Taste the color purple

• Lightly touched by lavender

By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor

Lavender walnut scones go together quickly and have a fragrant, rich flavor, especially when paired with a rich lemon curd — a sort of jam similar to the lemon filling in a lemon meringue pie, but with a little lavender added for effect. Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser Lavender in Hawai'i A number of farms are experimenting with growing lavender, distilling oils and creating products. Among them: Nanea a'o Kula 1100 Waipoli Road, Kula, Maui; (808) 878-3004, mauikulalavender.com. Teas and culinary tours, craft classes, private parties (reservations required); shop offering line of culinary, bath, beauty, aromatherapy and other products. Maui Lavender & Botanicals Kula, Maui; oils, bath and body products, products available at Na Mea Hawai'i shop on O'ahu and Spa Moana at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Maui; see information at mauilavender.com. Kaunu a Na Lau Farm Waimea; newly planted lavender fields aren't ready for public visits, however the Just Lavender line of bath and body products is available from justlavender.com. Made in Hawaii Festival Noon to 9 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Blaisdell Center Admission: $2; children under 6 free; dollar-off coupons at First Hawaiian Bank Note: Lavender growers from Nanea a'o Kula and Maui Lavender & Botanicals will attend. Cooking demonstrations: Friday — 2 p.m., Mark Ellman, Maui Tacos; 4 p.m., Eric Leterc, Pacific Club; 6 p.m., Matt Johnson and Miles Murakami, Sergio's Saturday — Noon, Almar Arcano, Hy's Steak House; 2 p.m., live taping of "Hawai'i's Kitchen" with Veronica Macciess, Sinaloa Hawaiian Tortillas; 4 p.m., Elmer Guzman, Sam Choy's Diamond Head Restaurant; 6 p.m., Fred De Angelo, Tiki's Grill 'n Bar Sunday — Noon, Kevin Tate, Kevin's Two Boots; 2 p.m., Marcia Cades, Kaka'ako Kitchen

"And I ate purple, too," said Brinkley, who had just experienced her first taste of the fragrant flower in a morning tea served several times a week at the farm. "I wasn't too sure about eating something with lavender in it," she said, "but it was delicious, kinda spicy, kinda sweet!"

Brinkley is not alone in admitting to some hesitance about biting into an ingredient she'd always thought of as something to be found in an aromatherapy oil, fancy soap or hand lotions.

"Lots of people don't know you can eat lavender," said Lani Medina, one of four partners in the Nanea a'o Kula project — the others are longtime flower grower Ali'i Chang, Mars Simpson and Easter Martin. "But when you realize that lavender is an herb and a relative of rosemary, it begins to make sense."

Lavender farms, long the province of France and England, have proliferated on the Mainland, and now Hawai'i is developing a slight purple tinge with a handful of operations in the higher elevations on Maui and the Big Island beginning to grow lavender, sell it, distill and infuse it and make products from it, including foodstuffs.

Nanea a'o Kula is by far the most sophisticated such business, though it's only 2 years old. It offers tea and luncheon garden tours, makes a wide variety of lavender products, from lilikoi lavender jelly to lavender sachets, and is planning to expand from the present three acres in lavender to eight acres.

Cathy Goo-Tada, who owns Maui Lavender & Botanicals, has experimented with growing lavender in Upcountry Maui for seven years; she recently moved her farm from Ulupalakua to a spot on the 4,200

elevation on Crater Road, where she has a little more than an acre in lavender. She can't yet keep up with the lavender needs of her spa product line and buys some lavender oil elsewhere, but has plans for an all-Maui-lavender operation. Fairgoers flipped for the lavender-fruit ice creams she created in partnership with Roselani Ice cream at Ulupalakua Thing last year.

On the Big Island, Alice Humbert of Kaunu a Na Lau Farm is beating the drum for others in Waimea to get into the lavender business. "It's such a good crop. It doesn't require a lot of water; it doesn't require any pesticides because bugs don't eat it; it doesn't require any fertilizer or a lot of manual hand labor. And although it's not native, it is very like the typical Hawaiian dry-land plant. It can fit right in alongside the 'ilima," said Humbert, who has planted several terraces of lavender and hopes to open her farm for tours later.

