On Saturday, March 15, 2008, from 9:00am to 9:45am, at the Waimea Homestead Farmer’s Market, there will be an “Iron Chef” Competition hosted by the Kids at Kahilu program at the Kahilu Theatre Foundation and Mala`ai: The Culinary Garden of Waimea Middle School. This event will showcase the bounty of Big Island grown food available at the Waimea Farmer’s Market.
Chefs from Merriman’s, Daniel Thiebaut’s, and Huli Sue’s restaurants will make delicious creations from ingredients available at the Farmer’s Market. The “Secret Ingredient” for this “Iron Chef” Competition will be provided by Hamakua-based Maluhia Farm. Come and watch Waimea’s master chefs in action and learn new ways to prepare your favorite locally grown foods.
Each chef will make a dish to be juried by 3 independent judges based on taste, presentation, and use of local ingredients. The chefs will be given 45 minutes to prepare their creations. Each Chef‘s team will include a sous chef, a dancer from “The Greatest Show Off Earth”, and one Waimea Middle School student. The recipes will be recorded as the chefs are working and will be shared with the audience by email after the event.
This event is part of the Kahilu Theatre’s annual community project. This year’s theme is sustainability through changing perspectives. This year’s performance is entitled “The Greatest Show Off Earth”, created by Angel Prince of PrinceDance. This multimedia dance performance highlights changing perspectives using a circus vocabulary. Ringmasters, clowns and trapeze artists will aid the audience in examining the various ways life is perceived and how it impacts our behavior. The young performers are primarily aged 5-18. There will be two performances held at the Kahilu Theatre Foundation on May 2nd at 7pm and on May 3rd at 2pm. The money raised from ticket sales will be donated to Mala`ai.
By looking at the food we eat with new eyes, Mala`ai hopes to deepen Waimea Middle School student’s relationship with food, their culture, and their environment by creating and sustaining an organic garden and kitchen. By engaging the students in all aspects of growing, harvesting, preparing, and sharing nourishing healthy food, Mala`ai provides the students with the transformative experience of working with the earth to produce delicious food. Mala`ai works hard to promote all aspects of food sustainability. The Kahilu Theatre Foundation is proud to have them as its partner in this year’s community project.
The Kahilu Theatre’s annual community projects are a chance for our youth to take the lead on an issue important to the region. The Kahilu Theatre Foundation partners with a local non-profit with experience in the field of study and creates fun, creative, educational and artistic events that culminate in a community performance that is held at the theatre.
The thriving Waimea Homestead Farmers Market takes place every Saturday from 7am-12pm at Kuhio Hale in Waimea and features Hawai`i Island growers and producers. Supporting locally grown food is good for the environment, good for our health, good for the local economy, and a joy to our taste-buds. Come and celebrate the abundance of the Big Island and take home a new “perspective” on the food we eat.