Wild About Ramps

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The love affair with ramps.

For the longest time, I’ve had serious ramp envy.

You see, when spring hits, chefs and foodies throughout New York go bonkers for ramps, otherwise known as wild leeks. They feature them in all manner of imaginative dishes and preparations. In West Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina, there are even annual festivals devoted to the pungent allium that has broad green leaves sprouting from a fuchsia -tinged stalk and a white, scallion-like bulb.

But in the Bay Area, they’re a scarce commodity.

And so, for the longest time, I just sighed at this time of year, knowing a prominent part of the country was indulging lustfully in an ingredient I just couldn’t get my hands on.

Until last week, when I ventured into Berkeley Bowl and nearly jumped three feet in the air when I spied ramps in the produce section. I took a whiff and was met head-on with a most assertive garlic aroma. I was hooked.

The ramps, from Oregon, weren’t cheap at $12.95 a pound. But I just had to have some.

Armed with a bounty I’d never seen before, let alone used, I was momentarily perplexed at what to do with the ramps now that I clutched them preciously in my hands.

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Scenes from the 25th Anniversary Star Chefs & Vintners Gala

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A Reuben slider from the crew at Foreign Cinema and Show Dogs restaurants at the Meals on Wheels gala.

It was a star-studded chef affair on Sunday night at Pier 48 in San Francisco, as more than 70 Bay Area top toques turned out to cook up a storm for a sold-out crowd in support of a noble cause.

More than 1,000 folks wined, dined and mingled at the sold-out 25th “Star Chefs & Vintners Gala,” the main fund-raiser for Meals on Wheels, the San Francisco organization that provides nutritious meals and support services to home-bound seniors. Last year’s event raised $1.4 million. Yours truly was lucky enough to be invited as a guest this year.

For the ninth time, Chef Nancy Oakes of Boulevard and Prospect, both in San Francisco, took the reins as gala chair for this megawatt event. The evening kicked off with a walk-around reception, in which mixologists shook up cocktails, vintners poured special vintages and a bevy of chefs manned stations to turn out gourmet noshes.

A night to remember for a worthwhile cause.

Chefs Hiro Sone and Lissa Doumani, the dynamic duo behind Terra and Bar Terra, both in St. Helena, prepared bowls of their fabulous ramen complete with succulent pork slices and a oozy poached quail egg.

The Bar Terra team hard at work...

...serving up bowls of pork belly ramen.

Chef Victor Scargle of Lucy at Bardessono in Yountville served up cones of Georgia shrimp atop soba noodle salad made with the restaurant’s own rau ram herb, while Chef Ron Siegel of Parallel 37 in San Francisco followed the Asian vibe with a juicy scallop in dashi broth.

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A Whole Lotta Seafood and a Food Gal Giveaway

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The seafood bounty you can win. (Photo courtesy of Anderson Seafoods)

When I think of fresh seafood, I can’t help but think of my late-Mom’s simple but sublime steamed fish.

My Uncle Homer loves to fish. He’s good at it, too, as evidenced by the huge bass he used to gift to my parents from his day-long boating excursions.

I remember the white fillets, so impossibly plump looking, covered in silvery-gray skin, which my Mom always left on to keep the fish moist while it cooked.

She would place the fillets in a Pyrex pie plate atop a steamer. She’d sprinkle on liberal shards of fresh ginger before placing the cover over the pan. Curls of steam would shoot out, as the fish turned from translucent to opaque inside.

When it was done, she’d top the fish with inch-long segments of spring onion. Next, she’d heat up a small saucepan of peanut oil with a splash of soy sauce until it was smoking. Then, ever so slowly, she’d dribble the hot oil all over the fish, giving it a lovely gloss and crisping up the skin ever so slightly.

We’d dig in with our chopsticks, tearing off chunks of the silky fish and spooning the sauce over steamed rice.

That would be dinner. With the fish rightly the star of the meal. And my family thoroughly enjoying each morsel of my uncle’s gift from the sea.

