Steelgrass Chocolate Farm Tour, Kauai

Watermelon Radish

While visiting the Garden Island of Kauai, escape the traffic in downtown Kapaa and drive up to Steelgrass Chocolate Farm nestled in the hills above on Kauai’s Coconut Coast. You will enjoy a 3 hour chocolate farm and botanical garden tour

Papyrus

which is spread over 3 acres consisting of 25 types of palm trees, 30 varieties of fruit trees, 24 types of hardwood & flowering trees, 24 different tropical flowering plants, 26 varieties of bamboo and 13 Hawaiian plants. Our tour guide was really funny, high energy and most of all, very informed on all of the plants, foods and gardens. Steelgrass Farm tour is educational and fun! Sample 10 varieties of the finest chocolate and up to 20 types of tropical fruit depending on what’s in season. I have lived on Kauai for 12 years and still never heard of, much less tasted, many of the fruits which were available during the tour. This is a family-friendly, interactive tour and involves a bit of walking. There is a vehicle available to transport guests who have difficulty with walking on some of the steep parts of the trail. Be prepared to touch, smell and sample produce along the way.

As you arrive at the beautiful farm, staff will be present to assist with parking vehicles. I highly recommend bringing your own bottled water as it can get hot and there is a bit of walking involved. Definitely bring a camera! The grounds are absolutely breathtaking and a great place to snap a few family photos along the way. Much of the trail is shaded which is nice and there was a breeze the day we toured; however, it is a great idea to apply sunblock beforehand. Bug spray, all natural of course, is provided throughout the tour.

Sugar Cane

I thought it was fascinating to learn that Hawaii is the only state where chocolate trees grow. In the beginning of the tour, we sampled a stick of sugar cane (KO in Hawaiian) served with a Tahitian lime wedge to rub on the cane before indulging. It was so good and not overly sweet or splintery.

Walking tour

Next, we followed our tour guide 400 feet along a shaded trail passing rare black bamboo, papyrus plants, exotic orchids, vanilla vines and much more. I stopped to take pictures along the way. The guide stopped in front of most of the tress, plants and fruits to talk about what they were, where they originated from and where are they found today. There’s nothing more refreshing than stopping along the trail, in the shade to sample fresh lychee! Yum! In the picture at the top of the page, you will see the watermelon radish which is gorgeous to look at. The taste is intense, as most radishes are, but the Kauai red salt on top took away that strong bite and we went back for more! The funny thing was to watch some of the people on the tour actually eat the radish slice like a watermelon, leaving the green outer rim. I highly recommend using this radish, thinly sliced in a garden salad. Plus, it is just gorgeous to look at. The colors are so vibrant.

Lychee

The tour guide led the group to an area in the middle of the botanical garden with benches to sit down and listen to the presentation. He described the various fruits and then passed them around while he spoke about them. Guests were encouraged to ask questions and come up for seconds. It was a true paradise in the garden. Nice and cool and every time the wind swept through, you could see and hear the trees swaying.

Soursop

There were some rather unusual fruits to sample on the tour. One of my favorites was the soursop AKA Custard Apple. Not exactly an appetizing name, but it was surprisingly very sweet and soft. The next fruit which was equally unusual was an Ice Cream Bean which many people on the tour were familiar with. The Ice Cream Bean was almost a furry, fuzzy-like texture but the flavor was sweet. I really appreciated seeing what the fruit looked like with the skin on prior to seeing it cut up. Now when I go to local farmer’s markets, I will know what the fruits are and how they taste.

Chiku

Ice Cream Bean

The fruit that just blew me away was the Chiku AKA Sapodilla. I have not seen, heard of, nor tasted this fruit before. It looks a little unappetizing, brown and mushy but tastes like apples marinated in cinnamon. I couldn’t believe it! There are so many more fruits that we sampled during the tour such as longan, starfruit, guava, jabong, Ka’u orange, acerola cherry AKA Vitamin-C Tree, lilikoi and dragonfruit. The nice thing is that each guest will leave with a print out of what fruits and chocolates were included in the tour. Then you can go home and research the areas and seasons the fruits can be found in.

Presentation in the garden

Cacao Trees

cacao pod

The tour is called CHOCOLATE FARM tour, so let’s shift gears and start talking about chocolate. The chocolate portion of the tour takes place after the fruit & farm tour. The guide handed us off to a member of the Lydgate family who is the farm owner and well versed in the process of International chocolate production. First, he talks about the cacao plant, then breaks one off of the tree, cuts it open for everyone to see and passes it around. Did you know that cacao has the highest concentration of antioxidants in any familiar food? Yes, more than broccoli, alfalfa spouts, plums, spinach, acai berries and even kale! Milk chocolate contains 6,740 units per 100 grams and dark chocolate is 13,120 units.

