The Free Range Gourmet Free range thoughts on the finest ingredients, cuisine, and fine dining in Hawaii.
Free Range Gourmet
Keep in touch with Hawaii's great food blogs over in the right-hand column. Podcasts too!    
Saturday, October 16, 2004

Kalo Poi Taro from Hawaii joins the Slow Food Ark

Slow Food Hawaii Convivium Leader Nancy Piianaia has just announced to members that Kalo Poi Taro has just been accepted to the Ark of Taste at the Ark and Presidia Committee's annual meeting in Madison, Wisconsin.Taro leaves

In total, 75 new foods boarded the Ark. In addition to taro, Traditional Sea Salt From Hawaii is expected to be confirmed shortly pending completion of the application.

What is this Ark? First, a few words about the Slow Food movement and organization:

About Slow Food
Recognizing that the enjoyment of wholesome food is essential to the pursuit of happiness, Slow Food U.S.A. is an educational organization dedicated to stewardship of the land and ecologically sound food production; to the revival of the kitchen and the table as centers of pleasure, culture, and community; to the invigoration and proliferation of regional, seasonal culinary traditions; and to living a slower and more harmonious rhythm of life. 

"The Slow Food Movement (is) a defiant determination to preserve unprocessed, time-intensive food from being wiped off the culinary map." -New York Times Magazine

Carlo Petrini is President and Founder of the Slow Food Movement. Petrini founded Slow Food as a response to the opening of a McDonalds in Piazza Spagna in Rome in 1986. It is kind of a resistance movement to the fast food era that seems to have spread all over the world.

Complete information on the movement can be found here. The International organization now has over 65,000 members on five continents. There is a large Slow Food USA membership, with 5,500 people sharing in the movement countrywide (local groups are called convivia).  

Hawaii has an active Slow Food group. Learn about or join Slow Food USA at the Slow Food USA website or call them at (718) 260-8000. For information on Hawaii programs and activities call Nancy Piianaia at (808) 885-6085.

Slow Food is more than a serious movement. At Hawaii events we often have simply the best food you will find anywhere on the Islands. Even the potluck events are outstanding. We are also blessed with a dedicated and hard-working convivium leadership that has supported the rapid growth of the local organization, particularly on Oahu and the Big Island.

What about this Ark project?

From the Slow Food Foundation web page:

"The Ark of Taste aims to rediscover, catalog, describe and publicize forgotten flavors. It is a metaphorical recipient of excellent gastronomic products that are threatened by industrial standardization, hygiene laws, the regulations of large-scale distribution and environmental damage.

"Ark products range from the Italian Valchiavenna goat to the American Navajo-Churro sheep, from the last indigenous Irish cattle breed, the Kerry, to a unique variety of Greek fava beans grown only on the island of Santorini. All are endangered products that have real economic viability and commercial potential."

The addition traditional poi poundingof poi taro to the Ark will bring worldwide attention to this endangered staple food of Hawaii and Polynesia. Slow Food Hawaii convivium leaders FedEx'd prepared poi to be sampled by the 12-member committee meeting in Madison, Wisconsin.

For an explanation of the natural history of kalo in Hawaii, see for example this web page .

I encourage anyone seriously concerned with preserving heirloom foods to consider becoming a member of the Slow Food movement. At least, click around some of the links I've given and learn what it is all about. The movement is alive and well in Hawaii. When you join Slow Food U.S.A. you receive a subscription to the international publications and automatically become a member of the Hawaii convivium.

The Slow Food movement in Hawaii mirrors the national and international organization in advocating to help preserve native varieties of fruits and vegetables, promoting local and traditional cuisine and preserving culinary and farming knowledge.

Wednesday, October 06, 2004

Great Thai food destination is safe from the `Ilima award for another year

Yes, our favorite neighborhood eating place is safe from discovery by the multitudes for one more year. Club New Pattaya has been overlooked again for an `Ilima Award. Never mind that it probably has the best Thai food in Honolulu. And coincidentally -- it is located exactly one block from where we live.

Club New Pattaya
We originally saw an intriguing review of Club New Pattaya in the Honolulu Weekly. To be honest, were it not for the review, we would have walked quickly past, on our way to some Chinatown eatery.

After all, when looking for great food, who would think of dropping into a place with darts, karaoke, TV screens, happy hour and all the other trappings of a typical club?

