There is a little bit of interest in my cookbooks in one particular group on Facebook...and several members have asked for information. The info I shared a couple of years ago on this blog is already outdated (as far as shipping) and I need to update.
There are three cookbooks...below are photos of the covers, brief descriptions, price when ordered from me, and shipping info. I can also sign the books, if you wish.
If you prefer, you can also find them on Amazon. Just type in the title and my name. I cannot sign those, since I'm not the seller, unless you opt for 'other sellers' and choose 'foodiesleuth' or 'cubanwahine' and shipping is $3.96 per book. If you order from Amazon, there might be a Prime option, but not when ordered from me as 'other seller'
Tropical Taste – $10 Self-published in 2001 - second printing 2004 A collection of 3 years’ worth of monthly articles published in the Hamakua Times newspaper (Honoka’a) – Selected as a Best of the Best of Hawaii Cookbook by Quail Ridge Press - no photos, but a lot of interesting information and great recipes. Some are Cuban, but all with tropical fruits and produce.
I only have a few copies left on hand and will not be reprinted.
From Soup to Nuts - $20 Published by The Larry Czerwonka Co – Hilo - May 2015 This is a collection of some of my favorite recipes. Some are Cuban, and many are 'tropical'
As the title implies, it contains recipes for a complete menu, start to finish, including how to easily make your own stocks and broths, plus many hints and tips to make your time in the kitchen more enjoyable. Also, a wonderful guide on how to take the best advantage of your freezer. Full of beautiful full color photos!
Sonia Tastes Hawai'i- $23 Published by A Wealth of Wisdom LLC – Keauhou, Kona - May 2017 Collection of 5 years’ worth of articles and recipes inspired by the farmer’s markets and CSA farmers around Hawai’i Island. Some recipes are Cuban, all are tropical. First published in Ke Ola Magazine and Ke Ola Weddings & Special Events Magazine. - Photos that appeared with the articles are included.
Priority Flat Rate Envelope $6.95 Can hold up to 2 - 3 books Cost of each book x number of books plus $6.95 Automatically insured for $50* Tracking automatically available * insurance covers cost of 2 books if another book is added, extra insurance can be purchased If interested in purchasing and having it shipped I need to have your address, and how many books
If local and we can meet in Hilo when mutually convenient, then I can deliver and you can pay me then. Money Order, Check or PayPal... although PayPal seems to be taking a fee lately.
You can find me and private message me through Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sonia.r.martinez
It's been a while since I've shared anything on the blog...So sorry, but too much has been happening..including a month-long trip to the mainland to celebrate my 80th birthday!
But I do want to share about my (slowly) growing collection of cookbooks...I now have 3 under my name...and besides a lot of work, it is also fun and exciting...! There are (hopefully) a few more cookbooks in the near future!
Here is a little bit of info about my 3 cookbooks
Tropical Taste – $10 Self-published in 2001 - second printing 2004 A collection of 3 years’ worth of monthly articles published in the Hamakua Times newspaper (Honoka’a) – Selected as a Best of the Best of Hawaii Cookbook by Quail Ridge Press - no photos, but a lot of interesting information and great recipes.
The recipe for the above 'guava shells in syrup can be found on page 11 of Tropical Taste
From Soup to Nuts - $23 Published by The Larry Czerwonka Co – Hilo, in 2015 As the title implies, it contains recipes for a complete menu, start to finish, including how to easily make your own stocks and broths, plus many hints and tips to make your time in the kitchen more enjoyable. Also, a wonderful guide on how to take the best advantage of your freezer. Full of beautiful full color photos!
The recipe for the above 'traditional gazpacho' can be found on page 18 of From Soup to Nuts
Sonia Tastes Hawai'i- $24.95 Published by A Wealth of Wisdom LLC – Keauhou, Kona - just released May 2017 Collection of 5 years’ worth of articles and recipes inspired by the farmer’s markets and CSA farmers around Hawai’i Island. First published in Ke Ola Magazine and Ke Ola Weddings & Special Events Magazine. - Photos that appeared with the articles are included.
