2008 Mealani's A Taste of the Hawaiian Range and Agriculture Festival

Now's the time to make your plans to attend this year's Mealani's A Taste of the Hawaiian Range and Agriculture Festival scheduled for Friday, Oct. 3, 2008 at the Hilton Waikoloa Villlage on the Kohala Coast of Hawaii's Big Island. The Festival is the state's premiere food event showcasing the products of the ranchers and farmers of Hawaii's Big Island.

Over 30 of the state’s premiere chefs will be cooking up all parts of the meat assigned to them, ranging from beef chuck and hamburger to specialty cuts from tongue to tail, including those infamous prairie oysters. Pork, lamb, mutton and goat are also featured and Big Island farmers will join in, too, providing their harvest of fruits and vegetables for the grazing event.

I attended last year's event and it was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the foods I ate. I'm not a very adventurous eater, so I stuck the more standard offerings. If you're an adventurous eater, there are plenty of our-of-the-ordinary foods for you to try.

The event began 13 years ago as a gathering of ranchers, chefs and consumers designed to educate consumers about grass fed beef. From its humble origins at CTAHR's Mealani Research Station in Waimea, the event has grown from a few hundred participants and attendees to over 2,000!

The Taste is a celebration of the Big Island's bounty and an expression of the pride of its people. Most importantly the Taste is about bringing together food producers and consumers and educating them about the benefits of eating locally grown food: taste, freshness, nutrition, economic support of the community and preserving open spaces.

This year, an Agricultural Trade show, designed to showcase the food products of Hawaii's Big Island will be held from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. The show will be open only to retail and wholesale buyers, chefs and the media during this time period. These same vendors will also participate in the 6:00 p.m. Taste event that is open to all ticket holders.

A special cooking demonstration by chef Peter Merriman will take place at 4 p.m. The theme of the session is "Cooking Grass Fed Beef 101." Merriman is an award winning chef, co founder of the Hawaii Regional Cuisine movement and a staunch supporter and buyer of locally produced products for his restaurants on Hawaii's Big Island and Maui. The demonstration will be open to the public by reservation. Attendance is limited to just 100. Tickets cost just $10.

At 6:45, the Ranch Round-up Cook off will take place on the Grand Ballroom stage. What do cowboys eat when they're rounding up the cattle? Find out as Hawaii's ranchers and paniolos (cowboys) prepare their tastiest beef specialties. A distinguished panel of judges will pick the most delicious.

The Taste is presented by the University of Hawaii at Manoa's College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, the Big Island Farm Bureau and the Hawaii Cattleman’s Association. Tickets are $35 presale, $70 at the door and will go on sale in August.

For more information go to www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/taste

_{Photos by John Fischer, licensed to About.com
top - Whole Mutton prepared by Chef Andy Mo of Kirin Chinese Restaurant at the Hilton Waikoloa Village
second from top - Hawaii Island Grass-Fed Beef from Kulana Foods
third from top - Whole Pork prepared by Executive Chef Brett Villarmia of the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel
bottom - Whole Lamb from the Duje-Kapuniai Ranch prepared by Executive Chef George Mavrothalassitis of Chef Mavro, Honolulu}