Celebrity chefs like isle bounty

By ERIN MILLER

Stephens Media

Food grown in Hawaii has more than just perfect farm-fresh flavors, a visiting chef said Wednesday.

“People play a huge role in farming and fishing,” Chef Ming Tsai said, while looking through a selection of Hawaii-grown fruits, vegetables and even a whole pig. “The chillness of people in Hawaii must somehow get in this. You can taste the love and pride.”

Tsai, owner of Blue Ginger in Wellesley, Mass., and host of “Simply Ming,” and Tyler Florence, owner of Wayfare Tavern in San Francisco and star of a number of Food Network programs, met up at the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel & Bungalows, in advance of this weekend’s 2012 Celebrity Chef Tour in Hawaii. The tour is a fundraiser for the James Beard Foundation, which provides scholarships to up-and-coming chefs, as well as promoting American cuisine.

Florence, who relocated from New York City to San Francisco in 2007, likened trying produce so close to the farm to tasting food with a new palate.

“It really is like tasting a product for the first time,” Florence said of eating an item that is grown and sold locally. “It gets to spend another two, three, four weeks on the trees, ripening naturally. You taste all the sugars.”

That kind of experience is one Tsai, who lives in Boston, gets only part of the year, Tsai added. During the winter, even chefs head to Whole Foods, to see what produce and other ingredients look freshest.

Thursday, Tsai and Florence joined Mauna Lani Executive Chef Sandy Tuason, Chef Jonathan Waxman and mixologist Manny Hinojosa on a tour of several North Hawaii farms, inspecting and selecting ingredients to use during a Saturday evening dinner. The meal will be served family style, which Tsai and Florence were excited about.

“Family style, putting the plate in the middle of the table, it’s so much more informal,” Tsai said. “The quality of the food ends up being even better. You get to serve whole things — whole fish, whole chickens — whole is always better.”

Tsai, noting the temperature in Boston was just eight degrees on Wednesday, said he’s a big fan of Hawaii. He went down his list of favorite, locally sourced foods — moi, kampachi and ono topped the seafood list, while the Maui onion got his nod for the “most perfect onion in the world.”

He said he’s seen changes in the food market here over the years. As more tourists came, and more people moved to Hawaii, they began seeking “pristine” products, he said.

“I’m excited to see what’s growing out there now that I haven’t seen,” he said.

Florence said the fundraiser gives him a chance to meet up with chefs he’s worked with before, including Tsai, to collaborate and get new ideas to take back to his own kitchen.

“These (events) are really a great excuse to clock out and do something fun,” he said. “People who come to the dinner are going to have a blown-away dinner.”

The chefs said they wouldn’t be cooking with one of Hawaii’s favorite processed foods — Spam — but Tsai said he’d already had one Spam musubi this visit. An avid golfer who was headed to his third round since landing Tuesday, Tsai said the popular Spam, rice and nori snack made a great golf snack.

Email Erin Miller at emiller@westhawaiitoday.com.