From: Fern Gavelek Communications, 808-329-0833

Contact ferng@hawaii.rr.com for digital photo and recipe for calamonsie

Media Contact:

Ken Love, HTFG president, 808-323-2417, kenlove@hawaiiantel.net

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—MAY 21, 2012

SAMPLE CALAMONSIE AT ULTRA-EXOTIC FRUIT EVENT

HANALEI, KAUAI—Compared to an orange, it’s tiny, tangy and packs more vitamin C. The calamonsie is the star at a free ultra-exotic fruit tasting and culinary demonstration 10 a.m.-noon Saturday, May 26 at Harvest Market Hanalei. Taste the fruit and see how it’s prepared by Chef Miguel Magana of Tahiti Nui Restaurant. Local growers Liz Ito and John Anderson will be on hand to answer questions at the Kuhio Highway natural foods market and café.

The fruity fun is presented by the statewide Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers (HTFG), whose members are growing calamonsie and other ultra-exotic tropical fruits. These not-so-well-known edibles—like Surinam cherry, jackfruit, ulu, abiu, durian, lychee, white sapote and mangosteen—are among a growing number of odd fruits that are intriguing island chefs and shoppers.

While it looks like a miniature orange, the calamonsie or calamondin is actually a lime. A favorite treat in the Philippines where it’s available year-round, calamonsie bears well in Hawaii. The fruit’s flavor lends itself to sauces and glazes. It is very similar to the kumquat and can be used in the same way. Both the peel and juice are employed for jam and the juice can be used to make a flavorful limeade. The entire fruit can be frozen for a novel “ice cube.”

“Besides offering unique flavors, shapes and colors, these ultra-exotic fruits bring novelty to the table and can delight the senses,” says Ken Love, HTFG president, who will also be at the event.

HTFG is working to build markets for these juicy rarities via free public taste tests and culinary demonstrations at stores on four Hawaiian Islands throughout 2012. Titled “New Markets for Ultra-Exotic Fruits,” the event series is funded by the Hawaii Department of Agriculture through a USDA competitive grant program to foster small farm sustainability.

A total of eight educational demonstrations are planned and participating stores will stock the fruit in their produce sections, accompanied by recipes and additional fruit information to take home.

For more information, contact Love at ken@mycoffee.net or 808 (969-7926).

Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers

Incorporated in 1989 to promote tropical fruit grown in Hawaii, HTFG is a statewide association of tropical fruit growers, packers, distributors and hobbyists dedicated to tropical fruit research, education, marketing and promotion; http://www.htfg.org.