Contest: Southern California-based Anderson Seafoods, which sells premium seafood with a nod toward sustainability, wants you to remember your mom this Mother’s Day with impeccable fresh seafood. Thanks to them, one lucky Food Gal reader will win a “Regatta Gift Package,” a value of $300. Yes, you read that right. The package includes four pounds of wild Mexican shrimp, two cold-water South African rock lobster tails, four pounds of dry-packed scallops, 32 ounces of Norwegian salmon and 32 ounces of Alaskan halibut.

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Maui Morsels

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Thick, crisp French toast -- what a way to wake up at the Old Wailuku Inn. And this is only a half-order.

MAUI, HAWAII — Two weeks ago when invited to visit this spectacular island by the Maui Visitors Bureau, I had a chance to be a guest at a couple of complimentary accommodations as I noshed my way around the island.

Here are the highlights:

The Old Wailuku Inn at Ulupono

Total charm is what you’ll find at this B&B that evokes 1940s Hawaii, with its grand lanai, lush garden and handmade Hawaiian quilts that adorn the beds in each distinct room.

Janice and Tom Fairbanks run the Old Wailuku, a plantation-style inn that’s located in a residential neighborhood. It has seven rooms in the main house and three in a separate rear building.

Complimentary breakfast is included and shouldn’t be missed. It usually begins with a goblet of fresh fruit, including mango, banana and strawberries. That’s followed by a warm dish, such as mega French toast made from a crisp Vietnamese baguette that’s smeared with a creamy mixture of ricotta, cottage cheese and fresh mint.

The plantation-style sitting area in the main house.

The bedrooms are adorned with handmade Hawaiian quilts.

In the dining room, there’s a fridge stocked with cold cans of juice and soda to help yourself to throughout the day, as well as bowls of snack foods to nibble.

Star Noodle

I admit that when Chef Jay Terauchi was driving myself and a slew of travel bloggers to this restaurant, I secretly feared he might be a serial killer, about to do us all in and dump our bodies where nobody could find them.

That’s because Star Noodle is located off the beaten path, up a rather deserted road off the main highway, where there’s a warehouse or two and a couple of bulldozers idle on barren land.

A sampler of kimchee, shiitakes and other pickled veggies.

But continue up that road until you hit the restaurant, and you know you must be on to something because there will be a line of folks in the parking lot, waiting to get inside. Always a good sign, right?

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Maui’s Magnificent Agriculture

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When in Hawaii, you have to indulge in pineapple, right?

MAUI, HAWAII — Whenever I visit Hawaii, I fall head over heels — not for the sun, sand or surf, but the fruit.

I scour farmers markets for apple bananas and varieties of mangoes you never find on the mainland. I’ve even made a beeline to the frugal ABC stores for chilled papaya halves, already packaged with a wedge of lime. Because when it comes to fresh fruit in this tropical paradise, I admittedly turn rather fanatical.

So, of course, I jumped at the chance two weeks ago when I was invited to be a judge for the Maui County Agricultural Festival cook-off at Maui Tropical Plantation. In this competition,  presented by the Maui County Farm Bureau and Slow Food Maui, professional chefs were each paired with a local farmer to create a dish that showcased a particular fruit, vegetable or protein raised on Maui.

To first get a better understanding of Maui’s bounty, our hosts from the Maui Visitors & Convention Bureau, gave us a fruit tutorial.

Take a tour of the working pineapple plantation.

Workers plant and pick the pineapples by hand.

It started with a Maui Gold Pineapple Tour, the only working pineapple plantation tour on this island. Price is $65 for adults; $55 for children, ages 5-12. And each person gets to take home their very own pineapple afterward.

Board the “Pineapple Express” bus to get a tour of the fields. There are 1,500 acres planted here — all by hand. An especially efficient worker can plant 7,000 pineapples a day.

Pineapple, which originated in Brazil, actually grow on stalks. It takes two years for a new crop to emerge after it is first planted.  And it takes a surprising 18 to 24 months for the fruit to mature.

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