Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Basil Tomatoes - Maui, Hawaii

From one island to another

Man from Sicily cultivated tomatoes to his taste on Maui





As we sat at Basil Toma­toes Italian Grille on the Maui island of Hawaii just before sunset, a spectacu­lar backlit cloud formed a silver streak over the Pacific Ocean.

Between bites of basil tomato bread dipped in Ital­ian butter, sweet fresh tomatoes and savory rich pomodoro sauce, we watched the last rays of sunlight disappear as another day in paradise came to a close.

Though there’s plenty to keep you busy on the islands — tackling the tides, biking the volcanoes or lazing under a palm tree — it was homegrown toma­toes that captured our attention on this day.

Jon Applegate opened the restaurant, which is in an old golf course club­house on the grounds of Ka’anapali Royal Lahaina Resort, in 1995. Rarely do they advertise, relying instead on the word of mouth that goes hand in hand with great taste.

The incredibly sweet, delicious varieties of toma­toes that dominate the restaurant tables are vine­ripened hydroponics raised at Applegate’s Olowalu Nui Farm about 30 minutes away in the West Maui Mountains.

“My father was Sicilian.

The only reason he built the farm was he couldn’t find good tomatoes,” said Haku Applegate, the restau­rant’s co-owner and manager.

We took up the invitation to follow the Olowalu Nui Farm manager, Ron Hazel, in his yellow pickup and bounced down a dirt road to see the 10,000 tomato plants growing under his care.

At the Olowalu Nui Farm they raise red and yellow beef­steak varieties and heirloom tomatoes. The area’s climate with little rain, lots of heat and sun and warm humid air, contributes to the quality of the fruit.

“For us, it is 90 days from seed to pulling fruit,” Hazel said.

“But our claim to fame is that we don’t pick them until they are ready. It is the lycopene that gives the tomatoes their taste. If the tomato hasn’t developed on the vine there is no taste. If the tomatoes have been picked early, the lycopene, which is the sugars, has not developed in the fruit.”

Hazel first directed us to the keiki (seed) house where trays hold 5,000 to 6,000 seedlings.

From there, the tiny plants in their Rockwool cubes are placed in troughs made from PVC pipe. They are watered and fertilized several times a day through a gravity flow system to alleviate algae and viruses.

Pollination is big factor. As the plants mature, often they use a leaf blower on every flowering branch. Tomatoes can grow up to 30 feet and must be tied up with twine.

As they begin to produce, Hazel leaves three tomatoes on each truss and trims off the marble-size tomatoes. The plant continues to grow for six to nine months, each yield­ing about 30 pounds of tomatoes.

“When the plant starts to produce spindly fruit, it is on its way out,” Hazel noted.

Picking, washing and boxing the fruit is a daily task for Hazel and seven other employees. The Olowalu Nui Farm sells 1,000 pounds of tomatoes each week with distribution only on Maui.

Tomatoes off the vine are used to create freshly prepared sauces, salads and the restaurant’s Tomato Basil Bread.

“The chef starts with 30 gallons of tomatoes for the pomodoro sauce, which takes five hours to cook down to 15 gallons,” managing partner Jack Kaahui said.

Even with the shades pulled up as the sun goes down, the air is filled with the simmering scent of sumptuous thicken­ing sauces.

“As an Italian, my dad loved the vibrant flavors. He used seven different herbs, twice as much garlic and onions,” Haku Applegate said. “And when he put the fork in the tomato sauce, if it would fall through, it was a ‘no go’.”







Basil Tomatoes Italian Grille, 2760 Kekaa Drive in Lahaina, Hawaii, is open daily from 5 to 9 p.m. They can be reached at 808-662-3210. PHOTOS COURTESY OF POLLY KOLSTAD







On the Road

— Polly Kolstad

Mystery Crazy Quilt

100-YEAR-OLD PUZZLE

Crazy quilt cues mystery


By POLLY KOLSTAD


For the Tribune


Eight years ago, Wilma Moses bought a trunk at a garage sale in Billings, setting up a mystery that a Great Falls quilting club still is working to unravel.

