Today is the 1-month anniversary for Tiffin unBoxed. So in order to round out the month, here is the last in my Maui Series and it is, of course, about the food. As much as I adore Hawaii, it hasn't been the most exciting food destination for me. In any case, I tend to focus on some of the food items unique to the islands, and in doing so, found some exciting options.
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| Papaya with lilikoi (passion fruit) in center |
The Hawaiian papaya is native to the American tropics. When they are ripe they feel like a ripe avocado and are orange to pink in flesh. There was a little craft market in Kihei from where we bought fruits and fresh coconut water. This papaya was served with the seeds removed and a scoop of fresh lilikoi (Hawaiian passion fruit) in the center. Papaya is often served in tropical countries with a squeeze of lime, which enhances its tropical flavor. This tart lilikoi provided the same flavor enhancer, but tasted and looked better.
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| fresh, organic jackfruit at the Maui Swap Meet Farmer's Market |
On Saturday I drove to the weekly Maui Swap Meet, hosted at the Maui Community College. Within the market one can find all kinds of local fruits and vegetables such as this rarely seen jackfruit. They also had Cuban bananas (they are red!), coconut, rambutan, green mangos, bitter melon, Hawaiian avocados, several varietes of eggplants and plenty of other produce and fresh plants.
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| poke at Lulu's |
During the trip, my former college roommate and I had a reunion after more than a decade. We went to a popular restaurant in Kihei called
LuLu's. It has a full bar, game room and ocean view with open air seating. She chose this great Hawaiian specialty dish called Ahi Poke. It is cubed raw Ahi fish marinated in soy sauce, onions and other seasonings. It was served atop a bed of wasabi edameme spread with wonton crisps.
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| Mahi Plate at Paia Fish Market |
In our group, the consensus on best meal was this grilled, blackened Mahi served with cole slaw and potato salad or rice. It was juicy, flavorful and flaky. The dark sauce towards the front of the plate is the sweet and vinegary bottled Tiger Sauce, which goes well with seafood. The
Paia Fish Market always has a line and limited, communal bench seating. We came and enjoyed this meal more than once during the trip.
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| roadside rotisserie chicken |
While driving home from the swap meet, I was looking for lunch to pick up and take back to the condo. On Kihei Road I found this roadside stall cooking rotiserrie chicken over coals. This chicken made a great lunch along with corn and rice. Of course they had Sriracha hot sauce on the side.
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| sushi counter at Star Market |
Los Angeles is a big sushi town. It's available almost anywhere and is incredibly popular. The Star supermarket in Maui not only had multiple varieties of fresh poke, but had very interesting and colorful packaged sushi along with coordinating side dishes and beverages.
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| jellies and jams |
Many stores in town had these wonderful assortments of jams and jellies, including lilikoi butter, guava butter, Kula strawberry jam, mango chutney, papaya jelly, pineapple jelly, pineapple-coconut jam. We also found coconut syrup for pancakes. Many stores also sell Hawaiin finishing salts, honey and an irresistable coconut candy made with fresh coconuts cooked in sugar cane and water
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| banana cream pie at Stillwell's Bakery |
Banana cream pie is my favorite pie, when made well. Anyone who loves banana and/or pie should high tail it to Kahului and visit
Stillwell's Bakery. They are famous for their cream horns and of course, this unforgettable pie. It is served chilled and made of the most delicous cream, layer of custard, slightly tart and sweet Hawaiian bananas and a crispy, buttery crust. It was one of the few things I ate in the car right after buying it (normally my need for tidiness prevents me from doing that).
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| shaved ice with lychee and guava flavors |
Another classic local treat is the ubiquitous Hawaiian shaved ice, which is so refreshing in the island heat and humidity. For mine I chose lychee and guava flavors. These ices are served with tropical fruit syrups. For me it was a bit too sweet. My taste buds have been spoiled by the L.A. Chinese shaved ices served with sweetened, condensed milk and fresh fruits! Nevertheless, it's worth a try at least once.
What's worth more than 1 try is what the rest of this write-up will be devoted to -
Ono Gelato. My sweet tooth is not too strong, except for ice cream and gelato. And this unique gelato is made fresh daily from drug-free cow milk, organic fresh fruits and they also use bio-degradable packaging and utensils.