At Ali'i Gardens Maui, the lavender grows on sloping terraces in neat, circular bunches with long stalks topped by tight flower heads ranging in color from plummy purple to periwinkle blue and even dusty gray, indicative of the great diversity in lavender varieties. Nanea a'o Kula gardener Amy Endo, a lifelong Kula resident who grew up on a carnation farm and moved on to protea before she began tending lavender plants, said they have 27 or 28 varieties among the 150,000 plants here.

Stroll quietly down the rows, breathing deeply and listening to the low-level hum that is the sound of hundreds of happy bees, and you see what the Nanea a'o Kula folks mean by "having a lavender day" or being in a "lavender frame of mind." This herb, with its long history of healing uses (as an antiseptic, as a treatment for headaches, stress reliever and also as a pick-me-up), seems to send the cares of the day rolling down the mountain.

It is the essential oils concentrated in the lavender flower that give the buds their fragrance and flavor. This can range from a citrusy tang to pungent camphor or perfumy sweet, Medina said. The colors range from white through pink to blue and purple.

The many types of lavender fall into several families, Endo said, among the most prominent of which are Lavandula Augustifolia, English lavender; L. dentata, French lavender; the lavandins (L. intermedia, hybrid varieties); and L. stoechas, Spanish lavender.

Some prefer English lavender for culinary uses, some French, but it doesn't much matter to the home cook, as lavender is rarely marketed by variety. In Hawai'i, none of the local growers are marketing culinary lavender yet because they can't get enough to fulfill their product needs. But you can find French lavender at Williams Sonoma for $15 for a 1-ounce crock. This doesn't sound like much but that's actually a lot — most recipes call for no more than a tablespoon and many use less. There are many mail-order sources of culinary lavender online.

What do you do with it? Your choices are limited only by your taste and imagination. Just be aware that lavender can be very strong, Goo-Tada said. She suggests starting with a teaspoon or so of flowers in a favorite recipe. Culinary lavender oil is also available, but Goo-Tada said it's easy to ruin a recipe because the oil is so concentrated. She doesn't recommend it for home cooks.

Lavender can be added to biscuits, muffins, scones, pancakes, cakes and other baked goods — a maximum of a tablespoon per average recipe. Humbert recommends a teaspoon in your favorite sugar cookie recipe.

Lavender drinks are easy: Add a quarter-cup of lavender to a quart of water; bring it gently to a slow simmer and allow to infuse for 10 minutes or so; strain out the lavender. Use the lavender water to make lemonade or make strong tea and thin with lavender water for a lavender iced tea. Or combine with other fruit juices.

Goo-Toda's favorite uses for lavender are in jams — lavender with berries or other fruit. You can make a lavender sachet and cook the lavender along with the jam, removing the bag when the desired flavor is achieved (it will grow bitter if overcooked). Or you can pour boiling water over the lavender, allow it to steep, then use that water in cooking the fruit for the jam.

Lavender is employed in much the same way as rosemary or basil in cooking meats and fish. Medina enjoys lavender and chopped garlic as a rub for roast or grilled meats. She suggests using the Nanea a'o Kula lavender spice blend (a blend of lavender, herbs and salts) on fish to be grilled. Or rub on shrimp, sauté them in olive oil and then stir in a generous amount of its lavender lilikoi jelly to make a sweet/sour lavender shrimp.

She says a judicious amount of lavender, rather than masking flavors, brings out flavors of other foods. "That's what we mean by being lavender-minded," she said, "making the best of what's already before you."