https://www.facebook.com/soniatasteshawaii/
The recipe for 'warabi and shrimp salad' above can be found on pages 18 and 19 of Sonia Tastes Hawaii
Shipping information: USPS rates - anywhere on Big Island: 1 - Manila Envelope/not padded - $3.93 plus cost of book Can fit only 1 book Insurance extra Tracking available
USPS rates - anywhere in the USA 2- Ready Post Envelope cost $1.19 Cost of shipping 1 book $3.93 Total shipping cost for 1 $5.12 plus cost of book Insurance extra Tracking available
3 - Padded Ready Envelope cost $2.19 Cost of shipping 1 book $3.93 Total shipping cost for 1 $6.12 plus cost of book Insurance extra Tracking available
4 - Priority Flat Rate Envelope $6.65 Can hold up to 2 books Cost of each book x number of books plus $6.65 Automatically insured for $50* Tracking automatically available * insures cost of 2 books if another book is added, extra insurance can be purchased If interested in purchasing and having it shipped I need to have your address, how many books, and shipping method you prefer.
If local and we can meet in Hilo when mutually convenient, then I can deliver and you can pay me then. Money Order, Check or PayPal... although PayPal seems to be taking a fee lately.
I can be contacted via e-mail - cubanwahine@hawaii.rr.com
There are at least 25 farmers markets on Hawai'i Island and I visited all of them, at one time or another, for a special series I wrote several years ago.
The articles and recipes found in this book were inspired by my visits to all those wonderful farmers markets and CSA farmers, and were shared as regular columns in the 2012 - 2016 issues of Ke Ola Magazine Hawai'i Island and as special features in Ke Ola's Hawai'i Island Weddings, Honeymoons and Special Occasions Magazine
You will find five years worth of columns and special articles...
The book will be available soon...within the next few weeks.
We will be taking pre-orders and they will probably be shipped after the 1st of June.
You can pre-order your autographed copy (more details later), and the book will also be placed in several of your favorite book stores and retail venues.
The listed retail price is $24.95, plus whatever shipping costs, if it's to be shipped.
There is a wealth of information about the produce and fruits featured, plus recipes, hints, and ideas of what to do with them.
People who contributed recipes, or those who were present at certain events featured in the stories are also mentioned...some of these people are also found in some of the photos
It is a fun book to read (if I must say so)...as I found out while reading the galley copy...
A list of retailers and other venues in which the book will be found will be shared later.
One of the fun things about writing a blog is hearing from readers... Sometimes I wonder just who actually reads whatever I happen to post on any given day...and if anyone really does... then out of the blue comes an e-mail with the following message
Hi Sonia, I've been following your website for several years and enjoy trying
many of your recipes. My husband and I have been coming to the Big Island for
about 13 years. Guess it's a sign .....
Anyway, I too, enjoy reading cookbooks and have amassed many, many of the small,
locally produced community cookbooks. Nothing fancy, just "different". We are
going to be there (dates deleted) If you are interested, I would enjoy
giving you 5 or 6 of the most interesting ones. We are planning to "try out"
the Cookhouse you mentioned in your previous article, and perhaps could touch
base there in the area. Please let me know soon.
Sincerely,Pat W.
P.S. I really wish I could invent "scratch and taste" ..to add to each recipe.
Of course I wrote back and after several e-mails back and forth, we met today during their visit to the Hilo Farmers Market...It was a brief but fun meeting...she gave me several cookbooks...one I used to have many years ago, but lost it in a fire, so am so pleased to have a copy of it again...and I got to also meet her husband Ralph.
Mahalo nui for your kind gesture, Pat...I hope you continue to enjoy your stay on our beautiful island!
I picked up a little book at the Hilo Library a friend had recommended after we were discussing fruitcakes...how some people love them and some absolutely hate them (or claim to hate them) and I mentioned that my very first taste of fruitcakes came about when someone sent us a 'popular commercial brand' as a gift during one Christmas that frankly, I would have used as a doorstop...It was heavy, dark and dry. That fruitcake could have led me to really hate fruitcakes.
I told my friend that since that first fruitcake, I have made it a point to find good fruitcake recipes...and I now have a small collection of recipes saved in my computer documents...Some were good, some indifferent and some not so good ;-)
Anyway, this little story came with three non-traditional fruitcake recipes that actually sound interesting and I think I might try making at least one of them.
The beginning of each chapter starts with a fruitcake related quote by a chef or foodie personality...I was thrilled to see a quote on Chapter 14th, by someone I actually knew...