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| Ono Gelato's sorbettos - dairy free |
This photo shows a sampling of Ono Gelato's dairy free sorbettos - dark chocolate, guava, pineapple and Seamist, which is a magical concoction of organic tea, lime, lemongrass and mint. Have you ever seen gelato with fresh lillies, herbs and orchids on top? Lovely.
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| Ono Gelato's milk-based gelatos |
I'm a dairy afficionado. Although I loved the sorbettos, the gelatos really drew me in. Although each one outdid the other, there are a couple of exceptional flavors I gleefully settled on.
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| Ono Gelato's very popular Lilikoi Quark gelato |
Lilikoi Quark - made with Surfing Goat Dairy's award winning goat cheese and passion fruit. For those that love tart and slightly sweet fruit flavors with a rich creaminess, this is IT. It tasted like passion fruit with sour cream with a hint of cheesecake, all rolled into one. Intense flavor. Just look at it!
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| Ono Gelato's Sandy Beach gelato |
Sandy Beach - made from peanut butter, coconut candy (the best) and sea salt. With gelato I am a sucker for textures as well as sweet and salty. This flavor balanced the tart Lilikoi Quark very well. Creamy, sweet, salty, crunchy, peanuty. A winner for sure.
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| Ono Gelato's packaged gelatos |
The S.P.A.M. gelato idea is genius. I believe it stood for strawberry, papaya, apple banana and mango. Another fruity delight.
And with that, we are done with the Maui series, inspired by a great vacation 2 months ago. Aloha and Mahalo!
So far in this series I've covered Maui's plant life, sunsets, and beaches. Those are things that immediately come to mind when one thinks of Hawaii. Today I'd like to share with you some of the beautiful scenery we encountered during our daily drives through the island.
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| Kula Highway - view of road from the car |
This wonderful, twisty Kula Highway captures the sense of adventure one feels when traveling through this rural East Maui district. It is largely a residential area where many full-time local residents prefer to live, as opposed to the warmer, busier tourist areas near sea level. There are hardly any commercial development here with the exception of a botanical garden and a couple of charming wineries that dot a portion of the up-country highway.
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| View of the isthmus from Upper Kula |
The weather is cooler, although many micro-climates exist. With these lovely bi-coastal views, one can see why new homes are starting to dot the area.
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| Chickens and bikes at Sunrise Protea Farm |
No trip to Maui is complete without a visit to Haleakala National Park. On the way there, we stopped at this protea farm and along with the flowers, found a great mix of colorful chickens.
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| Haleakala Summit |
The East Maui Volcano forms more than 75% of the island of Maui. The tallest peak is at 10,023 feet. The thin air requires slow movement. During our visit it was approximately 40
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| Haleakala Summit |
The early Hawaiians gave the name Haleakala, meaning "house of the sun" to this massive mountain. The slopes are lined with rare, fragile species of plants. Even the views look other-worldly.
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| Haleakala - earth |
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| Haleakala - Nene |
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| Botero's Woman Smoking a Cigarette at the Grand Wailea Resort |
Besides the natural beauty of the landscapes, Maui's luxury hotels also harmoniously integrate original artwork by internationally renowned artists. Each time I've been to Maui, I've made a special trip to visit Colombian artist Fernando Botero's human figure sculptures with exagerrated proportions. This beautiful bronze sculpture found in the lobby's atrium, Woman Smoking a Cigarette, is exhibited to allow viewing from all sides. All nine of the Botero sculputures are placed among beautiful flowers with the ocean view as a backdrop.
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| View from Maui Botanical Garden |
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| View from Maui Botanical Garden |
These last two photos were taken at one of Maui's many gorgeous botanical gardens. Even with a huge selection of lush flowers and trees, these incredible shots from the heart of the valley caught my eye. They are merely the setting for the garden and not the main event.
Our recent family trip to Maui was full of beach time. One beach really stood out to be blissfully relaxing. Makena Landing Beach lies along the south shore bay and is the first of four beaches to be located along Makena Road. The water is known to be cloudy after a 1999 storm killed off the coral reef. The shore is rocky with a small strip of sand that feels like talcum powder between one's toes. There is no snorkeling, diving, lifeguard or facilities.
