REPORT FROM THE KAHALA HOTEL & RESORT – The Kahala Hotel & Resort will be harvesting Mushrooms and Montrachet in October. Don’t miss this month-long food fest that elevates the humble fungi to gourmet culinary status paired with some of the most enticing Montrachet wines of France and wines made in the Montrachet fashion in America. Among the activities will be three cooking classes, Chef’s Table Grand Experience on selected Thursdays and Sunday Brunch at Hoku’s, and specialty menus at Plumeria Beach House’s Bounty of the Seven Seas on selected Friday and Saturday nights. Call now to reserve your table or cooking class, (808) 739-8760, or E-mail restaurants@kahalaresort.com.
Mushrooms are seasonal favorites in the fall and our chef’s gone bonkers for these fleshy edible fruit bodies of several species of fungi. Whether you toss them in a salad, sauté them with wine, or make them a hearty main course, mushrooms are fantastically nutritional and low-calorie food. The Mushrooms and Montrachet special menus at Hoku’s and Plumeria Beach House will be featured throughout the month of October. And don’t miss The Kahala’s popular cooking demonstrations, Mushroom and Montrachet Cooking Class, with Executive Chef Wayne Hirabayashi and Hoku’s Chef de Cuisine Jeremy Shigekane on October 13th, 20th and 27th. Three classes will be offered, on October 13th , 20th and 27th, from 9 a.m. until noon. Fee to participate is $85 per person per class plus 23% gratuity and state tax. In this culinary adventure, participants enjoy a demonstration by the Chefs followed by a hands-on cooking experience. Class participants will enjoy light refreshments after the class and receive recipes of the dishes they prepared to take home.
Edible mushrooms are nature’s hidden treasures and come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, textures, and tastes. From the peppery oyster mushrooms to smoky-flavored shiitake, to the giant portabella, The Kahala is giving the humble fungi a starring role in special dishes this fall. Come try the special mushroom menu and we’ll make a believer out of you. Whether they have been harvested wild or cultivated, the act of consuming mushrooms, called Mycophagy, dates back to ancient times. Mushrooms have been found in association with 13,000 year old ruins in Chile and traced back to several hundred years BC in China.
Even the ancient Romans and Greeks used mushrooms for culinary purposes. (Roman Emperors often employed food tasters to ensure that the mushrooms were safe to eat!) In Egypt, mushrooms were decreed by the pharaohs to be the plant of immortality and no commoner was allowed to eat them. In mushroom rituals around the world, shrooms were thought to have properties that could produce super-human strength, help in finding lost objects, and could lead the soul to the realm of the gods. The magic of shroomery exists even now.
In the formal cultivation of mushrooms, the French led the way. Word in the history books says that Louis XIV was among the very first mushroom growers. Around his time, they grew them in special caves near Paris set aside for this unique form of agriculture.
The practice spread to England and across the big pond to American by the late 19th century. American gardener William Falconer from Long Island published the first book on mushroom growing in 1891. American horticulturists soon created their own pure-culture virgin spawn in 1903 freeing Americans from depending on poor quality imported spawn from Europe. While Southeastern Pennsylvania remains the mushroom capital of America, the money making crop has spread to virtually every state in the union. Pennsylvania State University has spearheaded agricultural research on mushroom farming enabling American growers to produce more and better crops of the edible fungi. In 1955, the American Mushroom Institute was formed as a private, non-profit to promote consumption and cultivation. From the caves of Paris to the dinner tables of millions of Americans, fresh, wholesome mushrooms have come out of the dark and into the spotlight. The Kahala will also be featuring a variety of spectacular Montrachet wines to accompany the mushroom dishes.
Often called “The King of Wines,” Montrachet is an Appellation d’origine contrôlée (AOC) and Grand Cru vineyard for white wine from Chardonnay in the Côte de Beaune sub-region of Burgundy. The area is known for producing the greatest dry white wine in the world and is the spiritual home for Chardonnay, the world’s most famous white grape. It is surrounded by four other Grand Cru vineyards which all have “Montrachet” as part of their names. Located in the south of the Côte de Beaune, which is the southern half of the Côte d’Or, which in turn is the most important of several wine producing sub-regions of Burgundy. The wines from Montrachet are composed almost entirely of Chardonnay and are among the most expensive dry white wines in the world and highly regarded as some of the world’s most enticing wines.
