Island Girl – Chef Meredith Beck-Wiggins

What do you need to go Polynesian? Ask Meredith Beck-Wiggins. The Hawaiian-Samoan local chef is spreading the word about her native cuisine, touting the ease with which it’s mastered by home cooks. Soy sauce, canned or fresh pineapple, honey, fresh or powdered ginger and flaked coconut are among the requisites, says Beck-Wiggins, who teaches a special class on island fusion at the Panhandler.

That’s not all the 29-year-old Baton Rougean is up to. A recent graduate of the Louisiana Culinary Institute, Beck-Wiggins is also a pastry chef at the Baton Rouge Country Club, and she produces her own line of cupcakes sold at Maxwell’s Market Perkins Road store. “Island Girl” cupcakes include the special order “Irish Car Bomb,” composed of Guinness-spiked chocolate cake filled with Jameson ganache and topped with Bailey’s Irish Cream frosting — a pastry that’ll inspire the confessional, for sure. Her Kona Crunch pairs coffee with macadamia nuts, while the fall-time Bayou Harvest fuses Steen’s cane syrup-soaked pecans with sweet potato-beer batter spiced cake and cream cheese sweet potato frosting. “I love the attention to detail and the artistry,” says Beck-Wiggins, who read cookbooks growing up the way her friends read magazines.

Adopted by an American couple then living in American Samoa, Beck-Wiggins moved to Baton Rouge at age two, but spent considerable time in Hawaii and California. Food was always a passion, and, early on, she noticed the connections between the cuisines of the Pacific Rim and Louisiana. “They’re easy to make, usually with ingredients you have lying around,” she says. She’ll teach again at the Panhandler on Aug. 15, and her menu will likely feature macadamia-encrusted mahi mahi, taro root mashed potatoes and a stir-fry of papaya and cut vegetables. Meanwhile, satisfy the island itch with Beck-Wiggins’ roast papaya: Slice the fruit lengthwise, scoop out the round black seeds, drizzle with dark orange flesh with honey and a little oil and roast at 350 degrees for about 30-35 minutes. “The colors and flavors are amazing,” she says. For more info, myspace.com/island_girl_cupcakes.