"Those who don't like fruitcake have never had a white fruitcake"...
and the quote's author is Nathalie Dupree, cookbook author and television personality
Of course I had to do a search for her white fruitcake and found several mentions; the one below from the Washington Post website
DEC 5, 2012
One of Nathalie Dupree's editors at Atlanta Magazine gave her this recipe years ago, after she revealed herself to be anti-fruitcake. She fell in love with it. "This one will be eaten, not re-gifted," she says.
Make Ahead: The cakes can be tightly wrapped and stored at room temperature for 3 days or frozen for up to 4 months.
To date, the best fruitcake I have ever made was one I came up with by combining a couple of recipes, and the method used by a Jamaican client when I owned a kitchen shop in the Miami Lakes, FL area... using tropical fruits instead of the traditional citron.
My absolutely deliciously moist Island Tropical Fruitcake appeared in the November - December 2013 issue of Ke Ola Magazine .
In case you're interested in reading the little book that started this post, the title is 'There is Something About Christmas' and the author is Debbie Macomber.
May all your fruitcakes be delicious, moist and tropical fruitful!
New Year's Day 2017 dawned wet and cold...we were meeting friends about mid-day for their traditional First Sunday of the Month Beach Day, and this Sunday just happened to also be the first day of the year... As usual, it was fun to get together with friends, good food, lots of fun conversations and loads of laughs...I can say we did welcome the year with lots of happy laughs!
Meantime, I was wondering what to prepare for our very first meal of the New Year...and considering what I had in the fridge, it didn't take a lot of imagination to decide...This is a little dish I first tried a long time ago, when I was living in Florida...Last time I made it was for a Christmas morning brunch at our Inn in Honomu quite a few years ago, with our friends Cathy & Georgia.
The recipe comes from a fun cookbook, "The Silver Palate Good Times" by Julee Rosso & Sheila Lukins (c) 1984. I have all three of their cookbooks and at one time, (back in the day), used to cook from them quite a bit... I had forgotten about them, through the years, but several of the recipes have become part of my own repertoire de cuisine ;-)
The recipe as it can be found on page 122 of the above mentioned cookbook and below, how I made it this time. Listed are the ingredient amounts for EACH portion, so you will need to make allowances for however many portions you will be preparing.
Sunny Baked Eggs, toasted baguette slices and Virgin Mango Mimosa
Sunny Baked Eggs
1 Tablespoon chopped parsley
1 1/2 Tablespoons minced ham
1 1/2 Tablespoons cubed Brie
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon heavy or whipping cream
Salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste
Preheat oven to 400 F
For each serving, toss the parsley, ham, and Brie together in a 3-inch-wide ramekin. Break the eggs over the ham and Brie mixture and drizzle the cream over the eggs. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, to taste.
Place the ramekins in a baking pan and pour hot water into the pan to come 1 inch up (to the rim of) the ramekin. Bake 15 - 20 minutes. depending on how set you like your eggs. Serve immediately.
My version:
I did not chop the parsley, just used the top leaf clusters. I cubed the ham and the Brie. I used just one egg for each of us. I did not have cream on hand, but had sour cream...I dabbed a bit of sour cream and mixed it in with the ham and Brie...it worked well. I did not bake them using the bain marie (water bath in the pan) method; I just placed the clay cazuelitas on the oven rack....that also worked well.
I like to serve them with slices of toasted baguette. I prefer my eggs slightly runny and cooked my casserole just 15 minutes.
Christmas is a time of Hope, Love, Joy and Peace...a time of reflection and the perfect time to think of all our blessings, big and small...a time to treasure our families and friends...Even though we're so far from our own, how fortunate we are to have a family that no matter what, or how long the periods of time that pass by without seeing each other, we love and embrace each other. We're also very fortunate in the friends we have made in this beautiful land so far from our roots...dear friends that have turned into family.
Our Christmas Eve this year was a quiet one. Just my son and I...but I still like to mark the passing of another Christmas and make it as special as I can...and I turned to our Cuban roots for our menu this year...Cuban soul food...which brings us warm and comforting memories.