Through history, Montrachet wines have attracted a famous following, among them Thomas Jefferson who, after tasting the 1782 vintage while an Ambassador to France, ordered an entire 130-gallon cask; and Grace Kelly who brought a bottle over to wheelchair-bound Jimmy Stewart’s apartment in “Rear Window,” along with a meal from the ‘21’ club.
Among the special culinary events during Mushrooms and Montrachet in October at The Kahala are the following:
MUSHROOMS AND MONTRACHET COOKING CLASS
$85 per person per class (plus 23% gratuity);
9 a.m. – 12 noon; October 13, 20 and 27, 2012;
Hoku’s
Reservations: (808) 739-8760 or restaurants@kahalaresort.com
Learn how best to cook with mushrooms with Executive Chef Wayne Hirabayashi’s demonstration and hands-on cooking class at Hoku’s. Chef Hirabayashi will also be joined by Hoku’s Chef de Cuisine, Jeremy Shigekane. Class participants receive take home recipes of the dishes created and light refreshments with coffee and tea will be served following the classes. Among the menu items that will be featured include mushroom broth with mushroom wontons and mushroom fricassee with pasta, among other mushroom dishes.
BOUNTY OF THE SEVEN SEAS SEAFOOD BUFFET: MUSHROOM MANIA
Friday & Saturdays, October 5, 6, 19, & 20, 2012
5:30 – 10 p.m.; Plumeria Beach House
$55 Adults; $27.50 Children (6-12); (Tax and gratuity not included)
Reservations: Call (808) 739-8760; E-mail restaurants@kahalaresort.com
This weekend seafood buffet is truly one of Hawaii’s best. Enjoy an abundant selection of fresh seafood, sushi, salads, savories, and desserts at this all-you-can-eat affair. Chef Wayne Hirabayashi will be featuring special mushroom dishes during selected dates. There’s always something seasonal and new being served whether it’s at the carving stations or the sushi bar. Mushrooms are nature’s hidden treasures. Enjoy this seasonal buffet featuring fall’s mushroom bounty on selected dates.
HOKU’S CHEF’S TABLE GRAND EXPERIENCE: MUSHROOMS AND MONTRACHET
Thursdays, October 4, 11, 18 & 25; 6:30pm; Table of 10 or 12, one party per entire table per night
5-Course Prix Fixe Gourmet Experience with Wine Pairings
$125 per person; $150 with wine pairings
Reservations: Call (808) 739-8760; E-mail restaurants@kahalaresort.com
Consistently ranked as one of the best dining rooms in Hawaii, an evening at Hoku’s is always an extraordinary culinary affair. Enjoy the fabulous mushroom creations paired with delicious Montrachet wines during Hoku’s special Chef’s Table Grand Experience: Mushrooms and Montrachet offered only on October 4th , 11th, 18th and 25th. The Chef’s Table is located in close proximity to our stadium kitchen so the chef can easily interact with the guests during the meal. Selected menu items and Montrachet wines will also be offered a la carte for Hoku’s diners during normal restaurant hours October 1st through 31st.
THE MAGIC OF SHROOMERY HOKU’S BRUNCH–
Sunday, October 7, 14, 21 & 28, 2012; 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Hoku’s
$60 Adults; $30 Children (6-12); (Tax and gratuity not included)
Reservations: Call (808) 739-8760; E-mail restaurants@kahalaresort.com
Ancient Egyptians believed that mushrooms were the plant of immortality. The delicious flavor of mushrooms so intrigued the pharaohs, the decreed mushrooms were food for royalty and no commoner could ever touch them. Every Sunday in October, you can dine like a pharaoh and enjoy the magic of shrooms in a variety of specialty dishes on the buffet.
For more information, please contact The Kahala Hotel & Resort at (808) 739-8888 or toll-free at (800) 367-2525; or visit their website at www.kahalaresort.com