Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 30, Number 10, 1 October 2013 — Benefit for culinary scholarships delights palates [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Benefit for culinary scholarships delights palates

By Kekoa Enomoto Aspiring Native Hawaiian culinarians on the Valley Isle seek to parlay their studies into 'ono restaurant and bakery operations. And this month's Nohle Chef event helps fund scholarships so culinary students' dreams heeome more than pie in the sky. "I encourage more students to apply for the scholarships," said Chris Speere, external program coordinator of the Maui Culinary Academy at the University of Hawai'i Maui College. He said last spring the academy awarded more than $28,000 in scholarships, including 10 Nohle Chef scholarships ranging from $500 and up. Native Hawaiian recipients included William Ah Puek, Sadee Albiar, Melissa Haake and Jaecie Williams. They are among the 195 culinary majors in the campus' 36-year-old culinary program. "Nohle Chef is really fun. I had a ehanee to work with Chef Sheldon" Simeon of Top ChefTV fame, recipient Ah Puek recalled of last year's sellout event. "I helped prep

at his Star Noodle restaurant. The next day I helped set up (and) plate up" servings at the fundraiser. Ah Puek, 20, says his own specialty is authentic Hawaiian cuisine made from scratch. He assists in gathering andpreparing items, such as kalo, 'opihi, hlaek crab and fish. In the case of kālua pork, he helps hunt, fatten for several months and slaughter a pig, then eook it in an imu for 12 hours in the Lahainaluna Road yard of his grandmother, Lizzie Ah Puek. "My unele guys go hunting every week," William Ah Puek said. The 2012 Lahainaluna High School graduate hopes to operate one day the family business: Nagasako General Store and Oka-

zuya. The multigenerational enterprise daily sells more than 500 Spam musubi made with a secret family sauce, he said. Ah Puek is pursuing Maui Culinary Academy's three associate degrees in culinary arts, in baking

and pastry arts, and in restaurant supervision. So is recipient Sadee Mele'ana Ku'uleialoha Albiar. "It started when I did my senior project," the 2012 Kamehameha Schools-Maui alumna said. "I actu-

ally created my own baked goods at the Ho'olaule'a. I sought donations, and I ended up donating all the proceeds" of $1,300 to the Maui Food Bank. "So after that I started creating dessert tables. Why not? This is what I really want to do." Mauians may order her colorful goodies via Simply Sadee's on Facebook. She said she was inspired by her

Filipino grandparents, "Nammy" and William Albiar, an avid eook and baker, respectively. And she dedicates her efforts to her late maternal grandmother, Bernadette Koko, originally of Hāna. A tūtū also influenced recipient Jaecie Chaz-Rae Nuoli Williams, 19, of Pukalani. The 2012 King Kekaulike High graduate said her signature treat is chantilly cupcakes from a secret family recipe of her late grandmother, Rebecca Williams. The younger Williams' goal is "to hopefully own my own bakery one day, and bake a whole huneh of cupcakes and cakes and even desserts from different cultures, like Filipino and Hawaiian desserts - stuff that people don't really make at a eommon bakery." The 10-year-old Maui Culinary Academy offers an uneommon bakery, whose hazelnut chocolate pound eake complements hot tea. The pastry venue is housed in the $17 million, 37,700-square-foot Pā'ina Culinary Arts Center that features classrooms, kitchens a food court and the acclaimed Leis Family Class Act Restaurant. Food court offerings one day included an entree of mahi with julienned vegetables en papillote, potatoes and ratatouille - as delicious as resort fare and priced under $9. A bowl of tasty ramen in miso broth held pork, fishcake, organic egg, spinach and bean sprouts. Recipient Melissa Haake, 19,

said a highlight of her culinary studies was cooking in the Pā'ina Food Court last semester with academy chefs. "I ran all three stations," the 2012 Baldwin High alumna recalled, noting that lunehhme is from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. "In class we prepped the food, then we were servicing the whole cafeteria. Actually I was being rushed to do orders. We're pretty mueh jam-packed the

whole time. Everybody's hungry." Meanwhile, satiating hunger at the 17th annual Nohle Chef will be 10 guest chefs: Bryan Beneke of the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea; Brian Etheredge and Christopher Kulis of Capische? restaurant; Greg Gaspar of the Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa; Anton Haines of Paeihe' O restaurant; Wes Holder of Pūlehu, an Italian Grill; Lyndon Honda of Laulima Events & Catering; Brett Martin of Andaz Maui at Wailea; Marc McDowell of Mākena Beach & Golf Resort; and Bret Pafford of Gannon's. They will mentor students while offering cuisines and spirits of eountries ranging from Spain, Greece and Morocco to Japan, New Zealand and Mexico. Event proceeds will go toward scholarships for aspiring culinarians, among other things. Twenty-five-year chef/faculty member Speere urges Hawaiian students to apply for scholarships "because the funds are there, and there is a support system on campus to take students through the process step by step" at the Educational Opportunity Center. Applicants will have "a really strong ehanee of getting at least one scholarship, if not two," he said. ■ Kekoa Enomoto is a retired copy editor and staffwriter with The Maui News andformer Honolulu Star-Bul-letin.

I encourage more students to apply for the scholarships." — Chris Speere, external program coordinator of the Maui Culinary Academy at the UniversityofHawai'i Maui College

HO'ONAAUAO EDUCATION

Maui Culinary Academy external program coordinator Chris Speere, second from right, and culinary students Jaecie Williams, left, Melissa Haake and William Ah Puek gather on the University of Hawai'i Maui College campus. They are gearing up for The Nohle Chef fundraiser to be held Oct. 26 in Wailea. - Photo: Kekoa Enomoto