Why is Taste of Hilo featuring Endangered Species?

Editorial Comment: I do not usually use this blog to share controversial ideas or thoughts, but this one is important to me and to our community.

The Taste of Hilo is a fund raising event which benefits the HCC Culinary Arts Program & the Japanese Chamber of Commerce. It is designed to share great food with the people of Hawaii. It is a showcase for many restaurants, food stores and chefs. In concept, it is a really good idea. But there is a bad idea here ... the theme of the event this year is "Blue Fin Tuna". They have been running ads in the newspaper telling people that this event may be the only way that people will be able to taste the Blue Fin which sells for over $100 a pound in Japan. Gee, I wonder why this is the only way they can taste it?

What is bad about that? This popular fish, a staple in sushi restaurants and a the source of the highest grade of sushi and sashimi, known to aficionados as maguro and toro. The fish is also prized in Mediterranean cuisine. Japan is by far the largest consumer, with fleets in Spain, Italy and France. Many of these fish are "ranched", caught, then concentrated in aquatic feedlots where they are fattened up with massive amounts of smaller fish for a few months before sending them to market.

In 2007 Japan said it imported 32,356 metric tons of bluefin and their own vessels brought in another 2,078 metric tons that year. A single healthy sized blue fin adult can easily fetch more than $100,000 in Tokyo's largest fish market.

What is wrong with this picture? We have fantastic sushi grade ahi being caught all around Hawaii, why are we importing this endangered fish to attract foodies to the Taste of Hilo???

Today the United Nations made a proposal to ban trade on Bluefin !

You can read more about the endangered Bluefin here:

You would not eat a tiger, why would you eat a blue fin?

Monterey Bay Aquarium

World Wildlife Federation

I welcome comments here on this subject

Wordless Wednesday : Hilo Farmer's Market

Haunted Hilo

Boo! Halloween is coming! The Palace Theater is said to be on of our local haunts.

The Hilo Palace Theater opened 86 years ago on October 26th. It was restored a few years ago after having been shuttered for many years. Here is a little video about the ghosts there....

Here is an another video about the Palace after the initial restoration project in 2007:

Wordless Wednesday: Dog Tales

That was then...

And this is now...

Aloha from the big island of Hawai'i

Tostones!

I love Cuban Food, especially when I can add a little extra kick to it. The other day at the Hilo Farmer's Market I saw a woman sitting at a little table with a sign that said, PLANTAINS $1 a bunch. That is all she had, big fat plantains. I smiled!

They are shorter and fatter than the ones I used to buy on the mainland. But after cooking these plantains I found them to taste even better and they certainly were the same texture as green plantains I have had from Latin America, much different than bananas, which until now were my only substitute for plantains. I do have a small plantain tree, but it will be a while before it has plantains on it. I immediately knew what I was going to make for dinner. I stopped by Abundant Life and bought some black beans and when I got home I took some smoked ham hocks out of the freezer. I had a boneless turkey breast tenderloin marinating in sour orange and lemon pepper already, the perfect accompaniment to the star of the show, Tostones! Who knew that a side dish would be the star? Recipes to follow.

I started the morning off by soaking the black beans and went off to work in the garden.

So some of you are probably asking, What are Tostones? Firstly they are a Cuban staple and sometimes found in other Latin cuisines such as Puerto Rican. They are twice fried green plantains. Tostones should be crisp and golden on the outside and tender on the inside. One secret is to simmer the first fry gently in oil the first time so that they cook until tender in the middle and don't get to hard and brittle to flatten. Tostones are flattened with a wooden gadget called a tostonera or a large bottomed flat glass will do.

At El Buganvil outside of Havana the tostones are made into little cups, tostones rellenos and then they are filled with picadillo, black beans or crab salad. But I made the traditional flat tostones.

