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Slow Food O'ahu News
Number 2010-12
Mailed July 13, 2010
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Local, Fresh & Extra Fine - Cooking Demonstration with Chef Robert Fong
Monday, July 19, 6 p.m. - 8:30
p.m. - RE-ANNOUNCED - SEATS STILL AVAILABLE
Chef Robert Fong is returning to offer another cooking demonstration and class for Slow Food Oahu on Monday, July 19 from 6:00-8:30pm. This demonstration will focus on cooking Hawaiian fish and dark Chinese greens prepared and cooked with finesse and flair. Local, in-season fish will be cooked two ways: one steamed with organic aromatic herbs and spices, the other made into Thai fish cake with long bean, lime leaves and sweet sour chili sauce. Complementing the menu will be stir fried and steamed gai lan and gai choy with garlic, extra virgin olive oil and sea salt. Detailed instructions and recipes will be provided to all attendees and the food will be enjoyed by all at the end of the evening.
Information about the Chef:
Robert Fong recently sold his Pacific Cafe in Bellingham, Washington after 25 years of culinary acclaim. Originally from Kailua, he returns often to Honolulu to do special catering, conduct cooking classes and teach tai chi privately and at UH Manoa. Fong, a widely traveled professional chef has also studied tai chi chuan, qigong and other healing arts for 38 years.
This event will take place at the Lyon Arboretum cooking facilities. The cost is $45 for members and $55 for nonmembers and guests. Cost includes the cooking demonstration, samples of the foods cooked and recipes. Please bring your own plates, cups, cutlery, napkins. If you would like to attend, please RSVP to Michelle at sfo.reservation@gmail.com. Please include in your RSVP your name, member status, phone or email and the name of any nonmember or member guests you would like to bring. RSVPs must be received by Thursday, July 15. THIS EVENT IS LIMITED TO 24 PEOPLE, so please reply quickly if you know you will attend. Payment MUST be received by the date of the event. Please note: Due to the nature of this event and the necessity of purchasing ingredients beforehand, if cancellations are required after the RSVP date and we are unable to fill your spot, you will be held responsible for payment. Payment information will be sent to you following your RSVP. Final details will be sent to all confirmed guests a few days prior to the event.
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Italian Wines and Local Foods - A Fundraiser for Terra Madre Delegates
Saturday, August 7, 5 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. DEADLINE AUGUST 3- LIMITED SEATING
Please join Slow Food Oahu for an examination of Italian wines, taught by Alan Jahns, and paired with fresh, local foods prepared by Karen Miyano. At the event, we will be enjoying instruction, plus wine and food. This event will take place on Saturday, August 7th, at the JMD Education Center in Halawa Valley, located at 99-1269 Iwaena Street, starting at 5p.m. sharp, and ending at 8p.m. The cost is $75 for SFO members and $90 for nonmembers and will be limited to 40 participants.
Proceeds from this event will go towards the support of our Slow Food O'ahu delegates to Terra Madre in Torino, Italy, this October. (See our last newsletter for a list of our delegates)
Alan Jahns is a Partner in JMD Beverages, Hawai'i's largest locally-owned fine wine distributorship. He has been teaching the popular wine classes for UH Outreach, Kaua'i Community College and Maui Community College's VITECH/Bids for over 20 years. He is a popular speaker throughout the state of Hawai'i, consistently invited to speak to a wide array of groups, from "Wine 101" for conventions to "Wine & Health" issues at Maui's Life Fest. His passion for wine has enabled him to travel the World from Australia & New Zealand to Europe's greatest sites in France & Germany. He was a member of the Society of Wine Educators early in his career, as well as the Chaine des Rotisseurs, and its exclusive L'Ordre Mondial. After college (History major --- U.S.C.), he moved to Maui with three surfboards & a suitcase in 1978, and has lived here ever since....
Karen Miyano is a chef and an artist, a.k.a. The Reluctant Caterer. She will serve us a number of small plates of food which will be coordinated with the wine courses and instruction. Karen's food is as beautiful as it is tasty, generally focusing on local and fresh ingredients.
