Island Pantry
Festival participants jammin' for charity

By Kaui Philpotts

Jacque Miyasato has so many ideas for jams, jellies and other kitchen gifts it can be overwhelming. For the last three years she, Grace Omura, a librarian, and Margo Fisher, a flight attendant, have been in charge of making fresh products for the country store booth at the annual Queen Emma Festival, a benefit for St. Andrew's Priory.

Margo Fisher, left, Jacque Miyasato and Grace Omura cook up a batch of hot pepper jelly at St. Andrew's for the Queen Emma Festival. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

It all began about eight years ago when Flo Stanley, a priory alum, cooking teacher and herb grower, showed up with bags of fresh herbs and taught the school girls and their moms to make lavender and honey herbal vinegars for the sale. Miyasato was hooked.

Her grandmother had already taught her years ago to make homemade jams and jellies from the fresh produce around her, but she decided to start with a sure seller that was both delicious and "forgiving" —Êmango chutney.

"We get so used to commercially prepared products that we forget how really good fresh is," says Miyasato. She offered an example: "When a recipe calls for juice, we use fresh Ka'u oranges. You can't imagine the difference."

Every Saturday morning beginning in May, students and their mothers gather in the school's kitchen to peel, chop, cook, bottle and bake. Every year they make fresh lemon and lime curd from local fruit (curd is a sort of cross between jam and custard, a rich, sweet, eggy spread). They keep an eye out for laden trees in their neighborhoods and good buys in the Chinatown markets.

"When someone sees that they are selling papayas for 49 cents a pound somewhere, we're there buying it up and that week we make a batch of papaya pineapple marmalade. Sometimes it's bananas or star fruit," says Miyasato.

	Queen Emma Festival
•	What: Benefit sale for St. Andrew's Priory School for Girls
•	When: 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Nov. 10
•	Where: St. Andrew's Priory, 224 Queen Emma Square

Margo Fisher is chopping and pureeing chili peppers for the mango chili pepper jam (delicious with meat, or on top of cream cheese as an appetizer with crackers) and hot pepper onion relish. She's fearless as she works with the bitingly hot peppers, which seem to have no effect on her.

Fisher is always on the lookout for ideas when she travels around the country. One year she came up with soup mixes and hauled back tiny bottles of Tabasco to tie around every packet.

Their recipes come from everywhere. Often they discover something in an old island cookbook that is rarely made anymore, such as the banana jam with cardamom. Other times they have to hunt on the Internet. "You'd be amazed what you can find," says Miyasato. One real success when they were faced with an overabundance of bananas was the popular recipe they found for Jamaican banana jam.

"We make a Christmas pasta spice mix with red and green pasta," says Miyasato. "The spice packet that comes with the bean soup mix is so popular, people want us to just sell that. Another top seller that goes out almost immediately are the jars of fresh strawberries marinating in Grand Marnier liqueur. It's to die for."

The project remains a small school activity. It's a time to enjoy the day and meet people, she says. It has fostered a sense of family, community and taught the students the value of "giving back."

One year, looking for something different to do with the lovely liang liang blossoms from a tree in the courtyard which was planted by Queen Emma, they came up with "Queen Emma's potpourri." The students gathered bay leaves, limes and macadamia nuts from around the campus and created their own blend.

Here are recipes for backyard produce from old-time island cookbooks. Novice jam and jelly makers should purchase new canning bottles with lids that are airtight. Explicit processing directions are available on every can of powdered or liquid pectin.

Another good source of information is "Fruits of Hawaii" by Miller, Bazore and Bartow, (University of Hawai'i Press). The following marmalade recipe is adapted from that book.

Tart Ka'u Orange Marmalade

2 Ka'u oranges
2 Meyer or local lemons
3 cups water (or juice from the oranges and lemons) to 1 cup fruit
1 cup sugar to 1 cup fruit pulp and water (or juice)

Remove the rinds of the oranges and lemons and soak the rinds in water overnight. Discard the soaking water. Place the rinds in a large pot and cover with lots of water. Bring to a boil and cook until the rind is tender, about 45 minutes. Add more water during the cooking if necessary. Drain off the liquid. Add enough water or juice to the fruit to make 5 cups. Return to the saucepan, add the sugar and boil until it begins to thicken. Cook to just under jelly stage (218 to 220 degrees on a thermometer). Pour into hot sterilized jars and seal. Allow to completely cool before putting away.

(As an alternative, fruits can be cooked in their own juice instead of water. Just peel the fruit first, then squeeze the juice out of the flesh and reserve until it's time to cook the marmalade.)

Here's another rarely seen recipe, this one from "Trade Winds Cookery" by Norma A. Davis.

Mango Lime Relish

4 cups green or half-ripe mangoes
1 cup sweet red pepper, chopped
1 cup onion, chopped finely
2 cups lime juice
1 cup sugar
Salt to taste

Peel and slice the mangoes thinly, as well as the pepper and onion. In a saucepan over medium heat, make a syrup of the lime juice and sugar, cooking until the sugar is dissolved. Add the mangoes, pepper, and onion. Cook until the syrup is thick and the fruit transparent. Pour into hot sterilized jars and seal. You can add spices or seasonings (such as chili pepper or coriander) to this relish during the cooking process.

Catsup wasn't always made with tomatoes; indeed, technically catsup or ketchup is a fine-textured relish that can be made with any soft fruit, sugar and vinegar. Here's a version made with guavas, which are ripe now. It's from "Tropical Fruit Cookbook," by Marilyn Rittenhouse Harris.

Guava Catsup

5 tablespoons pickling spice
1 tablespoon peeled, chopped ginger
1 red onion, chopped
2-3 small red chilies
6 cups guava puree
1/2 cup vinegar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon allspice
1 tablespoon celery seeds
2 tablespoons ground cloves
Zest from 1 orange

Place the pickling spice, ginger, onion and red chilies in a blender or food processor and process to chop finely. In a large pot, place the guava puree and add the blender mixture and the vinegar, sugar, spices and zest. Over low heat, simmer to thicken for about 30 minutes, stirring to avoid sticking. Pour into hot, sterilized jars. Seal and cool, then refrigerate up to 2 months, or freeze up to 6 months. Makes about 6 cups. Great with chicken, turkey or ham sandwiches, or as a sauce for fish, roast and chops.