Resort’s pasta dish fundraiser supports Waimea Middle School garden

It wasn’t just herbs and vegetables that grew Wednesday morning at Malaai, Waimea Middle School’s culinary garden.

Inspiration, excitement and community spirit kept popping up during the roughly two-hour interactive cooking demonstration led by Four Seasons Resort Hualalai Executive Sous Chef Nick Mastrascusa and his culinary team. They taught 25 eighth-graders in Kara Onaka-Winters’ business class how to make sweet potato gnocchi with Hawaii Island brown butter and sage — a dish that will be on the menu sometime this month as a special fundraiser at the resort’s Beach Tree restaurant.

Beach Tree General Manager Chuck Wilson said all revenue collected from the sale of this dish over three days would go to Malaai. A local and sustainable cuisine proponent, the resort hopes to contribute more than $1,500 at the fundraiser’s end.

“We love food and are inspired by those who love food,” Mastrascusa said. “Supporting a hands-on learning program that teaches kids how to plant and harvest produce and care for laying hens is dear to us. The simple explanation is: It just makes sense. Not only do we hope to be an inspiration to the students, they and this garden are an inspiration to us.”

This is the second time Mastrascusa and his team have demonstrated cooking techniques and recipes at Waimea Middle, as well as held a fundraiser at the Beach Tree for Malaai. Last year’s salad dish generated $830 for the organic garden, said Malaai Executive Director Alethea Lai.

“Donations help sustain our program, making sure it keeps going with a good, capable staff and we can purchase the materials or tools needed,” said Amanda Rieux, program director and garden teacher. “Experiences like this one with the chef really expose our students to different ways to earn a livelihood and really drive home the garden-to-table concept. It encourages them to cultivate relationships with the land and others in their community who are passionate about what they do. It also stresses the importance of growing, sharing and making choices pertaining to healthy, nutritious food.”

Founded in 2003 and operating since 2005, Malaai is a private, nonprofit program funded from donations and grants. It was created to address the disconnection between children living in today’s fast-paced, consumer-oriented society and their lack of awareness of food origins and production. Waimea Middle supplies the land, water and students, who are engaged in various outdoor physical and academic activities that teach how to plant, harvest and cook nutritional foods, said Patti Cook, the school’s spokeswoman.

Approximately 4,500 pounds of food was harvested last year from the 0.75-acre garden. The food is used at the school, but also regularly shared with students’ families, Village Burger and the community via farmers markets, Cook said.

Fourteen-year-old Kate McGuiness thought it was “cool and amazing” a private resort chose to raise money for an important program that helps students like her understand the origins of their food, as well as how the food they eat impacts their bodies and the world around them. She said their fundraiser not only furthers the purpose of getting healthier foods into schools, but also raises the public’s awareness about eating healthy, fresh foods daily and supporting healthy food systems like school gardens and farms. She would like the money raised to go toward making Malaai’s outdoor kitchen even bigger and better.

Gnocchi are small, fork-tine-indented potato dumplings. Mixed with style, attitude and a foreign accent, so what if gnocchi literally means “little lumps” and could be described as elevated mashed potatoes? Mastrascusa prefers the description “little pillows of heaven.”

Growing up in Italy and Uruguay, Mastrascusa has been eating gnocchi his entire life. He said it is a tradition for Italians to gather on the 29th of the month and eat gnocchi together. It’s a way to celebrate an otherwise dreary time of the month, the last days before payday, for households that may have or were about to run out of money. Whatever pocket money remained was placed under plates of diners, who always left the table happy and full.

The recipe Mastrascusa shared with the students was a rendition of his grandmother’s potato gnocchi. The ingredients were simple: roasted sweet potatoes, flour, eggs, butter, sage, Parmesan, salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Approximately 20 pounds of sweet potatoes, sage and a dozen eggs from the garden were given to the resort for its fundraiser. These student-produced items were used during Wednesday’s demonstration, which proved how great slow cooking and humble eating can be.

Students learned how to properly peel the roasted skin of potatoes, crack open an egg with a knife, operate a ricer and add the proper amount of salt to make pasta water taste like the ocean. They also learned it takes patience, dashed with a little humor, to mold the plump pillows into something that’s slightly moist, warm, fluffy and delicate, but doesn’t stick to the hands.

Constant encouragement could be heard, punctuated by floured high-fives exchanged during the activity.

For 14-year-old Markell Marquez, the best part of the demonstration was interacting with Mastrascusa and his team. She said they helped give her more confidence to pursue a culinary industry career. Since the fifth grade, she has wanted to become a chef.