The menu: While subject to some changes or substitutions, the delicacies will tentatively consist of chilled local honeydew soup with lime and mint, topped with a lemon zest yoghurt dollop; Nicoise tartlet filled with caramelized onion, olives, anchovy, in a dijon thyme pastry; Grilled Kaneohe bay octopus, tossed with roasted heirloom tomato and homemade Moroccan preserved lemon; Grilled local flank steak involtini de carne, stuffed with gorgonzola, kale, and roasted red pepper; and Zabaglione over seasonal fruit with a rosemary lemon shortbread crumble
The featured wines: (There maybe last minute substitutions as well)
Verdicchio, Marchetti (Marche) 2008 (#7102) 12/750 $12.25/Bottle
It could be said that Verdicchio is a thinking person's Pinot Grigio. Refreshing citrus fruits, playful acidity and complex minerality are the hallmarks of this varietal, and when well-made, it is one of the best whites in the Mediterranean world. Incredibly, this wine is all free-run juice (no pressing!), and as a Classico. Maurizio Marchetti's family has been making Verdicchio for generations, and it shows.
Valpolicella Ripasso DOC, Giuseppe Lonardi (Veneto) 2006 (#7096) 12/750, $18.50/Bottle
The "Poor-Man's Amarone"... Perhaps the finest Ripasso you'll ever taste, this offering from Lonardi has dark, lush cranberry notes, with smoky epitomizes the lovely characteristics of Corvina (75%). While more affordable, the complexity is reminiscent of Amarone. It is a pleasing everyday Veneto wine that will keep up with bold foods or stand alone in the glass..
Barbaresco Saracapelli DOCG Poderi Elia (Piemonte) 2003 (#7108) 12/750 $40.75/Bottle
From the heart of Barbaresco in Neive comes this stunningly elegant wine from newcomer Poderi Elia. Newcomer? The family has made their wine since 1890, yet they are a relatively new face on the International scene. But their wine fspeaks for itself: the bouquet offers ringing tones of currant and cherry over a layer of toasty-oak that never dominates. The structure is marble-solid.
Nero d'Avola, Martorana (Sicilia) 2004 (#7104) 12/750 $15.00/Bottle
From the volcanic soils of Agrigento on the West coast of Sicily, comes one of the great grape varietals of the world. An early ripening, full-bodied varietal with generous aromas of ripe plums, dark chocolate, berry cobbler, and almonds. The vines are from 30 - 90 years old, and Giuseppe Martorana harvests extremely low-yields. Thus, the wine has great mineral complexity and elegance. Ageworthy for 10 years-plus.
"Nesum Dora" (Sup.Tuscan), Antonio Sanguineti (Toscana) 2006 (#7088) 12/750 $15.00/Bottle
"Nessun Dorma" is the favorite aria of Antonio Sanguineti. With vines carefully selected from all around Toscana, including the fresh and bright.Sangiovese (50%) from Capraia e Limite (Montalbano),the intensely floral and elegant Merlot (30%) from Gavorrano (Grosseto), and Syrah (20%) from Suvereto (Livorno) which adds a bold expression of forest-floor truffle, ripe cherry and blackberry preserves.
Salice Salentino, Forte Canto/Terre del Grico (Puglia) 2004 (#7112) 12/750 $18.50/Bottle
We were wildly impressed with this Salice Salentino. It nearly defies logic in its balance of powers, with a sense of wonderful elegance. Its classic dense, raisiny fruits and scintillating old Mediterranean spice aromas make it a superb everyday Southern Italian experience. The average vine age for Terre del Grico is over 30 years old, with some as old as 70. Will age for 8-10 years.
Prosecco "Extra Dry" NV, Trevsiol (Veneto) (#7082) 12/750 $15.00/Bottle
Made from the Prosecco grape that is indigenous to the Veneto region. This sparkling wine is deliciously light and playful. Unlike many Champagnes, it is not heavy on the palate (or the pocket book). Rather, it tickles the throat with a peachy softness and is flecked with a minerality that makes it one of the best sparkling wine values.
