To Market, To Market

Farmers Markets Are Ideal Showcases for our Island Foods

Ripe mangoes beckon at this stand. Only mangoes. It’s the end of the season for these juicy, magnificent fruits. The yellow color tells me a mango is ripe and ready to be eaten. When I select one the seller will tell me if we should eat it today or the next day. Sometimes I may pick one with a two-day window.

Shopping at a farmers market is a truly social experience. A seller may have just one food for sale, like the mango vendor, or several foods, as you’ll see in the following photos.

I often have questions about some food that pulls me to examine it further, and the seller is always happy to suggest ways to cook it. In a very short time we’ve formed a bond, and after a few more visits, she may tuck a little something extra into my bag.

In the four years we’ve been living in Kaua’i, Dorothy and I have gone to countless farmers markets, and the one standout, the place we go to every week, is the Puhi Market on Saturday mornings near the Community College in Lihue.

The many sellers offer a huge variety of foods and food products. In addition to the local fruits and vegetables, you’ll find Thai hot food, brick oven pizza, taro products, whole coconuts cracked for their delicious coconut water, wonderful baked goods, including French baguettes, croissants, and sourdough loaves, macadamia honey, toasted nuts, and more to satisfy the appetite.

For this newsletter, I want to focus on the Puhi Market vegetables. I took all these photos during one Saturday morning near the end of September.

Focus on the left side of this photo. Those pointy purple objects are banana flowers. If they were left on the tree they’d blossom into bananas. Off the tree, they may be cut up and cooked in various ways—fried, steamed, stewed. These flowers are a favorite of many cooks. I am not one of them.

Fresh summer ginger. The skin is so thin I do not peel it. Each bunch sells for $3 to $5. Above the ginger you’ll see bags of calamansi limes. My favorite of all citrus. The orange flesh is terrifically juice. I squeeze it over our papaya each morning. And it makes the best Key Lime Pie!

Going Bananas! So many different varieties grow here. Our favorite are the apple bananas (upper right in the photo). We each have one in bed every morning with our first cup of coffee.

Star Fruit and avocados. The tangy fruit is a favorite garnish with drinks and the fruit may be eaten whole. Avocados can be tricky to tell when ripe and ready to eat. I always ask a seller to pick one or two out for me.

Dragon fruit (Pitaya). A summer favorite. They’re fist-sized and many people go wild over them. We’re in the meh group. The inside is pale gray to white with oodles of tiny edible black seeds. The flesh is sweet, but not overly so. I just love its looks!

Cucumbers. They grow here year-round. Dorothy will not pay more than $1 for one. Prices do vary. We just learned that the Filipino sellers offer the curved cucumbers at half price. Straight ones are preferred. Make of that factoid what you will.

The sign at the market’s fish seller. Uku and Akule are two favorite local species. I love that illustration!

Watermelons may be red or yellow. They are always picked ripe, and I have never been disappointed. My papaya seller also sells these fruit. She insisted I buy a yellow one. She said, “It’s so much sweeter.” And she was right.

Eggplant here come in all shapes, sizes, and colors, even white. They are one of the most popular vegetables and many sellers display them. We love eggplant. They fry up quickly and it’s easy to cook them in small amounts of oil. If you use a lot of oil, they’ll soak it up.

Certainly one of the most popular vegetables, purple sweet potatoes are packed with nutrition and flavor. I love to make latkes with them at any time of the year. They’re terrific mashed. And check out my story on purple sweet potato pie. My friend, Julia della Croce, makes fantastic gnocchi with them. She taught me how.

Fresh hibiscus. They’re only around for a short time, and I’ve seen only one vendor that sells them. They make a terrific tea. What you see are the fresh calyces (sepals) of the flower. I open up each calyx and pluck out a round object. I do not know what that is, but the seller said to do it. We put the calyxes in a bowl and pour on boiling water. In five minutes we have delicious tea. Which is also good cold.

Tangerines! Juicy and so tasty. Sweet, but with a tad of tang. Dorothy usually peels a few that we have with our lunch. They make a terrific anytime snack.

Guava re plentiful right now. To serve, just cut them in half and scoop out their tasty insides. Many years ago when we house-sat for a B & B on Hawaii Island, I’d scrounge for guava on early morning walks to makes a sauce to serve with cream cheese stuffed French toast. Guests loved it.

A vision of the approaching fall season. Many squashes thrive in tropical climates. Here are just a few. They make great eating.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this fruit and vegetable travelogue. You may have asked, “Where are the tomatoes?” I’ll talk about that in a future newsletter.