Our table this year was a play on plaid. I love tartan plaids and I feel they just fit the Christmas season...Through the years I've collected a variety of plaid items (dinner plates, tablecloths, napkins, ribbons...even tree ornaments (not used this year) and I like to mix them together with other seasonal patterns.
The red goblets were some I gave my mother many years ago, sometime during the mid 60s! I love using them any chance I get, so they make an appearance on our table almost every Christmas.
Christmas is a time ripe for nostalgia...besides my mother's red goblets, I used old fashioned kerosene lanterns...two of the ones pictured were a gift from a young man who has since left us...they were his Cuban grandmother's and he thought I should have them.
Our Nochebuena menu was a simple one, since it was just the two of us. Roast pork Cuban style, white rice and black beans, yuca (cassava) with mojo sauce and turrones for dessert. Turron is a nougat type confection from Spain, typically made with almonds, but sometimes you can find other turrones. Our turron was the soft one (grounding almonds into a paste) from Jijona, Spain.
I tried an experiment...my Cuban style roast pork for Nochebuena dinner was cooked in the crockpot..
I made the mojo (mo-hoe, not mo-joe) sauce the day before and it had plenty of time to get 'really' garlicky...
Anthony cut me a banana leaf, which I cut in sections, washed, and used to line the porcelain crockpot insert and another strip to wrap the little roast after I had made knife insertions all over it and rolled it in some of the mojo sauce. It gave the pork a "roasted in an underground oven" typical taste of the old-style Cuban style pork roasts... I basted the roast with some of the mojo sauce a couple of times during the cooking. The roast was still slightly frozen when I started, but it turned out delicious and the meat melted in our mouths.
Pronounced moe-hoe (not moe-joe, the slang word for charm, spell, talent, or sex appeal . . . although our Cuban Mojo Sauce can be sexy!) The best mojo sauces are very garlicky! Since it can keep refrigerated for quite some time, it is best to make a large batch at one time.
Scant amount olive oil, best quality you can afford Onion, sliced thinly Garlic cloves, one whole head per cup of liquid, peeled Hawaiian Alaea or other sea salt Dried oregano, to taste Pinch of cumin, or to taste Sour orange juice* Olive oil
Mash the garlic and salt into a thick paste with a mortar and pestle. Sauté the onion briefly, until barely translucent; add the garlic and salt paste, the oregano and cumin and quickly stir to heat it through. Add the sour orange juice and bring to a simmer for about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan to medium-hot and then remove from heat. Quickly whisk in the garlic-orange juice mixture; set aside to cool.
Can be kept in the refrigerator until ready to use; heat briefly before using. Mojo Sauce can be used as a marinade for pork and chicken and I love it served over plain boiled yuca (cassava).
* Sour oranges are just what they sound like. Used mostly for cooking and sauces in Caribbean countries. If no sour oranges are available, I use a half and half mixture of orange juice and lime juice, which is a close approximation of the taste.
For the above this time around, I used a mixture of OJ and Meyer lemon.
Besides the roasted pork, I also prepared the typical white rice and black beans...the beans are cooked from dry. I like to put them in a large pot and fill with water up to about 2 inches above the top of the beans; bring to a rolling boil, let boil for about 5 minutes and turn the heat off. Cover and let them soak overnight. The next morning I made a simple sofrito, by sautéing chopped onion, garlic, green bell pepper, bay leaf, cumin and oregano in a bit of olive oil, then added this to the pot of beans (I do not add salt yet at this point. My Cuban grandmother was a firm believer that adding salt to the beans before they were soft prevented them from getting soft no matter how long they were cooked) - when the beans are almost done, but already soft, is when I add salt, a touch of sugar and vinegar...Let them cook long enough for some of the beans to 'melt' into a nice thick and creamy potaje. Typically served with white, fluffy rice.
Before serving our plates, I lined it with a piece of banana leaf - starting from top and going clockwise: white rice and black beans, roasted pork Cuban style and yuca con mojo.
I wish you all much Hope, Love, Joy, Peace & Light during the Christmas Holidays and all through the New Year!
The 4th Annual Liliko'i (passionfruit) Festival has come and gone...and for me, this is a very bittersweet moment. I have been involved in this festival as their cooking contest organizer from the beginning (the first one in 2013) and am sad to say, this was my very last one. I am finally retiring from the cooking contest scene. As festival MC Dennis Alstrand said at the end of the day...he wished he had known before the end of the event this had been my 'swan song'...I replied it felt more like a swan dive!