Here is the recipe for tostones and Havana Style Black Beans:

Tostones:

• Peel the plantains with a sharp knife, removing only the skin.
• Slice into 3/4 inch slices
• In a deep fryer or pan heat at least 1 1/2 inches of oil to 340 degrees.
• Fry the rounds gently until they just start to turn golden (2-3 minutes)
• Remove and drain on paper towels.
• While still warm flatten to about half of their original thickness.
• Dip in warm salt water then place on paper towels to drain.
• Shortly before serving time, heat oil to 375 and fry until crisp and dry in small batches.
• Sprinkle lightly with salt (I use smoked salt.)
• Keep warm in a 200 degree oven if not serving immediately. I serve with lime slices.

Cuban Black Beans

Step 1

1 # Black Beans

2 quarts water

1 ham hock

6 garlic cloves peeled and smashed

1 tablespoon salt

2 bay leaves

1 habanero pepper cut in half

• Clean beans and cover with water for at least 8 hours or overnight. Strain.
• Add all ingredients and bring to a boil then reduce heat & simmer on low for an hour or till beans are barely tender, skimming scum if it develops.
• Remove the ham hock to cool and then shred meat.

Step 2

1/4 cup Olive Oil

4 pieces thick cut bacon cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 large or two small red onion chopped finely

1/2 red bell pepper (green is traditional but I prefer sweet red) chopped finely

2 carrots chopped finely

8 garlic cloves peeled and finely minced

1 jalapeno pepper seeded and chopped (I usually use a habanero)

1 Tablespoon dried Mexican Oregano (or Greek if you don't have Mexican)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons salt

Juice from one lime

1 cup dry sherry

1/4 cup raw sugar

• Heat olive oil in a large saute pan.
• Fry onion, peppers, and carrots. When the onions are starting to show color, add the garlic & spices.
• After a few minutes de-glaze the pan with the sherry and simmer for a few minutes. Add sugar and then pour into the beans.
• Simmer with the beans for a few minutes and remove 1 cup or so of beans and use an immersion blender to puree.
• Return the smooth beans to the whole beans and shred the ham hock meat into the beans.
• Cook until the sauce is like a thick gravy and serve with queso fresco, onion, lime and cilantro. I also add a small bowl of finely chopped habanero on the plate.

Oktoberfest & Meeting Helene Hale

Disclaimer: This post is not about food... but it is worth reading

Last night was the Hilo Women's Club's Oktoberfest. I won 2 tickets because of a contest on Twitter to tweet about the event. I am sure my followers on Twitter were tired of my relentless tweets on the subject. Nonetheless it was a fun evening for a very good cause and along with seeing some neighbors and meeting some new friends I just happened to be sitting across from an Icon of Hawaiian Political History, Helene Hale. As she was introduced to me as the first woman "Mayor" of Hawaii, I wondered if I heard correctly and later found out that I did. It was then I realized I was sitting across from someone very special. If you are here simply for some fun Oktoberfest pictures scroll down to the end of the blog, but I implore you to read on about Helene Hale as she was the best thing about my Oktoberfest experience! If you read this article with interest, be sure to click the many hyperlinks along the way.

My table mate at last night's Oktoberfest, 91 year old Helene Hale

For those of you who don't live in Hawaii, county politics on the island of Hawaii are more like state politics in most mainland states (except for the very large ones.) The Mayor is the head of the entire county and in this case it is the entire island of Hawaii. We do not have city governments, though Hilo is the second largest city in the state of Hawaii. We only have county and state officials, so being the head of the governing board of the largest island in Hawaii is a pretty big deal. Back in the days of Helene's reign we did not even have an official Mayoral position, but we did have the equivalent; Chairman & CEO of the Big Island Board of Supervisors and she was the first woman to hold that post. Not since the reign of Queen Liliu'okalani had a woman governed the Big Island of Hawaii. She also was the first African-American elected to office in Hawaii, though in actuality she is actually of mixed races of African American, American Indian "and a few other nationalities" as she described in her April 1963 cover article in Ebony Magazine. Side Bar: Interestingly, when I worked in Chicago as Director of Public Relations for East West University, I shared an office wall with the president of Johnson Publications, the company that publishes Ebony. EWU is on Michigan Avenue next door to Johnson Publications.