Next, we move over to a covered area where Mr. Lydgate offers an hour-long presentation, along with 10 chocolate tastings from around the world. Each guest is given a sheet to jot down the notes that he/she tastes in each chocolate such as dried herbs, earthy, roasted, molasses, honey, berries, caramel, woody, citrus, etc. At the end of the presentation, the chocolate types are revealed. It is similar to wine tasting. A children’s tent is available with activities such as tattoos and coloring for those who don’t want to sit for an hour. All of the chocolates are gluten-free and do not contain any nuts. The presentation was very educational, learning that chocolate made with high cacao % is actually much healthier than the fillers used in the store-bought milk chocolate candies. Most of the chocolates in the tasting contained 60%+ of cacao and many of them were more than 70% cacao. The milk chocolate contained 50% and the white chocolate is 32%. We learned about which chocolates are commonly used by pastry chefs and why. We learned why some chocolates are gritty while others are not. There are a total of 13 samples of chocolate between the tasting tent and the welcome tent. At the end of the tour, there is an opportunity to purchase some of the local chocolates and other products. You can also find cacao nibs which are bits of the cacao bean that can be added to salads and used in various other recipes. In fact, they provide a free recipe book for the nibs. Unfortunately, the Steelgrass chocolate bars are not available on-line nor sold anywhere else. If you enjoyed the Steelgrass chocolate samples, be sure to purchase them at the farm!!!!

Local Chocolates

The chocolate farm tour is available M, W & Friday for $75 per person, 12 & under free. Reservations are required. Call (808) 821-1857 or visit info@steelgrass.org for more information.

 

 

Kauai Community Market

Banana, banana hearts & rambutan

If fresh produce is your thing, you will love the Kauai Community Market each Saturday from 9:30a.m. to 1 p.m. located at Kauai Community College. You will find organic produce grown on Kauai and boy is  there a lot of it! Some of the things you will find are apple bananas, arugula, avocados, beets, carrots, cherry tomatoes, eggplant, herbs, kale, lettuce, mango, radish, scallions, snow peas, sour sop, tomatillo, lilikoi, papayas, coconuts, rambutans, oranges, limes and much, much more!!!

I love that our kids will grow up with memories of picking fruit and vegetables out at the local farmer’s market

Banana Hearts?? I had never seen nor heard of banana hearts (pictured above) before the Kauai Community Market. The banana heart is the flower of the banana plant. The banana heart itself is edible at that stage when it is cooked as a vegetable. It is most commonly served as a salad or as a sautéed vegetable dish with coconut milk. To prepare the banana heart: pull off the outer layers which are very fibrous and not to be eaten, pull layers until you reach the soft core, cut off the stem portion and discard. Cut the banana heart into halves. Slice thinly. The banana heart is ready to cook at this point. If you’re not using it immediately, soak in cold salted water. The most common way of cooking the banana heart is with coconut milk.

Rambutan

One of our kids favorites, rambutan!!! The word means “hairy”. I find them to be similar to a lychee. You can find them for sale on the side of the road all over Kauai. Rambutan is a popular garden fruit tree grown in small orchards. Rambutan is one of the top three tropical fruits produced in Hawaii. It is one of the best known fruits of Southeast Asia and can be found elsewhere in the tropics including Africa, the Caribbean islands, Costa Rica, Panama, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka, Ecuador where it is known as “achotillo” and on the island of Puerto Rico.

They are usually sold fresh and eaten as a snack or in a fruit salad. They can be used in making jams and jellies, or canned.

Papaya

Papayas

Papaya

Every week we purchase papayas at the farmer’s market. The kids love to eat them for breakfast! They can really vary in price depending on the vendor. Generally they are cheaper the more you buy. Often times they are priced according to their size. Today we found a gigantic papaya for $2.50 (pictured below). We tend to purchase some that are ripe to eat now and some that still need to ripen. This way you can eat them throughout the week. Some vendors will sell them for 3 for $5.00. You can ask to sample the papaya. Usually there is one already cut open.

Eggplant

Eggplant??? I have never seen eggplant that looks anything like the eggplant sold at the Kauai Community Market. It looks quite unusual but tastes very good. It is thinner than most eggplants that you would purchase in a supermarket that tend to be egg-shaped and very dark in color. The local eggplant also looks twisted and curled. It is easy to chop into cubes and stir fry or put into a curry dish. I am sure there are thousands of ways to cook and serve this eggplant.

