for Sweet Kabocha Soup: A Taste of History
By Brittany P. Anderson As I stroll around the farmer’s market, a woman in front of me turns to her travelling companion, “Look, there’s a kabocha!” She pushes her sunhat back off her forehead to feast her eyes on the…