Lightly touched by lavender

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Mauving experiences Lavender is potent; use buds and especially oils very sparingly when experimenting with recipes. Use only products that are labeled for culinary use. Lavender flowers add a slightly peppery spice to baked goods; use 1-2 teaspoons in delicate cookies and cakes, up to a 2 tablespoons in heartier scones and breads. For flavor without texture, infuse lavender: gently heat flowers in liquid (milk, water, stock, even oil) without boiling; use liquid in desired recipe. For salt blends and dry rubs, grind lavender with herbs and spices in a clean coffee grinder or using mortar and pestle. Make lavender gin and tonics by placing dried lavender in a bottle of gin; freeze gin; strain before use; lavender vodka also can be made. For lavender tea, sprinkle a few buds into standard black tea blend. For lavender sugar for topping baked goods or stirring into tea, mix lavender buds into sugar and allow oils to transfer over time; strain out buds and store in air-tight container. Sources: Purple Haze Farm, Happy Valley Lavender and Herb Farm, what'scooking.com

In general, they fall into four categories: baked goods with lavender baked right in; drinks in which lavender is infused into hot liquid; creamy dessert mixtures ranging from pudding to pie filling; and spice mixtures employed in meat and fish entrees.

Here are some examples.

Lavender is a particularly interesting addition to baked goods, adding a savory accent. There many recipes, for example, for lavender scones — perhaps because lavender is common in Britain, where scones originated. The following recipe, found on the Web, from Judy Brady of Rusty Acres (www.rustyacres.com), is simple and open to variation: Use part white, part whole-wheat flour; use whole milk, buttermilk, soy milk, cream or nonfat versions of any of these; use margarine or butter; brown sugar or white, depending on your preferences.

To save steps in testing this recipe, I married it to one for scones made with Bisquick. I also chose to form the dough rather than dropping the scones onto the baking sheet. Finally, I brushed the scones with a little milk and sprinkled on lavender sugar from Nanea a'o Kula (you can also make your own). Note that the from-scratch recipe doesn't use eggs; the Bisquick one does.

Lavender Walnut Scones

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons culinary lavender
• 2 tablespoons margarine or butter
• 1 cup milk, buttermilk or soy milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 3 tablespoons chopped walnuts
• Sugar or lavender sugar

Combine dry ingredients in medium bowl; cut in margarine or butter with pastry cutter or two forks until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add milk and vanilla until dry ingredients are moistened.

Scoop dough up in large serving spoon (about 4 tablespoons each scone) and drop 2 inches apart onto baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with walnuts and sugar. Bake 15-17 minutes at 400 degrees, or until golden brown. Do not crowd scones; use two baking sheets if needed.

Shortcut Bisquick method: Use 3 cups Bisquick, ¡ cup sugar, 2 tablespoons culinary lavender, 1/2 cup milk, 2 eggs, 1 tablespoon vanilla and 3 tablespoons chopped walnuts. Blend dry ingredients, pour in wet ingredients, quickly mix with fork; coat cutting board generously with Bisquick, transfer dough to cutting board and pat into a 9-inch round; score and cut into wedges and sprinkle with sugar or lavender sugar; place on ungreased baking sheet without crowding; bake at 400 degrees for 15-17 minutes.

To serve with these scones or for a dessert, try this lavender lemon curd from Happy Valley Lavender & Herb Farm on Vancouver Island. Don't let the word "curd" intimidate you; it simply means something that's thickened — in this case, a lemon custard like that found in lemon meringue pie. This is ridiculously easy to make. If you have Meyer lemons, by all means use them. You can also try a version with limes.

Lavender Lemon Curd

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 1/4cups sugar
• Juice and zest of 2 lemons
• Pinch of salt
• 1 generous tablespoon dried lavender
• 4 well-beaten eggs

In the top of a double boiler over simmering water, combine all ingredients except eggs. When butter is melted, whisk in eggs and cook, stirring, 5 minutes, until thickened. Pour through mesh strainer. Store in airtight container in refrigerator for up to 5 days. Serve with scones or biscuits or cake.

Dessert alternative: Blend cooled lemon curd with 1 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped; serve over plain cake or angel food cake or fruit.

Another favorite cooking use for lavender is as part of a spice or herb blend to use as a marinade or rub with meats or fish. If you've had herbs de Provence, you've eaten lavender; it's always included in that proprietary mix.

Here's a blend to use with beef, from what'scookinginamerica.com.

Roast Rub

• 1 tablespoon each whole white and black peppercorns
• 2 tablespoons fennel seeds
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 2 tablespoons dried lavender flowers

Grind all ingredients together in spice grinder or mortar and pestle; rub over oiled meat and roast or grill as desired.