Sitting in a box near the trunk was a pile of junk and unusual fabric. Moses, who had an antique shop specializing in old clothes and fab­rics, inquired about the box. The young man running the sale said his wife picked it up from a garage saIe in Butte.

“I took it home and stashed it in a closet,” Moses said.

Moses showed it to a man from Butte who thought it came from an early women’s sewing club. A few years later Moses gave it to her daughter-in-law, who never did anything with it. Eventually, Moses sent it off to her sister, Arliss Engstrom of Great Falls.

“It is a most interesting chain … Thank heavens that Arliss got that quilt,” Moses said.

The box included seven blocks of a large crazy quilt started a century ago. Crazy quilts are made of irregularly shaped and patterned pieces of cloth sewn together.

The antiquated pieces were hand-stitched onto old flour sacks with some transfers still not embroidered or sewn. The work­in- progress measured 50 inches by 70 inches and stretched beyond the borders of a large table.

Tucked among the fabric was a book titled “Civil Government with a Montana Supplement,” copyright 1909. The makers of this unique quilt used the book to carefully preserve the embroi­dery thread used in the decorative seams.

It appeared that at least parts of the quilt were based on the Consti­tution- themed book. The center of the quilt included a black circle apparently intended for the U.S.

Seal.

Engstrom and her Monday morning quilting friends set out to learn more about the origins of the quilt and to finish it.

“We are a group of 12 retired schoolteachers, home economics instructors, nurses and fantastic artists,” Ruth Delich said of the women, who meet weekly at the Quilt Away shop.

After getting the quilt pieces, the group spent the next 36 months completing what was most likely started 100 years earlier.

“When Arliss brought the quilt to us, she inspired all of us, and as time went on, it just got more interesting,” Delich said of the group’s largest project so far.

The completed quilt contains a


See QUILT, 3H















ABOVE: Arliss Engstrom holds a quilt that the Monday Morning Quilting Group at Quilt Away finished recently.

INSET: A civil government book that was in the box containing the quilt that the Monday Morning Quilting Group finished recently held embroidery thread.
TRIBUNE PHOTOS/LARRY BECKNER























BELOW: Members of the quilting group are, left to right, Sandie Jackman, Vicki Bickler, Judi Austin, Jerry Evans, Darlene Gardner, Laurita Jensen, Carol Walters, Susan Dreyer, Terry Reynolds, Pat Bauer, Ruth Delich and Arliss Engstrom.

BOTTOM: Details from the crazy quilt are shown. At left, a spider design on a quilt is said to bring good luck. On the right, Terry Reynolds did the embroidery work on the U.S. Seal while Judi Austin did the needlework at the seal’s edges.


THREE PHOTOS BY POLLY KOLSTAD




Article Continued Below



See QUILT on Page H03




Quilt

Continued from 1H

feast of jewel-colored shapes of scrap pieces typical of crazy quilts.

Following the original style of the work, the local quilters used whatever was at hand. In this case, many of the scraps are silk, which according to Susan Drewer, was common 100 years ago.

“There’s even knives and forks in one patch,” Terry Reynolds said.

There is also a black spider, which according to one folk art source, is found on many crazy quilts and symbolizes good luck.

The group learned various original stitches to attach the squares and the seven blocks, researching sewing methods from the early 1900s.

They used fancy stitches to do the outlining with the help of the old chenille threads that were stashed in the “Civil Government” book.

Everything was done by hand, even the stitching of the black velveteen backing.

To complete the U.S. seal, Engstrom found a pattern and drew it on. Reynolds did the embroidery work, and Judy Austin sewed the embellishments around the seal.

Within the quilt patches are designs of flowers, old lace and tatting work. Pat Bauer created crochet work of butterflies, and Laurita Jensen cross-stitched “E Pluribus Unum.”

“It is ultimately, a testimony to friendship and fellowship,” Austin said of the finished product. “We love everyone here.”

From their research, the group believes that the crazy quilt may have come from the Marian White Arts & Crafts Club in Butte, which was existence from 1905 to 1914, but they are looking for more answers. Anyone with clues to the origin of the quilt is asked to call Engstrom at 761-3898.

The quilt is available to exhibit, and eventually will be donated.

“It has to go somewhere where it has meaning,” Engstrom said.




All the best,
Sydne







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