“Favorite Recipes From Our Kitchen to Yours”
Hawaii School Nutrition Association
By Betty Shimabukuro
This is the No. 1 cookbook question that crosses my desk: “Is there a book of Hawaii school cafeteria recipes?”
The answer has always been “no.” But now the answer is “sort of.”
The Hawaii School Nutrition Association, formerly the Hawaii School Food Service Association, is celebrating 55 years of, well, associating, with the publication of “Favorite Recipes From Our Kitchen to Yours.”
Most of the contributors are current and former public school personnel, and about a third of the recipes were adapted from what was served at cafeterias, says coordinator Marlow DeRego, a retired cafeteria manager and Leeward District supervisor. The rest are personal favorites or came from various groups that promote childhood nutrition.
This is not a slick publication; it’s more like a community cookbook, and the school recipes are not all clearly marked. But it is only $10, and the proceeds support the organization, which does hope someday to publish a more formal book of school-lunch recipes. So if you dearly love and miss the food of your school days, it’s time to put your money where your heart is.
Besides, it’s a good start. It’s got the recipes for cafeteria shortbread (everybody’s favorite) and peanut butter cookies, which have not been served in schools for a decade due to peanut allergies among students. I baked up batches of both and was immediately transported back to Niu Valley Intermediate School (never mind how long ago).
DeRego says the book’s recipes for pork adobo, Spanish rice, Spanish green beans, pork gisantes, Mandarin chicken, kalua pork, chicken long rice, a Rainbow Coleslaw and a few salad dressings are among those that came from cafeterias.
Most of the original recipes were portioned for at least 50 servings, so all these recipes had to be scaled down. In some cases ingredients that the schools couldn’t buy have been added (bacon in the Spanish rice, bamboo shoots in the gisantes) to improve the dishes for home use.
The association has only about 800 copies of the book, and the window to order is limited. So don’t procrastinate the way you did in high school. You snooze, you lose.
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Buy the book
>> Pickup: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at Roosevelt High School’s cafeteria, 1120 Nehoa St., during the school’s Project Graduation holiday sale
>> Cost: $10; cash only (Bonus: bags of shortbread cookies will also be sold.)
>> Preorder: Email hawaiisnaoahu@gmail.com by Friday to reserve or to make other arrangements for getting your books.
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Peanut Butter Cookies
Adapted from Anuenue Elementary School
- 1 cup butter or shortening
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg, well beaten
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
In large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. Add egg, peanut butter and vanilla; blend well.
Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture; blend well.
Shape into walnut-size balls and place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Flatten with fork to about 1/4-inch thickness. Bake 12 to 15 minutes, until golden brown. Makes about 6 dozen.
Nutritional information unavailable.
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“Food to Write Home About … Hawaii”
Bill Tobin and Brian Berusch
Cameron + Co., $29.95
By Joleen Oshiro
Released just a few weeks ago, this engagingly well-written tome makes solid contributions on several fronts: It documents the current who’s who in isle chefs; provides insight into Hawaii’s culinary history and future via truly artistic contemporary dishes; and serves as a decent cookbook, since a fair number of those dishes turn out to be approachable and adaptable for home cooks.
Told through the eyes of Tiki’s Grill & Bar owner Bill Tobin and penned by award-winning journalist Brian Berusch, the book is a profile of 21 of the state’s top chefs and is structured to introduce each via a letter home to Mom. In the correspondences, Berusch deftly explores Tobin’s culinary evolution from his origins in the farmlands of Nebraska to his current reflections as a restaurateur in a multicultural town. A biography of each chef and a recipe follows.
The book includes icons of Hawaii Regional Cuisine such as Bev Gannon, Mark Ellman, George Mavrothalassitis, Roy Yamaguchi and Alan Wong. Then there’s the next generation, guys like Mark Noguchi, for whom a sense of Hawaii is fundamental to his work as a chef and business owner, and Chris Kajioka, who strives to go beyond the bounds of HRC while using local ingredients.
In its entirety the book drives home the inescapable influences of Hawaii’s many ethnicities and how they propel us forward. It offers both style and substance — a pretty coffee-table hardcover (with gorgeous photography from Olivier Koning) that is also a great read.
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Find the book at Tiki’s Grill & Bar, amazon.com and some Oahu stores. Visit foodtowritehomeabout.com.
