The
Hawaiian word for health is ola. It also means life. Thus,
the word health and life was one and same. Hawaiians obviously
believed you could not have health without life, nor life
without health.
Ka poe kahiko (the old people of Hawaii) regarded the body,
mind and spirit as one. Each affected the condition of the
other. If you abuse your body, you abuse your spirit and mind,
and so on. Being healthy meant being physically, mentally
and spiritually in lokahi or harmony. Source: Noted Hawaiian
Scholar, Dr. George Kanahele, Pookela Hawaiian Culture Course.
Ancient Hawaiians were strong, sturdy and capable of bearing
great fatigue. They were farmers, fishermen, hunters, and
gatherers who enjoyed a diversity of foods. For example, they
planted and irrigated taro patches; cultivated crops such
as yams, arrowroot, or breadfruit; hunted birds and pigs;
gathered vines, ferns, herbs and medicinal plants from the
forests; practiced both net and deep sea fishing; harvested
shrimp, picked seaweed, and collected shellfish.
Their main sources of protein were fish, squid, limpet, crab
and other seafood, chicken, and birds. The main leafy vegetables
were taro tops (luau), and edible plants such as tree fern
and fan palm. They ate bananas, coconuts, raspberries, strawberries,
mountain apples and sugar cane. Seasonings came from kukui
nut, seaweed, hoio fern and salt. They preserved food with
salt and most foods were eaten fresh. They ate dogs and the
alii (royalty) ate pig.
Poi, a glutinous
purple paste made from pounded taro root (one of the most
nutritious carbohydrates known) is the staple starch food
of the Hawaiians. Poi had great significance in the Hawaiian
culture, as it represents Haloa, the ancestor of chiefs and
kanaka maoli (Native Hawaiians). There was a great reverence
for the presence of poi at the table. It was unforgivable
to have a quarrel, argue or haggle when poi was on the table.
Pleasant conversation and heartiness was promoted.
If it was determined
that the makaainana (commoners) were becoming stout and clumsy,
an advisor would urge the king to have the men enter into
foot races and other vigorous activities to burn off the accumulating
body fat. We are told that to attract chiefs and commoners
for his armies, Kamehameha the Great furnished their calabashes
with vegetable food and fish to make the men sturdy and ready
for instruction in the martial arts.
The ancient
Hawaiians were fit. The traditional Hawaiian diet may have
been "one of the best in the world". It was a simple,
high starch, high fiber, low saturated fat, low sodium and
low cholesterol diet. It had 12 percent protein, 18 percent
fat and 70 percent carbohydrates. By comparison, the typical
American diet today has 15 percent protein, 40 percent fat
and 45 percent carbohydrates.
Most modern
Hawaiians do not follow a traditional lifestyle and, as a
consequence, do not live a long time. Health data for the
last 15 years show Hawaiian obesity has increased from 37
percent to 50.1 percent. Among Hawaii's racial groups, Hawaiians
have the highest rates of heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes,
accidents and suicides. Efforts are underway to reverse this
trend.
LUAU
(TRADITIONAL HAWAIIAN FEAST)
The luau (loo-ow)
is a Hawaiian tradition - a feast to celebrate accomplishments,
honor important people and commemorate great events. In old
Hawaii it was a time to pay homage to ancestral gods with
song, dance, and offerings of food, which was often scarce.
Ancient luau sometimes lasted for days.
Much has changed
since the days of ancient luau. Women and men are now allowed
to eat together, which was forbidden in Hawaii before the
culture's system of kapu (taboos) was eliminated in 1819.
Women are also allowed to eat foods that were once denied
them, such as bananas, coconuts, pork, turtle and several
types of fish.
The central feature of the luau is the imu, an underground
oven (a shallow pit lined with stones). A whole pig (puaa)
is wrapped in ti and banana leaves and placed in the pit's
hot center. The pig and laulau (savory bundles containing
side dishes) are covered with multiple layers of banana, ti,
or sometimes ginger leaves, and a final coating of earth.
In about four hours the coverings are removed and the luau
begins. Every luau has poi, the traditional starch.
Under King Kamehameha III, there was an 1847 event that was
unforgettable, a luau with 10,000 in attendance, although
in true Hawaiian style, food was prepared for 12,000. The
guests were served: "271 hogs, 482 large calabashes of
poi, 602 chickens, three whole oxen, two barrels of salt port,
two barrels of biscuits, 12 barrels of laulau and cabbages,
four barrels of onions, 80 bunches of bananas, 55 pineapples,
2,245 coconuts, 4,000 heads of taro, 180 squid, oranges, limes,
grapes and various fruit." Now that was a luau!
"local
people don't eat until they are full, they eat until they
are tired".
HAWAII'S
MIXED PLATE
Hawaii has
always been linked with food - ever since Captain Cook named
the Islands after his sponsor, the Earl of Sandwich.
The various
ethnic groups that immigrated to Hawaii in the last 200 years
didn't forget their cook pots - filled with some of the most
delectable aromas on earth.
The kaleidoscope
of cultures that make up the peoples of the Islands allows
you to experience the special diversity that is dining out
in Hawaii.
Hawaii's multi-ethnic
convergence of cuisines is just like Hawaiian culture - a
melting pot of tastes - offering so many worlds for the choosing.
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