Spirit of Aloha | Articles | Island Chronicles | September/October 2003

Island Chronicles

Fish and Poi

Ancient Hawaiians excelled in the preparation of a healthy, delicious diet

The diet of the ancient Hawaiians was of amazing variety. The wide assortment of dishes they prepared came from a resourcefulness and ingenuity that showed respect to the gods of nature and a complete abhorrence of waste. Commoners stored foods for times of hardship: war, drought and famine, tropical storms, floods and rough seas. They carefully planned and harvested crops and observed seasonal restrictions on certain fish and shellfish. Throughout the year, they paid special attention to proper preparation and seasoning of their starch, vegetable and protein meals.

Cooked taro ('ai) formed the basis of all meals. Once removed from the underground oven, the taro corm was peeled and could be eaten in that state. Sometimes it was pounded into a rich, thick mass, wrapped in ti leaf and preserved for later use. The addition of water to thin this mass created the everyday starch called poi. If taro was not available, then sweet potato, yam or breadfruit were roasted and eaten; breadfruit could also be pounded into an inferior, less popular poi.

At the barest minimum, salt alone accompanied poi at mealtime, although sometimes it was eaten with a chunk of fresh coconut meat dipped in salt if coconut was available. A meal without salt was extremely unappetizing. Salt flavored and colored with ocherous earth was particularly prized. In addition, salt was a valuable commodity for seasoning and for preserving protein foods such as meat and fish.

Raw and cooked meat and fish were cut into manageable pieces, then lightly salted to taste. Sometimes, flesh was so heavily salted to preserve it for later use that it became white and hard. Well-salted meats of animals, fish and fowl were broiled and sometimes soaked to soften before eating. Hogs, dogs, chickens, upland and shoreline birds, larger fish and shellfish were also dressed and baked whole underground. Often, smaller pieces were wrapped in ti leaves or ginger leaves to keep them from being overcooked or burned. Leaf packages of meats were placed directly upon hot coals or were laid uncovered on a flat stone, which a fire had heated to cooking temperature. Meat wrapped in leaves was also thrust into a heap of hot ash and embers or steamed in gravy in lidded wooden bowls into which red hot stones (an inch or so in diameter) had been dropped.

As fish was more readily available than animal meat or fowl, the ancient Hawaiians excelled in the preparation of this protein food. They seasoned raw fish with a number of sauces and relishes. Sauces usually combined crushed shrimp and coconut cream; sea urchin gravy was made from a marinade of crushed urchin shells, strained and added as seasoning to the urchin meat.

Two favorite relishes were often prepared. One was made from roasted kukui nut finely diced and blended with salt; the other combined certain well-cleaned viscera, toasted, minced kukui nut meats and salt.

Rounding out a typical meal were vegetable greens, such as taro tops, fern shoots and tender tips of the sweet potato vine, and seasonal fruits like coconut, bananas, berries, sugar cane and mountain apples. Desserts included puddings made from coconut cream and arrowroot starch mixed with taro, sweet potato, yam, banana, breadfruit or sugar cane juice. Basic beverages were fresh water and coconut water.

All in all, the Hawaiians were blessed with resources, skill and the creativity required to prepare and enjoy a meal. Indeed, visitors to Hawai'i today may still savor many of these special foods across the Islands.

Carol Silva is a teacher of Hawaiian language and culture.

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