Over on Maui, chef Alex Stanislaw of The Plantation House restaurant in Kapalua is smiling sweetly. His recipe for famous scallop skewers with applewood smoked bacon and lehua honey glaze was featured on the cover page of www.honey.com, the National Honey Board's official Web site.

They posted a story on his use of honey, duplicated the dish in their kitchen for a photo shoot and featured it at their recent national convention.

— Wanda Adams

THE REAL THING

GET FRESH WASABI TO SPICE THINGS UP

At a food festival a couple of years ago, I met Volcano farmer Lance Yamashiro and got a chance to see and taste his zesty homegrown wasabi. He started with one plant — they are odd-looking, like mini prehistoric trees — and now has more than 100,000 growing under shade cloth.

After two years' growth, his fresh wasabi is being sold — for about $7 to $8 per 1-ounce piece — at the Saturday Farmer's Market at Kapi'olani Community College, R. Field Wine Co. on Beretania and in Kailua, and Made in Hawaii Foods in Pearl City. You grind it into a paste with a fine-toothed grater, releasing a flavor much subtler, vegetal and sweeter than the powdered stuff. Tastings are from 1 to 3:30 p.m. Saturday at both R. Field stores.


— Wanda Adams