The Hawai‘i Food & Wine Festival will pay tribute to pastry chef Ed Morita, who died of a heart attack in September, with a dinner Nov. 15 showcasing foie gras, the controversial delicacy for which Morita was an advocate.
The dinner will partner chef Michael Ginor, co-founder of Hudson Valley Foie Gras, with chef Shaymus Alwin of La Vie at The Ritz-Carlton Residences to prepare a five-course meal demonstrating the versatility of foie gras, using different techniques and incorporating the flavors of various cultures.
Ginor, chef of Lola restaurant in New York, said he met Morita about 10 years ago when the local chef — also a food writer, photographer and culinary activist — rallied others to keep foie gras, a pate made from fattened livers of geese or ducks, from being banned in Hawaii.
Opponents of foie gras argue that it is cruel to force-feed the animals through a tube down their throats. Ginor said his Hudson Valley farm, one of the largest producers in the U.S., has always employed humane farming methods.
Morita “educated himself on the process of production and understood it to be very different from what animal rights (groups) were trying to portray,” Ginor said. “Being the type of guy he was, he sort of jumped to the rescue.”
It is unusual for a pastry chef to involve himself in teaching others about the merits of a savory product, he added.
Ginor’s lasting impression of Morita was that he “had a great knowledge of food, a great sense of humor; he was sharp, and was the center of the party.”
Morita died on Maui, where he was executive pastry chef for Na Hoaloha Ekolu, overseeing production of baked goods for Leoda’s Kitchen and Pie Shop, Star Noodle, Old Lahaina Luau and Aloha Mixed Plate.
Tasha Morita, Ed Morita’s wife of six years, said her late husband’s commitment to keeping foie gras legal in Hawaii was an example of the way he lent his support to people in whatever way he could. He cared deeply about the community at large, she said, and wanted to leave things in a better way than he found them.
He died of a heart attack attributed to an enlarged heart, which was double the size of a normal one, she said. “That to me actually was reflective of who he was as a person: He was such a giving person, a kind-hearted person. He had such a big heart, figuratively and literally.”
‘DUCK, DUCK, GOOSE AND AMOR’
A Tribute to Ed Morita
>> Date: 5 to 8 p.m. Nov. 15
>> Place: La Vie, Ritz-Carlton Residences, 383 Kalaimoku St., Waikiki
>> Tickets: Start at $1,400 for a table for four; go to 808ne.ws/duck duck
