Minnesota-based National Public Radio show host Lynne Rossetto Kasper is known for a honey-warm voice that always sounds as though she's smiling, her encyclopedic knowledge of cooking and her rapid, wicked wit. She brought it all to the Islands last week, when she was here with executive producer Sally Swift to make a couple of public appearances and to research stories for future segments of "The Splendid Table."

An example of the wit: Talking of ultraexpensive olive oil (much of which she considers a waste of money), she quipped, "For that amount of money, I want it to have been pressed between the knees of virgins and raised in the hands of the Deity."

It was like that all morning as she taught a three-hour master class on how to get the best from tomatoes for chefs and culinary students at Kapi'olani Community College. With the aid of side-by-side tastings of tomatoes, olive oils and sauces, she conveyed prodigious amounts of information — always laced with laughter.

Afterward, the seemingly indefatigable Kasper sat down for five questions with The Advertiser.

Q. Food is such a sensory medium. How did you come to be on radio instead of TV? Do you think radio has strengths over commercial TV?

A. I feel sorry for my colleagues who do TV, in a way. I can do things on radio that they don't have the budget or staffing for because radio is so much less expensive. We can do a year's worth of shows for what it takes to shoot one TV season of 13 weeks. You don't really need to see it; the theater of the imagination is huge. I also love public radio, and I believe in it because of the freedom and the creativity they allow. I kind of like the idea that you can't see it — but we'll make you.

Q. What are Americans' most common misconceptions about Italian cooking?

A. Overkill — too many ingredients, too many flavors. Italian cooking is really, really simple. In most cases, it's driven by the ingredients. The quintessential Italian dish is some great-tasting olive oil with a bit of shaved garlic, a pinch of dried chilies, salt and black pepper, some good quality pasta — that's all. Of course, to make that work, the ingredients have to be superb. The other big misconception is that there's northern Italian cooking and southern Italian cooking. There isn't. There are 21 different regions, and within the regions, from valley to valley, village to village, there are specialties.

Q. Where is the foodie world heading — strongest trends?

A. Four words that are not going away: organic, heirloom, local and sustainable. People may not understand what all of that is yet, but they are interested. Ten years ago, these were of interest to only a very, very select group of people, and now these ideas are mainstream. I think this may be because people have begun to realize that organic and local and in season — "Hey, this is the way they cook in places I pay a lot of money to go and eat. Maybe I should always eat this way." (Other trends: Greek food, the eastern Mediterranean in general, and in the East, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines.) I would love to see more focus on Australia, because it's a crossroads, just like Hawai'i is. I don't know how America could not be a place where there are several countries on the plate, because that is what we are. (Another trend: Food books, as opposed to cookbooks, such as Anthony Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential" and "Heat" by Bill Buford, are growing in popularity.)

Q. You take questions from callers on your show: Has anyone ever stumped you — just left you at a loss for words?

A. I can't think of a moment when a question left me at a loss for words, but I can think of a time when I was totally unprepared for the answer to a question I asked. (She was interviewing a gardening expert and, at the behest of her producer, who is an avid gardener, asked about a pest common in Minnesota: What could humanely be done about deer in the vegetable plot?) Well, he said, "Get some cinder blocks and arrange them around the perimeter and then pee on them. Mark your territory."

Q. OK, desert island. You have access to staples — dry goods, canned goods, the basic fruits and vegetables. But you have to choose five things from the "specialty" or "gourmet" food aisle. What five things can't you live without?

A. Black tomatoes (and on my island they'll be available fresh year-round). Ginger. Fish sauce. Aleppo chilies (a moderately hot, fruit pepper from Syria). Fresh basil. With that, I can go anywhere — Asia, Italy, most of the Mediterranean.

Reach Wanda A. Adams at wadams@honoluluadvertiser.com.