The Weekly review promised outstanding Thai food and that's exactly what Club New Pattaya delivers. We started with one of the Weekly's recommendations, the fried catfish, and have since worked our way through almost every dish on the menu. Dishes are $8.00 to $10.00, and none has disappointed. They serve Singha beer ($3.50) for the complete Thai experience. Bring cash for the beer, credit cards ok for food.

The Tom Yum Kung (spicy soup with shrimp) is outstanding, just the way we remember it from our many trips to Thailand -- and we have been known to leave Bangkok Airport between flights just to grab a bowl of Tom Yum Kung at the nearby airport hotel. For breakfast.

So what else do you need to know about Cafe New Pattaya? Well, it is a bar. There is smoking. There are the beeping dart machines. If you crave authentic Thai food, the beeping won't deter you.

Open 1 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Club New Pattaya
1333 Nuuanu Avenue
Honolulu, HI 96817
Phone: 529-0308

Do you want to receive an email whenever this page changes?



Powered by FeedBlitz



RSS News Feed


Receive Free Range Gourmet news via our news feed

How do you read news feeds? Click here for some information.


What's Cooking at Hawaii's Food Blogs

What's cooking at `ono kine grindz:

What's cooking at mā`ona:

What's cooking at Sonia Tastes Hawaii:

What's cooking at nattokun:

What's cooking at Big Island Grinds:

What's cooking at The Cuis-Zine:

What's cooking at The Tasty Island:



Market News

Official web pages and Tip Sheets for Saturday morning KCC Farmers' Market, Sunday morning Mililani Farmer's Market, and Thursday Night Kailua Market


Resources

Slow Food

You've read about the world-wide slow food movement. Hawaii has an active Slow Food group. Learn about or join Slow Food USA at the Slow Food USA website.

Where we're Eating

Tsukuneya
Town
Nico's at Pier 38
Da Spot
Olive Tree Cafe
It's A Beautiful Day Kafe
Taishoken
Sogongdong Restaurant


More Links

eGullet Hawaii discussion group
EatAsia
Simple Cooking
Reg Barber Coffee Tampers



Archive

12/01/2003 - 01/01/2004
01/01/2004 - 02/01/2004
03/01/2004 - 04/01/2004
04/01/2004 - 05/01/2004
05/01/2004 - 06/01/2004
07/01/2004 - 08/01/2004
08/01/2004 - 09/01/2004
10/01/2004 - 11/01/2004
01/01/2005 - 02/01/2005
02/01/2005 - 03/01/2005
03/01/2005 - 04/01/2005
04/01/2005 - 05/01/2005
05/01/2005 - 06/01/2005
06/01/2005 - 07/01/2005
07/01/2005 - 08/01/2005
08/01/2005 - 09/01/2005
09/01/2005 - 10/01/2005
10/01/2005 - 11/01/2005
11/01/2005 - 12/01/2005
12/01/2005 - 01/01/2006
01/01/2006 - 02/01/2006
02/01/2006 - 03/01/2006
03/01/2006 - 04/01/2006
04/01/2006 - 05/01/2006
06/01/2006 - 07/01/2006
09/01/2006 - 10/01/2006
10/01/2006 - 11/01/2006
11/01/2006 - 12/01/2006
12/01/2006 - 01/01/2007
01/01/2007 - 02/01/2007
02/01/2007 - 03/01/2007
03/01/2007 - 04/01/2007
04/01/2007 - 05/01/2007
05/01/2007 - 06/01/2007
06/01/2007 - 07/01/2007
08/01/2007 - 09/01/2007
09/01/2007 - 10/01/2007
10/01/2007 - 11/01/2007
11/01/2007 - 12/01/2007
12/01/2007 - 01/01/2008
01/01/2008 - 02/01/2008
02/01/2008 - 03/01/2008
03/01/2008 - 04/01/2008
06/01/2008 - 07/01/2008
07/01/2008 - 08/01/2008
08/01/2008 - 09/01/2008
10/01/2008 - 11/01/2008
11/01/2008 - 12/01/2008
12/01/2008 - 01/01/2009
02/01/2009 - 03/01/2009
04/01/2009 - 05/01/2009
05/01/2009 - 06/01/2009
07/01/2009 - 08/01/2009
08/01/2009 - 09/01/2009


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
NonCommercial-ShareAlike


Image: will blog for food

Support Bloggers' Rights!
Support Bloggers' Rights!


Image: powered by Blogger



[Valid RSS]


Amazon.com link

 
 

To contact the webmaster:

site stats