It all started with the 1st of two 'You Say Tomato' (2) cooking contests sponsored by the Hamakua Springs Country Farms in early 2007 (planning started in Fall of 2006!) and later, in fall of that same year, the 1st of eventually 4 Hamakua Alive! Festivals (4). Throughout the years there have also been several cooking contests celebrating avocadoes (4), mangoes (4), 'ulu/breadfruit (5), honey (1), and the Hamakua Harvest Festival (1) earlier this past summer. If I count them correctly, I think it has been a total of 21 cooking contests in 10 years, besides the ones I've participated in only as a judge.
Photo: At the contest site - entries beginning to be dropped off - Mahalo to Fran, KC and Jennifer for all the hard work in helping receive entries!
Of course, it wouldn't be East Hawai'i if we aren't blessed with some liquid sunshine, but the couple of showers did not last long and the day was, overall, very nice!
The categories for the Liliko'i Cooking Contest were Entrées, Sides (included soups, salads, sauces, preserves, etc), and Desserts
As usual in this contest, we had more dessert entries than in the other two categories. The overall Best of Show entry was a dessert.
Judges criteria for judging the Liliko'i Cooking Contest: Best use of liliko’i / Taste / Presentation / Originality & Creativity
Each judge can award from 0 to 5 points per criteria. At the end of the judging, all judges scores are tallied and, of course, the prizes are awarded to the highest scoring entries.
This entry, by Pamela S. Jinnohara, who came all the way from Mililani, Oahu, was the First Place Winner in the Dessert Category and it also received the Best of Show award for highest scoring entry overall.
Lilikannoli
Pamela explains the recipe for the tuiles was adapted from the finecooking.com website (* See website instructions for making tuile cookies)
Tuiles (to make cannoli or into the form you desire)
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 egg whites (save yolks for liliko’i curd below)
2/3 cup flour
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon citrus zest (orange, lime, or lemon), optional
Cream butter and sugar until fluffy and light, add vanilla extract and egg whites, one at a time until thoroughly mixed, then stir in flour, salt and zest. Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350F. Start by baking only one or two cookies at a time, until you get a feel for the timing – they firm up quickly and can only be shaped while they’re soft.
Linea a flat, level baking sheet with nonstick baking mat or parchment paper, sprayed liberally with nonstick cooking spray. Spoon small amount of tuille batter on the baking sheet. Spread as evenly and thinly as possible into a circle the size you want. I used 3, 3-1/2 and 5 inch circles.
Bake until golden brown, about 9-10 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately start to maneuver a spatula under the edge of the cookie. Wrap the hot cookie around a cannoli mold, rolling pin, juice bottle, or any heatproof object that can serve as a mold. The tuille will firm up in a minute and should release easily. Let cool. Continue with the remainder of the batter.
Liliko’i Crème Filling - 3 steps
1) Liliko’i Curd
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin softened in 2 Tablespoons water
4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup liliko’i juice
1-1/2 Tablespoons lemon juice
Soften gelatin and set aside. In medium pot, combine yolks, sugar, salt, and juices. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened. Stir in softened gelatin. Remove from heat. Strain through a sieve and cool completely.
2) Crème Filling
8 ounces cream cheese
2 ounces mascarpone cheese (optional)
3-4 ounces marshmallow crème, about ½ of the 7 ounce container
Cream above and mix until light and fluffy.
3) Whipped Cream
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin dissolved in 2 Tablespoons water
Dissolve unflavored gelatin in water, and warm so gelatin is liquid. Add the warmed gelatin as you whip the cream to stiff peaks.
Mix: Liliko’i Curd, Crème Filling and Whipped Cream lightly, until thoroughly incorporated. Refrigerate for at least one hour, to give filling time to firm up so it will hold its shape. This will also help to keep the tuille shells crisper after they’re filled.
Assembly: Fill cannoli shells with cooled Liliko’i Crème Filling. Garnish with additional whipped cream, fresh liliko’i pulp/seeds or fresh fruit, chopped nuts, and mint, as desired.
