*{New} Morning News Demo
Here is a Q &A from our morning news appearance on KHON 2 Morning News Wake Up 2 Day segment.
A new twist on an old food product.
A local company is making gluten free powders from Hawaiian heritage canoe plants such as Kalo or taro.
Brynn Foster, founder of Voyaging Foods, explains.
Q: What is the product?
A: Ancestral Taro Powder is a collaborative project with local farmers. It is interchangeable as a flour. Voyaging Foods honors the traditional foods movement by cultivating native Hawaiian canoe plants into gluten-free flours.
Q: How is it used?
A: We have been using it as starch alternative to thicken soups, stews, or gravy and as a baking ingredient in allergy-free baking.
A: When I was a little girl, my great-grandmother introduced me to a cookie made with taro. After I had children, I was looking for ways to feed my family a healthy gluten-free alternative and remembered the way my great grandmother used taro in that cookie so long ago. This is a way to reconnect to my roots and provide for the next generation.
Studying the different dietary theories through my integrated nutritional education, led me on my own ancestral history of how my culture is connected through the food we consume.
Q: Why is it important?
A: Taro Powder has more fiber per serving than cornstarch. Just 2 tablespoons of taro powder has 10 x more fiber than 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Taro Powder has thickening power. A little goes a long way. We use 1 teaspoon of taro powder in a recipe that typically calls for 1 tablespoon of cornstarch. My Hawaiian cultural mentors say “the more we talk about the eating of taro, the more we promote the growing of taro.”
Q: Where can you find it?
A: Whole Foods Hawaii stores, and http://www.voyagingfoods.com/ online store, which includes our gluten-free baked goods — with Diane Ako.