The eggplant pictured is a Chinese variety, commonly shaped like a cucumber. They are sometimes called Japanese eggplants in North America. Eggplant is commonly known in British English as aubergine and also known as melongene, garden egg, or guinea squash. Eggplant is commonly used in dishes such as moussaka and ratatouille. It is related to both the tomato and the potato.

Choosing Produce ~

Choosing Produce

Touch, smell, taste samples and inspect produce. That’s the best part of the farmer’s market!!!

Lilikoi

The farmer’s market enables the customer to speak directly with the grower. For example, what is the difference between bananas, apple bananas, and ice cream bananas? What do they taste like and how to eat/cook with them? We were able to get information from the vendor as to which bananas are best for baking bread.

How do you choose the best pineapple? Sniff, look and feel the pineapple. First thing to know is that once a pineapple is picked, it will not ripen further. Sniff! If it smells sweet than it is usually ripe. If there is an absence of scent than it is not ripe. Be cautious of an alcohol or vinegar scent which indicates a spoiled pineapple. Look at the pineapple and note that color is not always an indicator for ripe. Just because the pineapple is green doesn’t mean it’s not ripe. Don’t buy if it has cracks, if the skin in reddish-brown, wrinkled or mold is present. The leaves should not be withered or brown. Only choose a pineapple with healthy, green leaves. The pineapple shape is important. It should have rounded edges and developed eyes (spiked centers of the round circles of the pattern). Squeeze the pineapple to ensure it is firm. A whole, refrigerated pineapple can last up to two weeks. Once cut, don’t store at room temperature. Fresh, cut pineapple can be frozen for up to 6 months.

Lilikoi (passion fruit)

In Hawaii passion fruit is called lilikoi and comes in yellow and purple varieties. It is very sweet and smells delicious. Passion fruit can be cut in half and the seeds scooped out with a spoon, but be careful not to scoop out the lilikoi. It is mixed in with the little, black seeds. Lilikoi can be made into a flavored syrup for shave ice or used as a desert flavoring for malasadas, cheesecakes, cookies, ice cream and mochi. Passion fruit is also made into jam, jelly, or butter. Lilikoi syrup can also be used to glaze or marinade meat and vegetables. Many local restaurants use the fruit for cocktails. Most passion fruit comes from backyard gardens and is commonly sold at farmers markets throughout the islands. However, passion fruits are seldom sold in grocery stores.

Leigh Drachman’s Lilikoi Bars

Servings: 24 bars

Ingredients

Shortbread crust:

11/2 sticks (3/4 cup) butter

2 cups flour

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut butter into 1/2-inch pieces. In a food processor mix until all ingredients combine to form a gravely texture. Spread into a 13 by-nine-inch baking dish. Press evenly onto bottom with the palm of your hand. Bake 20 minutes.

While shortbread is baking, prepare custard.

Lilikoi custard:

4 large eggs

11/2 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cup fresh lilikoi juice

1/3 cup white flour

To prepare the fruit, cut through the thick rind and scoop seeds into a food processor. Blend for 30 seconds to a minute to loosen membrane from seed. The seeds will remain in tact. Then press the slushy pulp through a strainer with the back of a metal spoon.

With a food processor or whisk, mix eggs and granulated sugar until combined, then stir in lilikoi juice and flour.

Once shortbread is done, reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees.

Pour lilikoi mixture over hot shortbread and bake 30 minutes. Cool completely in pan and cut into bars. Sift confectioners sugar over bars and serve.

Avocado

Wholey Avocado!!!! Avocados are grown in tropical and Mediterranean climates throughout the world. They have a green-skinned, fleshy body that may be pear-shaped, egg-shaped, or spherical. The best characteristic is that they ripen after they have been harvested. The word “avocado” comes from the Spanish word aguacate. In Portuguese it is known as abacate. The fruit is sometimes called an avocado pear or alligator pear. The avocados range in price more than any other produce at the market. In the picture above, you can see that the smaller avocado is priced at $1.00 and the medium one is priced at $2.00. I have seen them as high as $6.00 each.

What’s not to love about avocados?? They are great on omelets, sandwiches, plain with a little salad dressing or the ever popular guacamole. They are also a very healthy fat. About 75% of an avocado’s energy comes from fat, most of which is monounsaturated fat as oleic acid. The saturated fat content amounts to 14% of the total fat in a single serving of avocado while containing zero cholesterol.

