A Blue Zones Kitchen in June

I was happy to finally arrive at the top of our library's list for The Blue Zones Kitchen, by Dan Buettner, having been curious as to what that sort of cooking would involve.  The recipes presented, from each zone are all very simple and easily prepared.  No fancy cooking involved here.  A back to the elemental basics, plain food.  So far, I've made three of the recipes, was quite happy with them all, and am looking forward to trying a few more before the book goes back.  A summary from the Publishers:

"Building on decades of research, longevity expert Dan Buettner has gathered 100 recipes inspired by the Blue Zones, home to the healthiest and happiest communities in the world. Each dish-- uses ingredients and cooking methods proven to increase longevity, wellness, and mental health. Complemented by mouthwatering photography, the recipes also include lifestyle tips (including the best times to eat dinner and proper portion sizes), all gleaned from countries as far away as Japan and as near as Blue Zones project cities in Texas and Hawaii.. Innovative, easy to follow, and delicious, these healthy living recipes make the Blue Zones lifestyle even more attainable, thereby improving your health, extending your life, and filling your kitchen with happiness."

Colombian Cassava Cake

 Basket of Manioc (Pia in Hawaiian)

I just watched a video of some villagers in Brazil preparing manioc.  Incredible!  What a tremendous amount of work goes into the preparation of tapioca or manioc flour.  You see, I had the, no doubt idiotic, idea to make some of the traditional Colombian/Brazilian, etc. (South American) bread, called Pandebono, or Cheese rolls. From scratch, turning the above, rustic looking, tubers into flour??  After watching said film clip, I don't think so.  We won't be doing that here.  I mean I'm all for using the products of the land, etc. etc., but there's a time and place to farm out certain procedures.  Brake jobs, sewer cleaning, brain surgery...   you get the picture.

Instead, I will be turning the roots into a Colombian Cassava (another of the many names of manioc) Cake, called Enyucado.  I've written about cooking with this starch before, but this will be a completely different approach for me.  In the past, I've only used it as a sort of potato replacement.  This recipe calls for shredded manioc.  I can  will do that. Often choices are involved. The task here is not so daunting.

Ono with Pia

We think the pia (also known as tapioca, manioc, cassava) came with the pigs who wandered on and off our land before it was fenced, before we had a dog. They love the plant, and broken bits took root here and there. Now we have one remaining patch which needs better cultivation, as passion fruit vines are growing around and over it, making the tubers difficult to harvest.

Pia is frequently misidentified in Hawaiiana books as "arrowroot", which is a term often used in a generic sense. It is not the Arrowroot plant I am talking about here.

I've used pia only occasionally over the years, but have been doing a bit more research into the plant as part of my ongoing desire to eat more food actually grown by me or produced locally. As far as starches go, I've only just become aware of the prevalence of manioc or pia consumption. Cassava is the third largest source of carbohydrates for human food in the world. Why eat potatoes (which don't do well at our elevation)? We're now growing taro, sweet potatoes, breadfruit, tapioca, and more recently, cooking banana. That about covers the carbs.

This week, before even reading that the leaves die back when the roots are ready, I decided pia would be the perfect accompaniment for my Ono (Wahoo) in Coconut Cream sauce. I manaaged to find a few medium size tubers and got a sweet potato with them. As you see below.

Here I'm cutting the peeled tubers into chunks and then soaking in water until ready to cook. The raw leaves and roots contain toxins (cyanogenic glucosides) in this case, as does taro, which need to be removed prior to eating. I usually cover with water, bring to a boil, then pour off and repeat the process about 3 times, cooking til tender on the last boil.

Nothing fancy here, just the boiled pia, and lonely sweet potato, but served with Ono in Coconut Cream Sauce, fantastic.

Ono in Coconut Cream Sauce

Dump the following onto a piece of waxed paper and mix:
3-4 kaffir lime leaves, minced as fine as humanly possible (or in a machine)
3 Tablespoons Spelt flour
2 tablespoons Garlic Gomasio (contains sesame seeds, sea salt & garlic) or salt to taste
pepper to taste
2 fillets Ono (Wahoo)
Coat the fillets of Ono on both sides with the dry mixture.

Heat a skillet and add1 tablespoon ghee or olive oil. Fry the fish fillets at a fairly high heat for several minutes on each side, until just barely done, then remove to a plate and set aside.

Turn the heat off and allow skillet to cool slightly. Add 1 cup white wine to the pan (carefully) turn heat back up to high and reduce by about half, then add 1/2 cup coconut
milk (thick) and stir well, sprinkling in some of the remaining dry seasoning mix, stirring all the while. When it has thickened enough, pour over the fish and serve with your pia (or potatoes or rice).

There it is, that crusty, tangy coating in the creamy sauce is unbeatable in my humble opinion. Ono in Hawaiian means good, and it certainly is.