June and I went to the Leeward Community College culinary gala L’Ulu this past Saturday night. It was a fundraiser for the college’s culinary students, and each chef was paired with a farmer. We were paired with Chef Alan Wong.

Here’s Chef Alan, making sure his farmer is properly supplied with a glass of Reisling, and below, June stands with a display of Hamakua Springs tomatoes.

Chef Alan selected “Tomato, Tomato, Tomato” as the dish he would prepare for samples. That is a two-colored, cold tomato soup made from yellow and red tomatoes. In the center is a scoop of tomato sorbet with li hing mui dressing. On the side are two roasted grape tomatoes – one red and one yellow. The taste combination is incredible.

His “Tomato, Tomato, Tomato” recipe can be found in his new, award-winning cookbook The Blue Tomato. Read about the cookbook’s recent Ka Palapala Po’okela award.

This woman, Mrs. Ishimoto, told us she was a great fan of Hamakua Springs tomatoes. It turned out she is the grandmother of Brian Clay, the Olympic athlete. We were thrilled to meet her even before we found that out.

June and I enjoyed talking to the people there. We felt the strongest sentiment of supporting local farmers that we ever have anywhere.