Avocados have 35% more potassium than bananas but we always hear people say eat bananas for potassium. Avocados are rich in folic acid and vitamin K and are good dietary sources of vitamin B6, vitamin C, vitamin E and pantothenic acid.

Sharwil avocados are a medium-sized fruit with rough green skin and oval in shape. The fruit has greenish-yellow flesh with a rich, nutty flavor and high oil content and a small seed. The skin is green when ripe. It represents more than 57% of the commercial farming in Hawaii. Sharwil avocados are sensitive to frost and probably why they grow so well in Hawaii!!! The other types of avocados at the farmers market are Beardslee, Fujikawa, Green Gold, Malama, Linda, Kahalu’u, Lamb Haas, Ota, Murashige, Yamagata and San Miguel.

Kauai Community Market

Hanalei Taro & Juice Co.

Rafael Aloha Tacos

It is a great experience to walk around the Kauai Community Market, even if you aren’t purchasing produce. Enjoy the tropical breezes while taking in the view of the mountains. There are plenty of food vendors to experience and products to purchase. Moloa`a Bay Coffee hand picks their award-winning coffee from 4,000 arabica coffee trees basking in the tropical sunshine. They also grow cacao, bananas, and a variety of citrus. Their beans are roasted and packaged at their roasting facility in Kapaa.

Moneypod Jam

Moloaa Bay Coffee

Monkeypod Jam uses copper pots and old-fashioned recipes to make their unique line of fruit spreads. All spreads are handmade using locally grown fruit and contain no more than five ingredients. Island favorites include Lilikoi Lemon Curd, Banana Foster Jam and Tomato Chutney. I tried the banana foster jam and it would be amazing on frozen yogurt or ice cream!!!

Miki Macs Honey

Hanalei Juice & Taro Company serves up traditional Hawaiian favorites such as Laulau, Kalua Pig, Poi, Lomi Salmon, and Kulolo made from taro grown on their farm.

Hanalei Pasta

The menu also includes contemporary flavors like Taro humus, Taro Veggie Burgers, Taro Mochi Cake, Tropical Taro Smoothies, and Banana Poi Bread.

Miki Macs Honey is made from bees dining on mac nut, citrus and tropical blossoms which are harvested in the Kalaheo area. The owners have been beekeeping hobbyists for the past six years and have a total of five colonies. Miki Macs Honey is sold in convenient 2 oz. bottles to take with you on the plane. They are also sold in 8, 16, 32 and 50 oz. containers.

Stop by Hanalei Pasta to pick up dry, packaged pastas to cook later or to eat their wonderful hot pasta dishes which include vegetarian and meat lasagna options. They offer fresh pasta made in the kitchens at Tahiti Nui and accompanying sauces.

There are herb plants, farm fresh eggs, Manoa lettuce, tropical flowers, nuts by Kauai Nut Roasters  available for purchase at the market as well. There are many more products and vendors available at the famer’s market. Check it out for yourself!

Uncle Bear’s Smoked Pork

Our son’s favorite thing to purchase at the farmer’s market is Uncle Bear’s Smoked Pork musubi!!! Musubi’s are usually made with spam but Uncle Bear makes his musubi’s with smoked pork, rice, egg and wrapped in seaweed. Somehow we always seem to end up here, purchasing the colossal musubi for $3.00 or 2 for $5.00.

Stop by JC’s Puerto Rican Kitchen for some amazing pork pasteles, pastele stew, nachos, chicken or beef burritos, tacos and the best ever salsa!!! JC’s offers an outdoor seating area where you can watch all of the excitement of the market while enjoying lunch. They have great vegetarian options as well: tacos, burritos and nachos. Be sure to visit with the friendly owners, John and Rhonda.

 $$$ saving tips: Each week we head to the farmer’s market with $20.00. It is sort of a game with the kids, how far can our money go?? They compete to find the best prices for local produce. They love rambutans, so they actually care how much they can purchase for $4.00 0r $5.00. As it gets closer to 1 p.m., vendors may go down on their prices to get rid of the produce.

John & Rhonda, owners of JC’s

 

However, much of the produce is picked over or gone by 1 p.m. Don’t purchase the first cluster of bananas or bag of rambutans that you see. Walk through each aisle and find the best deal. Cheaper is not always better! Some of the produce is cheaper because it is bruised, not ripe or damaged skin. Inspect before you buy. Ask the vendor their price and then ask if the price is cheaper if you purchase more than one. Prices vary drastically! We have seen one avocado for $1.50 and another one for $6.00.

5wheelsto5star was featured in the March 2014 issue of Destinations Travel Magazine