Hard to believe the Kino'ole Farmers Market in Hilo is already 9 years old. I remember visiting it during the very early days to check it out and wrote a feature for the Hawai'i HomeGrown Food Network.
I have been invited through the years to present food demos at the market and during one Holiday Season I also did a Hawaiian wreath making demonstration.
This past Saturday, August 13th, I was again at the market doing a presentation on Tropical Cuisine...and this time it was to demonstrate how to make a Chilled Avocado Cream Soup. The day was rainy and I was hoping for a modest turnout, but was surprised at how many people showed up, some of them just to see the presentation. This was a boost to my spirit ;-)
Several people took photos and shared them with me. Mahalo to Mary Louise Kimura, Jennifer Perry, Sheryl Rawson and Stasia Van Buskirk!
The recipe for the Chilled Avocado Soup can be found on page 16 of my "From Soup to Nuts" cookbook...but I added a twist this time...CUMIN! How I missed adding it the first few times around I've made this soup is a mystery to me...because we love cumin and the addition REALLY wakes up the soup!
Serve it in bowls, in glasses, in stemware, as a first course or as an amuse bouche, this delicious soup seems to delight everyone who tastes it...one of the people attending the demo had her husband with her...after the demo and before she left, she came to ask a couple of questions and mentioned that her husband was skeptic about eating avocado soup, so took his little cup to the parking, thinking he would toss it...she went to her car to get something and found him dipping into the cup to be able to get to the last drops clinging to the sides of the cup with his finger...so I guess he found it 'finger-licking-good!'
Chilled Avocado Soup During the hot months of summer, we eat a lot of chilled soups. This soup has a lovely color and is perfect for summer evenings.
2 avocados, pitted and peeled
1 small sweet onion, chopped
1 clove garlic
1 small red Hawaiian chile pepper, seeded and deveined
1 cup chicken (or vegetable stock)
1 cup thick yogurt, cream or half & half
Sea salt to taste
Powdered cumin, to taste (this is an addition since the cookbook was published)
3 Tablespoons lemon or lime juice
1 teaspoon lemon or lime zest—for garnish
Place all ingredients except for the zest in a food processor or blender. Taste and adjust seasonings, if needed. Serve in bowls, stemmed glasses or shot glasses as an amuse-bouche. Garnish with the zest if desired or use your own favorite garnishes.
Yield: 4 servings in a regular sized soup bowl - more in smaller containers Source: Sonia’s kitchen for an article in the September / October 2013 issue of Ke Ola Magazine.
Other demos at this market in the past - missing some and can't find them for some reason
Sonia R. Martinez was born in the island of Cuba, and has always been drawn to tropical climes and cuisines. For the last 22 years she has lived on the Island ofHawai’i in a beautiful rain forest where she loves to play in the garden, grow herbs, collect cookbooks, test recipes, visiting farms; learning and reporting about new sustainable growing techniques, read voraciously, and work on crossword puzzles.
Her passion for food and cooking led her to own kitchen/gourmet shops and cooking schools first in Orangeburg, South Carolina and later in the Miami, Florida area. After moving to Hawai’i, she and her son owned Akaka Falls Inn, a B&B, cooking school and gourmet shop in Honomu for several years.
She has been a food writer and columnist since early 1999, writing a monthly column for The Hamakua Times newspaper of Honoka’a. Sonia is also a regular contributor to Ke Ola Magazine as well as many other local publications. I first met Sonia in the early days of Gather, a website that featured great writing and an even greater community. Her recipes, photos of life in Hawai’i, and generous, smiling personality attracted many followers, including myself. Her care and attention is genuine and I consider her decade+ friendship one of the best things coming from the islands to Michigan! She has been a beacon for visitors to visit Hawai’i, promoting the delicious local foods there, as well as encouraging healthy and fresh eating. Her recipes, food photos, and sharing of local farmer’s markets, island food, and the beautiful place she lives in has inspired countless readers.
Her cookbookTropical Taste, published in 2001, is a compilation of three years’ worth of monthly columns published in The Hamakua Times and is now in its second printing after being picked as one of the “Best of the Best” cookbooks in Hawai’i by Quail Ridge Press. Her second cookbook, From Soup to Nuts, was published a year ago .
