Wild Root Beer – Eat Local Maui Challenge

The absolutely delicious wild fermentation of false awa (Piper auritum), into a naturally carbonated root beer, gets bottled with the addition of some wild and cultivated ingredients. It’s the 24th Day of eating 100% local foods from the Hawaiian Islands for the Eat Local Maui Challenge with Project Locavore. Breakfast is good, but lunch is yet another fail on getting cassava flour just right!

Wild Root Beer :: Get a peek at identifying Island Snakeroot (Polygala paniculata)***, which is a tricky flavor to get to stick. The plant contains methyl salicylate, whose wintergreen flavor is very evasive when trying to incorporate into foods and medicines. The video gives you a tip on how you might tease it’s wintergreen goodness into wild root beer, along with kāhili ginger rhizome (Hedychium gardnerianum)***, ginger root, coriander, vanilla, clove, cinnamon bark, wild fennel seeds (Foeniculum vulgare)***. These were added to the honey, water, and false awa (Piper auritum) flowers*** that had been fermenting for a few days. Please note, I absentmindedly say to put the swing top bottles into the fridge, but it’s best to let them keep fermenting at room temperature for a couple of days before refrigeration. Just be sure to ‘burp’ the bottles to release any buildup of gasses.

Breakfast :: Wild amaranth***, katuk*, basil*, poi made with Ho’omakua kalo, onion from Okoa Farms, garlic from Kupa’a Farms, zucchini from Okamura Farm, pork from Malama Farms, Island Skyre from Haleakalā Creamery, homemade ketchup (see my recipe in this post), sambal from HI Spice, Kiawe-smoked salt from Sea Salts of Hawaii, gifted black peppercorns, pink peppercorns (Schinus molle)***, dried and flaked sea lettuce (Ulva lactuca)***.

Lunch :: Hmmm, what would I even call lunch!?! A fail. Another attempt at using my cassava flour, without much success, but my kids actually loved it once it was slathered in butter and honey LOL. Ingredients, in what was supposed to be a “Dutch baby” – cassava flour*, coconut milk, eggs from Maui Bees, vanilla extract, pa’akai, coconut oil from Locavore Store, cinnamon from OK Farms, gifted apples. Topped with Naked Cow Dairy butter, honey from UpCountry Apiaries, and lemon*. 

Dinner – leftovers :: Wild amaranth***, katuk*, basil*, poi made with Ho’omakua kalo, onion from Okoa Farms, garlic from Kupa’a Farms, zucchini from Okamura Farm, pork from Malama Farms, Island Skyre from Haleakalā Creamery, homemade ketchup (see my recipe in this post), sambal from HI Spice, Kiawe-smoked salt from Sea Salts of Hawaii, gifted black peppercorns, pink peppercorns (Schinus molle)***, dried and flaked sea lettuce (Ulva lactuca)***.

Dessert :: Java plum granita & strawberry guava granita (recipes here). 2 Honomu Goat Dairy caramels.  Handful of macadamia nuts from Waihe’e Plantation.

* = from my garden *** = foraged by me

#projectlocavore #eatlocalmaui2020