Born and raised in Minneapolis, Ms. Hale was teaching at San Diego State College in 1945 when she met Poet Laureate Don Blanding. Through his poetry about Kona she fell in love with Hawaii and decided to relocate her family there. She was planning on being a stay at home mother and housewife in Kona but found that she and her husband could not acquire a teacher's cottage at Konawaena High School on the West Coast of Hawaii Island unless both of them contracted to teach there. And so went the dream of staying at home with her two young children and a new dream began of making Hawaii a better place. While teaching at Konawaena she was turned in to the Un-American Activities Committee because of her liberal democratic position in a generally Republican conservative state. While charges were eventually dismissed, the School Superintendent Ernie DeSilva told her, "Keep your mouth shut and get along."

"You don't tell that to Helen Hale!" she remembers. She turned in her resignation the following day and took on a less lucrative job of selling children's books door to door. She had no clue then as she traveled to Sugar Plantation Camps speaking to housewives that she was actually gaining training for her eventual role as a key politician in Hawaii.

In 1954 ( the year of my own birth, which seems so long ago) she ran for and won a seat of the Big Island County Council after spending a relentless term of 18 hour days going door to door to promote her candidacy. She was the only democrat elected to the County Board of Supervisors and she won by a mere 212 votes. She promised a wholesale purge of unnecessary County Brass. I wish she were in office today!

In 2004 Ms. Hale's son Jasper who suffered from Schizophrenia and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder died and she has spent her remaining years championing mental health issues in Hawaii and the Nation. Here is a link to an article she wrote about Losing her son and gaining a call to help mentally ill. It is a heart rendering account of a mother who found herself helpless to save her son from the voices that eventually ended his life. It is the voice of reason for continuing stem cell research, but most of all it is a very said punctuation to an otherwise wonderful life. No parent should have to bury their child, least not from a disease that can be treated.

She has also been a supporter of Senior issues such as death-with-dignity laws, jury service exclusion for seniors over 80 and retesting senior drivers over the age of 70. Interestingly, she must still be able to pass the test at 91, because when she was ready to leave the Oktoberfest she got up said goodbyes and drove herself home.

Over the years she served on and off on the County Council, being unseated a few times and establishing businesses, but never giving up on improving Hawaii. In 2000 at the age of 82 she ran for office again, this time to fill the seat of State Representative Bob Herkes. She was widowed for a second time and said she had "nothing better to do". She represented Puna and her campaign slogan, cleverly chosen by Hawaii County COuncil Woman Emily Naeole was "Recycle Helene Hale!" She served there as the Chairwoman of the House Committee on International Affairs where she publicly voiced an opinion in 2003 against entering a war with Iraq without UN backing (THAT'S MY GIRL!) and trying to encouraged the Aloha spirit in urging negotiations over invading Iraq.

She was ridiculed by Republicans ad others for "Offering Aloha to Saddam." In retrospect with thousands of American Soldiers dead and even more maimed, her fears seem much more grounded. Knowing what we know about the false pretenses the war was based on and the economic devistation that this war has caused us, I have even more admiration for this woman of Hawaii.

Ms. Hale had a stroke in 2006 and continued through her legislative term but decided to retire from political office as soon as a suitable replacement could be found.

With accolades for her many years of service and her fight to build a gym for Pahoa High School, she was recently honored at the ground breaking for the Helene Hale Gymnasium at Pahoa High school. Here is video from that event. Her legacy will live on there and throughout much of Hawaii.

OK... so here are some pictures from the Oktoberfest! I would have had more, but my camera's screen burned out midway through my photo shoot. Anyone have suggestions on what I should buy as a replacement?

OK... this is a plant, not a real Hilo Women's Club Member OOMPA!

Beverly Heikes, President of Hilo Women's Club and her son dancing "The Chicken Dance"

Wes finishing his second brat!

Beverly Heikes , President Hilo Women's Club

My neighbor Virginia and her son Joe. Should we cut her off???

Chicken Dance!