Sonia has maintained a blog for several years, sharing her adventures in food and gardening and her ongoing love affair with Hawai’i at www.soniatasteshawaii.com
Food People Questionnaire (with a nod to Proust):
What is your favorite food to cook at home? Mainly simple and fresh…but I grew up with the ‘waste not’ concept and love to find creative ways to recycle leftovers so they don’t look or taste like leftovers.
What do you always have in your fridge at home? Eggs, butter, cheese…I can live on cheese.
What marked characteristic do you love in a person with whom you are sharing a meal? Appreciation and enjoyment of the food.
What marked characteristic do you find unappealing in a person with whom you are sharing a meal? Inattention to the food or the other extreme, showing off their ‘gourmandise’
Beer, wine, or cocktail? Definitely wine…unless I’m eating a paella or Arroz con Pollo…then I do enjoy a very cold beer. I am not fond of cocktails.
Your favorite cookbook author? This is a hard one. At one time I owned a collection of well over 3000 cookbooks. Lost them in a fire, but in no time at all, my ‘new’ collection grew by leaps and bounds with gifts from friends who were trying to replace the lost ones, plus the many I added through the years. A couple of years ago, I started going through them and culling them to a manageable 4 shelf units in my office and hallway instead of all over the house. It was a time of hard decisions, but now know exactly what I have and where to find it…No mean feat, since I still own about 500, give or take.
I have an extensive collection of Cuban and Hawaiian cookbooks; a few Spanish & Portuguese, some Italian ones and Tropical Fruit ones, plus several on herbs & spices, a few single topic ones (sushi, dim sum, chocolate) and several of the classics that don’t fit into any of the categories mentioned…and of course, my own two titles,Tropical Taste and From Soup to Nuts.
Your favorite kitchen tool? My Santoku knife…I seem to reach for that one above all other ones.
Favorite types of cuisine to cook? Tropical, Cuban, Italian.
Beef, chicken, pork, or tofu? I’ll eat anything but am most creative with chicken. I am not fond of tofu.
Favorite vegetable? Asparagus, any way it can be prepared.
Chef you most admire? Although I have met a few of the well-known chefs in the culinary world, and admire several of them, I will have to say that there arethree ‘local’ chefs I admire the most on this island. Sam Choy of Sam Choy’s Kai Lanai in Kailua-Kona, James Babian of Pueo’s Osteria in Waikoloa, and Diana Soler of Aloha Bayfront Café in Hilo, for their commitment to using locally sourced ingredients whenever possible and their honest approach to food. Simple, fresh, beautifully prepared and presented without ostentation.
Food you like the most to eat? Any shellfish but love scallops
Food you dislike the most? Anything that is an imitation of the real thing
What is your favorite non-food thing to do? Play in the garden…I love planting edibles among our ornamental landscaping (I even joy weeding!), and am a voracious reader.
View from Sonia’s back yard
Who do you most admire in food? My mentor and inspiration from way back has always been Shirley O. Corriher, who came to my first cooking school as a guest cooking teacher fairly often in the early 80s. She demystified so many of my preconceived notions in cooking and her enthusiasm and love of all things food served as great encouragement.
Where is your favorite place to eat? A good sushi or seafood restaurant.
What is your favorite restaurant? Takenoko’s Sushi in Hilo, is in my opinion the best sushi restaurant anywhere. We’re lucky if we can get reservations since the waiting list is so long, but it is well worth the waiting. I also enjoy dropping by Aloha Bayfront Café in Hilo for lunch. The food is always fresh, delicious, and beautifully presented, the staff is friendly, and you’re never rushed to vacate the table.
Do you have any tattoos? And if so, how many are of food? No tattoos. My mother would have killed me!
Recipe: Salade Niçoise with fresh ‘ahi
One of my favorite simple and healthy meals to prepare at home when I can buy fresh ‘ahi (tuna) is my version of a Salade Niçoise.
Season to taste fresh ‘ahi (tuna), sear in avocado oil, serve on a bed of fresh spinach or Manoa lettuce, boiled potato wedges, hard-boiled eggs, tomatoes, sliced onions, a handful of lightly steamed haricot vert, and asparagus, dressed simply with Honey Wine Vinegar to which I had added a vanilla bean.
The End. Go Eat.
All photos courtesy and copyright Sonia R. Martinez