This makes for a serene beach experience of watching and listening to the fluctuating tides and breathing in the negative ions in the ocean air. It provides a great mood lift.
Click on each photo to enlarge it.
We topped off this incredible beach with a sunset stroll through Cove Park Beach in Kihei. Stay tuned for more of the Maui series.
Aloha!
In October my family took a rejuvenating trip to Maui for a week. It was the first time we traveled together in over 12 years. Also, after about 12 years, my college roommate and I had a reunion there, complete with tuberose leis. It was a happy trip.
We went on many drives around the island and one aspect of it that made a huge impression on us was the rich, abundant plant life. Everywhere you turn are stunning plants that thrive in the tropical weather. The air is heavy with floral fragrances wafting through the clean air.
Consider this part 1 of series on this enchanting island. This installment covers its inspiring landscapes.
Over the summer I took a beginners' photography class and this trip was an opportunity to do some field studies. I practiced macro photography on the flowers and capturing movement with the ocean waves. The Valley Isle, as Maui is known, is a fertile ground of beauty, providing the perfect backdrop for photography.
At first glance the most prevalent plants are bougainvillea vines. We see these quite a bit in California, but not with so much color variety. I love how the different colored plants are grown together and start blending into multi-colored bushes. Sometimes the bougainvillea climbers start overtaking nearby trees! One of my first projects upon returning home was planting a two-color set of bougainvillea in the front yard. We shall see over time how that turns out.
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| Bougainvillea at a residence in Makena |
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| Mixed colors of bougainvillea |
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| Detail of white on pink bougainvillea |
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Hibiscus plants are also found everywhere. In California I never noticed them much but in Maui, with all the different colors and shapes, they just popped. Some Hawaiian ladies are known to put these red hibiscus flowers behind their ear to attract new loves. They are also edible.
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| Tall hibiscus with bare branches and red hibiscus flowers at the tips. |
Even the most simple looking plants had a twist of unexpected color.
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| Green plant with red tipped leaves |
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| Lipstick palms with red stems |
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| Fiery orange bromeliads at dusk |
There are various micro-climates within the island, contributing to the variety of plant life. In the rain forest zones, hundreds of species of lush plants grow on 150 inches of annual rainfall.
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| Plumeria tree - sweet fragrance and velvety texture; used to make leis |
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| Ginger flower |
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| Heliconia, or lobster claw flower |
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| Laue'e fern - hardy ferns with raised dot texture on their graceful leaves |
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| Gardenia - intoxicatingly fragrant |
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| Elegant, all green anthurium bouquet at Four Seasons Hotel |
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| Red anthurium bouquet at Ritz-Carlton Hotel - heart shaped leaf with spike flower |
In "Upcountry" Maui, cooler temperatures and moderate rainfall contribute to native plants growing mostly on cloudy slopes. We stopped at Sunrise Protea Farm and enjoyed multiple varieties of protea along with other lush plants.
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| Protea - the tips appeared like feathers |
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| Protea - known as the pin cushion protea |
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| Protea |
In Maui's cold, dry highlands near the Haleakala volcano, only a few hardy, adaptable plants grow. Maui's coastline contains plants growing in the ocean salty spray around the beaches.
The native silverswords looked like they were made of mirror or silver. They were stunning against the reddish earth.
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| Silversword at Haleakala Crater |
Maui's coastline plants grow among the ocean's salt spray and on loose, sandy soils.
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| Coconut Tree |
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| Pine tree at Haleakala (possibly Ironwood Tree) |
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| Pine cone and dry pine needles at Haleakala |
There are other micro-climate areas such as the coastal desert and freshwater plants. Besides the climate specific species, we discovered several exotic trees.
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| Monkey Pods - the branches look like roots; originally from Africa |
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| Tree at Hookipa Lookout - name unknown |
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| Tree pod at Kihei |
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| Bread fruit tree with falling sap |
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| Hong Kong Orchid tree |
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| Noni tree - used for medicinal purposes; roots contain a yellow dye |
In case you are wondering what "Leave Only Footprints" means, it came from a hand painted sign at Wailele Farm that reminded visitors to "Please respect the land. Leave only footprints".
Stay tuned for the next in the series, covering another inspiring aspect of Maui.
