Sam Choy in Kauai for Cooking Demo
Sam Choy at the 2015 Breadfruit festival in Poipu. Photo courtesy of the National Tropical Botanical Gardens.
Sam Choy, Hawaii’s celebrity chef and ulu ambassador, will present a cooking demonstration on Saturday, September 19, at Times Supermarket in Kukui Grove Shopping Center. The event runs from noon to 2 p.m. and is a part of the Breadfruit vs. Potato initiative. The goal of the good-humored campaign for public education is to replace imported potatoes with the Hawaiian staple.
“Breadfruit is one of our native foods here in Hawaii and is so easy and delicious to cook with, and it’s healthy, too. Healthier than eating white potatoes,” says Choy, who will share his knowledge of cooking ulu as well as favorite breadfruit recipes.
The Lihue event is one of many taking place throughout the state. Governor David Ige, Kauai Mayor Bernard Carvalho, and other mayors in Hawaii have declared September “Hooulu Ka Ulu O Hawaii Nei Month,” a time to “lift up and celebrate ulu (breadfruit).” A key to increasing food self-sufficiency in Hawaii is to substitute locally grown staples for imported foods. Each year, 57 million pounds of fresh and processed potatoes are imported into the state. Food security in Hawaii will be strengthened if just a fraction of that is replaced with breadfruit.
Breadfruit vs. Potato is an initiative of the Hooulu ka Ulu project, which is a collaboration between the Breadfruit Institute of the National Tropical Botanical Garden and the Hawaii Homegrown Food Network. The Breadfruit vs. Potato initiative is supported in part by funding from the Hawaii State Department of Agriculture.
“It is exciting to see so much new interest in breadfruit in Hawaii in the past five years,” says Dr. Diane Ragone, the institute’s director. “Sam Choy is a wonderful and entertaining chef, and he makes cooking with breadfruit easy and fun. “Times Supermarket is a convenient location, which will enable our island’s residents to participate.”
For more information, see our blog post “Cooking with Breadfruit.”