Aloha Reporter » Food

Do Hawaiians Eat Hawaiian Pizza?

AR — Tue, 11 May 2010 02:41:26 +0000

Photo credit: branflakez on Flickr

Well, sometimes … but the Hawaiian Pizza was actually invented in Canada.

Yup, Ontario, Canada to be exact.

According to Nadine Kam of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin ….

… Just about every chain restaurant here has a version of the pineapple-topped pizza, popular with a small segment of the population who like sweet-sour flavors. They love it, but they’re an exception.

Tastes in pizza here are pretty conservative, even in the post-CPK [California Pizza Kitchen] era. That may seem a little odd considering we’d eat some of these ingredients, like Thai chicken or Japanese eggplant, in various ethnic restaurants. We just like them more with rice than on a pizza crust.

So the go-to pizzas are usually a basic pepperoni-sausage combination pizza, or a vegetarian pizza. No one is averse to a teriyaki or barbecue chicken pizza, for instance. We love barbecue chicken. But anecdotally, whenever we have office pizza parties, the Italians and combinations go first, followed by the vegetarians, and the chicken pizza is left standing.

Read the full story …

Source: Sarah DiGregorio, The Village Voice

Hawaii’s newest crop: Chocolate

AR — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 16:39:22 +0000

In a state better known for pineapples and macadamias, cacao is becoming a popular crop with small farmers. And at one orchard, guests get to see the whole process, from raw bean to chocolate bar.

A gecko savors cacao beans on Bob and Pam Cooper's cacao farm on Hawaii's Big Island. (Jay Jones / For The Times)

From The LA Times …

The TV commercial for an insurance company — the one in which a gecko is seen putting a dollar bill that’s bigger than it is into a vending machine for a bag of chips — is certainly memorable. But it’s also implausible.

Anyone who truly knows the little lizards realizes they’ll take a sweet treat over a salty one (like chips) every time. Just ask Bob and Pam Cooper.

The Coopers aren’t herpetologists. They’re farmers who grow cacao trees on Hawaii’s Big Island. They know from experience how much geckos love the gooey, sweet mucilage that covers the raw beans from which cocoa and chocolate are made.

Report Blasts Hawaii Aquaculture

AR — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 18:40:08 +0000

Credit: NOAA

Environmental Group Claims Fish Farming Not Environmentally Sustainable

A new report from a national environmental organization blasts Hawaii’s aquaculture industry, saying it damages the environment and is not sustainable. Companies that farm fish in Hawaii dispute the report.

Hawaii has been a testing ground for large-scale industrial fish farming. Currently there are two fish farms here, one off Kona on the Big Island, another off Ewa. More are planned.

Scientists, environmentalists, and native Hawaiians gathered at the Capitol today to urge sustainable fish farming based on more traditional methods. They point to the report by Food and Waterwatch, an environmental organization that says waste from large fish pens damages the bottom. The report also claims the farmed fish spread disease to wild populations.

Ka’ala Farm teaches lessons taught centuries ago

AR — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:06:28 +0000

Whether you’re stuck in traffic on the H-1 Freeway, or waiting in line at the grocery store, it’s easy to get bogged down with life. But there’s a place on the leeward coast that gets down to the basics and teaches people how to live off the ‘aina.

Deep in the heart of Wai’anae valley lives a place untouched by modern technology. No iPods here. Just a guitar in your arms, and a song on your lips.

Folks at Ka’ala Farm live the way native Hawaiians did hundreds of years ago.

“Their ancestors are the ones that survived in these areas,” said Butch Detroye, who helps run Ka’ala Farm. “They sustained life for generations inside here and all of that aloha they put to sustaining life, that’s the aloha that’s still here.”

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Source: KHNL 8 News