Friends used to socializing with each other are finding unique ways to stay in touch while adhering to Gov. David Ige’s stay-at-home order.
Kona resident Marcial Correa and his girlfriend, Jessica Torma, cooked up a fun, challenging way to meet up with friends online via Zoom. The couple decided to host a “Chopped” night, based on the popular Food Network show where contestants create dishes based on ingredients provided to them.
“We had talked to our friends about doing a ‘Chopped’ thing before the stay-at-home order, but with everything being the way it is, we were like, ‘Everyone has a kitchen, and lots of people are using the Zoom conference call to stay in touch,’” said Correa.
Correa and Torma have purchased weekly produce boxes from Honaunau Market and asked the market if it would be willing to provide small veggie boxes for the cooking contest.
“We explained the idea and they loved it,” said Correa. “I had 12 families that wanted to participate, Honaunau Market organized the box and we threw in some random things like PEZ candy and a bag of chips.”
They also ordered 12 half-pound ahi fillets and soyrizo, a soy version of chorizo, for the vegans in their group.
“Stephanie at Honaunau Market asked what type of protein we were using, and she said, ‘Perfect, I’m going to throw in a lot of veggies that don’t go with any of that,’” Correa said.
“Jess and I went around in my truck and delivered these boxes to all the friends who were going to do it. The whole box only cost the family $30,” he added.
The boxes were covered so no one could see what was inside until 5 p.m., the specified time for the Zoom call.
Correa said contestants had to use at least some of each ingredient, with the exception of only one item, chosen by the contestants. After opening their boxes to reveal ingredients, the families had one hour to create a dish.
“Everyone came up with a killer dish, and the coolest thing about it was there wasn’t a whole lot of talking during the 40 minutes except the families trying to figure (it) out,” he said.
At the end of the hour, each group had one minute to present their dish, where the group graded their creation on creativity, appearance and virtual taste.
“Even though we couldn’t taste everybody’s dish, it was more of a ‘if you think it tastes good’ grade,” Correa said.
As fun as it was to cook, what really excited Correa was how the experience brought people together.
“One of the managers that works with my girlfriend doesn’t really cook, but she said it was so cool how her mom got into it with them and it brought them together, something they never done,” he said. “Just hearing this stuff I was like my heart is going to bust out of my shirt. It was so cool hearing these stories.”
Correa said everyone had so much fun, they are planning on having another one, perhaps with a ballpark food theme.
Email Laura Ruminski at lruminski@westhawaiitoday.com.