'Table' talk: 'I want to put Italy in people's mouths'

"The Splendid Table's" Lynne Rosetto Kasper can answer almost any question about food, but during her visit to Hawaii next week, she might need guidance from local experts. For instance, she wants to learn about taro, plans to eat at Chef Mavro's and Alan Wong's and would like to try "those Portuguese doughnuts." Malassadas? Yes! she exclaimed, readily admitting that it had been six years since her previous visit, and she needed to review.

SPLENDID Lynne Rosetto Kasper's "The Splendid Table" airs at 9 a.m. Saturdays on Hawaii Public Radio, KIPO-FM, 89.3. Her newspaper column of the same name appears Sundays in the Star-Bulletin Today section. On the Net: »Visit www.splendidtable.org to listen to past broadcasts, sign up for a weekly e-mail newsletter, find recipes and exchange comments with other food lovers.

She'll have time for that after she shares her expansive knowledge about Italian food -- specifically from the Emilia-Romagna region -- at the Halekulani Jan. 14.

"I'm going to take you inside a culture that I lived and breathed for 10 years of my life," she said via phone from her home in Minnesota. At a reception following the presentation, guests will be served dishes from "The Splendid Table," including a "court" lasagna that dates to the 16th century.

"I want to put Italy in people's mouths," said Kasper, who is Italian and speaks the language fluently. "I want you to experience some of these extraordinary foods, still hand-made. Authenticity is one of the things that I obsess about."

Two days after her Halekulani lecture, which is open to the public, Kasper will teach a class -- Tomatoes 101: Destiny in a Bowl -- to culinary students and professionals at Kapiolani Community College.

"I've been fascinated by why the tomato has become so universal," she said. "It's sort of the heart of Italian food." Her presentation will involve blind tastings of tomatoes (canned and fresh), tomato pastes and olive oils.

While she's in Hawaii, she'll also record a Hawaii-based "Splendid Table" episode that will air in February or March. While the show's lineup has not yet been determined, Kasper said Joan Namkoong and food writer John Heckathorn will be among her guests.

Though Namkoong has lobbied Kasper to focus a show on Hawaii for quite a while, this will be the first one devoted entirely to the islands. Namkoong plans to take Kasper to the Saturday Farmers' Market at Kapiolani Community College, and on a culinary and cultural walk through Chinatown, into noodle factories and wine bars that represent the traditional and contemporary sides of Honolulu's ethnic marketplace.

Her visit to Hawaii is sponsored by the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau, the Halekulani, Hale Aina Ohana and Hawaii Public Radio.

When Kasper finishes her work, she and her husband will vacation on Kauai.