Gourmet Guide to Hawaii

A worker drying coffee beans in the sun at Bay View Farms at Honaunau on the south Kona Coast. (Ann Cecil, Lonely Planet Images)

Article by: Nate Cavalieri, February 2008

It still takes some leg-work, but savouring environmentally responsible, deeply characteristic local fare is getting easier all the time. A new quarterly magazine, Edible Hawaiian Islands , is wholly dedicated to the topic. From the idyllic rural pastures of Hawai'i the Big Island, Maui and Kaua'i to O'ahu's's inimitable mishmash of local and imported flavours (perhaps best exemplified in Spam sushi), Hawaiian food ranks among the most distinctive in the world - if you know where to look.

Since O'ahu gets the most visitors, it's no surprise that it has the handiest crash-course in island eating. Former chef and Honolulu Advertiser food critic Matthew Gray leads afternoon-long Hawaii Food Tours spotlighting locals-only hole-in-the-wall joints. If you want to explore independently, head to Honolulu's landmark Tamashiro Market (802 N King St; tel: 808 841 8047), the island's most revered seafood grocer, and order up a serve of quiveringly fresh, slightly briny oysters sprinkled with scallions.

Splurge on speciality gourmet Shark Bites: haute cheese with Perigord truffles, smoked oysters and gold flakes.

O'ahu is all about the urban eating experience; the open space and laidback ethos of the Big Island offers rewards at a more leisurely pace. Back roads unveil the island's best organic and sustainable farms. Try Pure Kona Coffee, Hawai'i's marquee export, then take a tour of the award-winning Kuaiwi Organic Farm (Captain Cook, HI; tel: 808 328 8888) for a deeper look into a functioning organic coffee estate. Part of the US$15 tour fee can be spent on fresh coffee, taro, tea, avocado and macadamia nuts. If you come away with the coffee jitters and feel the need to calm down, soak up the slow pace of Hi'iaka's Healing Herb Garden (15-1667 2nd St, Kea'au; tel: 808 966 6126), where certified Master Gardener Barbara Fahs offers afternoon tours, teaches gardening classes and lovingly tends to medicinal Hawaiian herbs.

The Big Island's sweetest treat comes from a six-acre farm that is home to the Hawaiian Chocolate Factory (tel: 808 322 2626). The factory produces the only Hawaiian chocolate that is entirely grown, harvested and packaged on the islands. Factory tours are rare, but their smoky chocolate blends are available at organic outlets throughout Hawaii.

Nothing tops Hawaii's abundant and regular farmers markets, where shoppers haggle for deals on a riot of fresh local produce.

While Maui remains the only island that grows sugar and pineapple for export, the grassy slopes of Haleakala Crater find goats hard at work to produce one of its most exciting foods. At Surfing Goat Dairy (3651 Oma'opio Rd, Kula; tel: 808 878 2870) you can tour the facilities and splurge on speciality gourmet Shark Bites: haute cheese with Perigord truffles, smoked oysters and gold flakes. Just around the hill is Maui's Ali'i Kula Lavender (1100 Waipoli Rd, Kula; tel: 808 878 3004) where visitors stroll the purple fields, shop for speciality foods, enjoy a daily Royal Tea Service or take in a lavender-infused lunch.

A taste of the island - literally - is offered by Kauai's Aloha Spice Company (3865 Hanapepe Rd; tel: 800 914 5944). Their Hawaiian sea salt combines organic salts and Alaea, an indigenous red clay that comes from the island's volcanic soil.

But nothing tops Hawaii's abundant and regular farmers markets, where shoppers haggle for deals on a riot of fresh local produce. The biggest and best of these happens in Hilo. As soon as you sink your teeth into a freshly picked pineapple, you might never settle for Hawaiian pizza again.