Hawaiian Foodways

Regional

⚠ TWO THINGS THAT MUST NOT BE CONFLATED, and conflating them is the usual error. NATIVE HAWAIIAN food — the food of the Kānaka Maoli — is Polynesian: KALO (taro) pounded to POI, which is genealogically senior to people in the Kumulipo and is therefore not merely a starch; ‘ULU, breadfruit; ‘UALA, sweet potato; the IMU earth oven and KALUA pig; LAULAU steamed in tī leaves; LOMI salmon; ‘OPIHI, limu and reef fish; the AHUPUA‘A land division running mountain to reef so each community held every ecological zone; and the LO‘I irrigated taro terraces and the fishponds, both documented as large-scale engineering. ⚠ THE KINGDOM WAS OVERTHROWN IN 1893 WITH US PARTICIPATION and annexed in 1898; the United States formally apologised in 1993. Sugar and pineapple plantations then reshaped the islands and imported labour from CHINA, JAPAN, PORTUGAL, PUERTO RICO, KOREA and the PHILIPPINES, and it is from that plantation society — not from Native Hawaiian tradition — that LOCAL FOOD comes: the plate lunch, SPAM musubi, loco moco, malasadas, manapua, saimin and shave ice. ⚠ BOTH ARE REAL AND THEY ARE NOT THE SAME CUISINE. And modern "poke bowls" sold worldwide are a commercial descendant of a Hawaiian dish, recorded as that rather than as the dish itself.

What is recorded

Native Hawaiian food and Hawaii "local food" are recorded as two distinct cuisines. Kalo pounded to poi is documented as genealogically senior to people in the Kumulipo. The ahupua‘a land division running from mountain to reef, the lo‘i irrigated terraces and the fishponds are documented as large-scale engineering. The Hawaiian Kingdom was overthrown in 1893 with United States participation and annexed in 1898, and the United States formally apologised in 1993. Plate lunch, Spam musubi, loco moco, malasadas, manapua and saimin are recorded as products of plantation labour migration from China, Japan, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Korea and the Philippines rather than of Native Hawaiian tradition. documented

The Hawaiian Kingdom is overthrown with United States participation; annexation follows in 1898 and the United States formally apologises in 1993. documented

Related foodways

This foodway relates to

part of Polynesian Foodways documented

⚠ NATIVE HAWAIIAN FOOD AND PLANTATION "LOCAL FOOD" ARE TWO CUISINES. Poi, kalo and the imu are Polynesian; the plate lunch, Spam musubi and saimin come from plantation labour migration, not from Kānaka Maoli tradition.