STAR BULLETIN / 1999
The country market has always been a Farm Fair highlight.

Cooking contest
highlights ‘farm’
in Farm Fair

Local produce takes stage
in home-grown recipe competition

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By Betty Shimabukuro
bshimabukuro@starbulletin.com

Here's the deal: Farming = food = good eating.

To make the connection, next month's Hawaii State Farm Fair will feature an old-fashioned cooking competition -- a search for the best jams and jellies, the best pickles and the best overall recipes created by adults or children.

The primary prerequisite is that each entry be built around a product grown or raised in Hawaii (this means no Spam, sorry).

Dean Okimoto of Nalo Farms, Farm Fair chairman, says too many people think of farming as "digging in the dirt," not as a high-tech industry without which eating would be so much less interesting, if not impossible.

"The cooking contest illustrates the connection between farming and food," he says. "Ultimately, it's how we cook what we grow that's what farming is about."

So this is the challenge:

>> Pick a category. Jams and jellies. Pickles (the good-old American type, Japanese tsukemono, or anything in between). Children's (ages 17 and under, any kind of food). Adult open (any kind of food). Preparation and cooking time in the last two categories is limited to one hour.

>> Pre-register. Fill out the entry form on Page 16 (it will also run in the Star-Bulletin daily through the July 11 deadline). If your category is jams and jellies or pickles, just send in your name and make your intentions known. In the children's and adult open competitions you must submit a written recipe for pre-judging.

>> Show up. Jams, jellies and pickles must be delivered to the farm fair, along with recipes, for judging. Finalists in the children's and adult open categories will participate in a 60-minute cook-off.

>> Be prepared for some stiff judging. Signed up as judges are chefs Alan Wong, Roy Yamaguchi, Hiroshi Fukui and Russell Siu. Top prizes in each category will be dinners for four at those chefs' restaurants. Judging will take place Aug. 11 and 12, during the second weekend of the fair (the farm fair opens Aug. 3 and runs for three weekends). Criteria for judging include taste, creativity, presentation and cooking technique.

Okimoto is particularly fond of the pickle category. "Farmers are the ones who developed tsukemono in Japan," he says. Besides, his dad makes probably a dozen kinds of tsukemono; his most recent specialty being green papaya.

Too bad he can't enter. Neither can employees of the primary sponsors, the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation and Oahu Publications, or their immediate families.

For the rest of you, here are the details:

Jams and jellies: At least 3 pints of the product must be delivered to the Farm Fair by 3 p.m. Aug. 11 for pre-judging. You must bring crackers, bread, or whatever you would like your entry to be served with. Bring a copy of your recipe. Final judging will be that evening. Pre-register through the entry form.

Pickles: At least 2 quarts must be delivered to the Farm Fair by 3 p.m. Aug. 12 for pre-judging. Bring a copy of your recipe. Final judging will be that evening. Pre-register through the entry form.

Children's and Adult Open: Recipes must be submitted in writing -- typed or clearly printed -- with the entry form. Finalists will prepare their dishes in a live cook-off at the Farm Fair Aug. 11 (children) and Aug. 12 (adults). You must be able to prepare your dish from scratch in 1 hour.

All recipes may be reprinted in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin without compensation to the entrant.

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