Monday, May 17, 2010

Using Local Ingredients, A Puna Cook Off.




Recently, I participated in A Taste of Puna Cook off - a cooking competition requiring you using only local ingredients from Puna a district in Hawaii. This fantastic competition focuses on using one's creativity to come up with beautiful food made with mostly local produce and ingredients found in Hawaii.

Come and see some of the wonderful dishes that were being shown at today's event. How would you like to start off with the Pupu's (appetizers) like this Taro Jitas. A take on Panajitas (Portuguese type baked appetizers)



This lovely lady is dishing out some amazing pumpkin creme brulee and it is just Ono! (delicious)..she had a huge amount of pumpkins that were just starting to ripen so this dish is very fresh!





Would you like to try Tita's Puna Tacos with local lettuce, avocadoes, tomatos and chicken in a simple soyu glaze...aaah very tasty and everything was locally grown including the eggs and chicken.







I really enjoyed this dish, its breakfast french toast with creme anglais and goat cheese and purple sweet potato hash and then a nice smoothie in the pumpkins. They won first place in the entree portion and after tasting everything, I can see why.






You are just going to love this guava cheesecake, sweet and tart at the same time and it just slides down the throat so easily....guavas grow wild everywhere in Hawaii, free for the taking.




How about banana upside down cake...lots of bananas growing here in Puna and harvested year round.




What did I present today you ask? How about a ravioli made with fresh bokchoy and papaya in a sweet and yet spicy papaya sauce...a fusion of flavors and easy to grow!




Here's a delicious looking meatloaf made with local ground beef and spices, topped with many layers of bacon...yum!



It was really fun participating and sharing stories and recipes with all the participants and more important to show that you can create amazing dishes using just local ingredients, hope you enjoyed the Puna Cook Off tasting.



To visit other worlds today go to http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/

30 comments:

  1. Oh my! My mouth is watering like crazy. All those things looked incredible. I wish I could taste them all. Pumpkin creme brulee? Guava cheesecake? I've died and gone to heaven. Those photos should be submitted to a food magazine!

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  2. think global - eat local. what a delight!

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  3. Locavores unite. What a fun day that must have been. Can the public taste the entries? Thanks for sharing.

    www.ewok1993.wordpress.com

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  4. Oh, I'm so glad that I just had lunch! I was almost drooling on my keyboard anyway! Your photos are terrific, Noel, as always and what a fun event! Thanks for taking us along! Hope you have a great week!

    Sylvia

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  5. Mmm... now I'm starving. Good thing it's almost quitting time! This all looks to die for.

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  6. Very tempting! I'll have a slice of the guava cheesecake, please.

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  7. Oh my! I want it all - NOW!
    At least the ne with goat cheese and the banan cake :)
    This is a wonderful and beautiful post with so much creativity shown :)

    http://foto.rudenius.se/post/2010/05/17/blooming-window.aspx

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  8. All of those dishes look and sounds so good. Wonderful post of the food from your world.

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  9. Unbelievable that all of this grows in your world. We have to import most of it. Thank you for sharing these yummy dishes.

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  10. Everthing looks delicious! And the way they display it is beautiful :D

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  11. Everything is so beautifully presented and that pumpkin creme brulee is what I would really stand in line for...a long line at that! And, how I love seeing the plumeria blossoms looking so pretty on those tables and plates!

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  12. Food looks yummy and beautiful presentation!

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  13. You've just made me hungry, it all looks delicious. What a great idea for a cookoff. Very appetizing photos.

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  14. That looks yummy and delicious. I want to lay my hands on it.

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  15. Most tempting shots, the evil in me wants to grab all of them. :) Great post.

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  16. It's great to live in a place where so many local foods are available. Though different from what grows in your tropical climate we have quite a variety here in north-central California as well.

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  17. Wow everything looks so yummy. Great shots too.

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  18. Hi Noel,
    questo cibo deve essere veramente delizioso :-)
    GRAZIE DELLA TUA VISTA :-)

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  19. wow.....WOW.....have no idea how I found you, but your site is beautiful . thank you for sharing your talent ...

    Green Monkey

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  20. Such creativity! The french toast looked awesome, the guava looks really heavenly, i could almost taste it. and your creation sounds really delicious and great presentation too!

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  21. Oh yummm! Everything looks so good and eating local is such a good idea. And so easy there where you are. Your food photos are great! I'm hungry.

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  22. Noel, you should be ashamed of yourself to tempt us bloggers with such sites of food, smiles, and fun! :) Just kidding...I'm envious of your lovely life and fantastic experiences! Thank you for sharing...I think I'll have to move to Hawaii soon! :)

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  23. It's interesting. I recognize all the leaves, fruits and flowers from my part of the world, a small state on the southwest tip of India named Kerala. Thanks for bringing back the memories. Nice pictures too.

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  24. Everything looks so YUMMY! Looks like you all had a great day and a lot of fun!

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  25. That looks delicious! Thanks for this.

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  26. A great cook up! I appreciate people who enjoy really fantastic home cooked food from ingredients grown nearby. All the food looks scrumptious and I would like to try your Ravioli, different but sounds delicious.

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  27. WoW Noel! Everything looks Delicious!!
    Loved your dish! Beautiful!
    hughugs

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  28. These delicious sound (and look) absolutely delicious. Now you'll have to excuse me -- I'm suddenly very hungry.

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