If you would like to attend this event, please RSVP to Michelle at sfo.reservation@gmail.com. Please include in your RSVP your name, member status, phone or email and the name of any nonmember or member guests you would like to bring. RSVPs must be received by Tuesday August 3. THIS EVENT IS LIMITED TO 40 PEOPLE, so please reply quickly if you know you will attend. Payment MUST be received by the date of the event. Please note: Due to the nature of this event and the necessity of purchasing ingredients beforehand, if cancellations are required after the RSVP date, you will be held responsible for payment. Payment information will be sent to you following your RSVP.
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Help Needed: Members/Volunteers Wanted
We are in need of some enthusiastic members to help Slow Food O'ahu. As a completely volunteer organization, it takes time to organize our events, prepare the newsletter, keep our web site up to date, and be present in the community at various educational events. We could use your help (and we know that our members have some great skills - you are talented and value-based individuals). Here is what we need at the moment...
1- Volunteers for our Slow Food O'ahu booth at the Hawaii Fair Fair at the Bishop Museum on July 24 and 25 between 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. If you are able to give a few hours, please contact Rike Weiss at rikeweiss@hotmail.com.
1- Someone who is interested in getting Slow Food O'ahu onto FaceBook and... even more importantly, keeping it up on a regular basis. To help, please contact Laurie Carlson at lvc@honoluluweekly.com.
2- Several people who are interested in helping (a) develop criteria for listing restaurants on our website that promote the principles of good, clean, fair and merit the designation of our snail, (b) helping to keep prepare and keep that restaurant list up to date; and (c) developing and keeping a list up to date on where - in markets- to buy local produce other than at farmers markets. To help, contact Laurie Carlson at lvc@honoluluweekly.com
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Imported, Natural, and Homegrown Sicilian Olive Oil Available
A small shipment of Extra Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Sicily, Italy, made from home-grown, pesticide & herbicide-free olives and cold-pressed within 48 hours of picking will be available soon. The olives (four local varieties) are grown on three small farms belonging to Sicilian relatives of Oahu Slow Food member, Mary Spadaro, who recently visited there. The oil will keep without refrigeration for two years with proper storage.
The relatively undiscovered mountain town (pop. 15,000) where the olives are grown and pressed is Leonforte, and is an agricultural gem that is home to a variety of small crops including olives and grapes (read 'oil' and 'wine'), fava beans, almonds, blood oranges, peaches and an array of other vegetables, fruits, nuts and small herds sheep and other livestock.
Anyone interested in sharing in a shipment of this very special olive oil is invited to contact Mary by email at: mlspadaro@yahoo.com. This oil has never been sold commercially - only used by extended family, friends and neighbors who participate in the harvest. Mary is not taking a profit but says it is a way to make the oil accessible to herself and others while helping the farmers.
If there is sufficient interest, she will also look into the possibility of importing cheese, sausage, fava beans and other home-made Sicilian specialities for the Christmas season.
Mary Spadaro is a member of Slow Food O'ahu. This is not a Slow Food O'ahu-sponsored purchase, but may be of interest to our members.
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For Your Leisure Reading (More cross-Pollanization)
If you missed it, you might be interested in these two articles...
Andrew Gomes' article discusses the local effort to create more opportunities for local farmers to obtain land for cultivation...
http://www.staradvertiser.com/business/20100710_Hui_puts_farmers_on_ag_land.html
Wanda Adams features Hawaii's growing (and delicious) niche chocolate market.
http://www.staradvertiser.com/features/20100707_Chocolate_paradise.html
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Slow Food O'ahu
Officers
Laurie Carlson, President; Francine Wai,
Secretary/Membership/Newsletter; Michelle Phillips Layden, Events; Mae
Isonaga, Treasurer; Rike Weiss, Outreach.
Quick Links
Slow Food O'ahu Convivium website
Slow Food Hawai'i Convivium website
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