Alternative Food-this page is a work in progress
The
taro
plant is the most important plant in Hawaiian culture. Hawaiians are
linked to the taro plant in a profound way. In Hawaiian mythology taro and
man have the same parents but taro was born before man. That makes taro
the older brother of man. In the Polynesian
family system the older brother has a very important role in the family as a
protector and provider. So, the idea is that if taro takes care of man
that man will take care of taro. They are two siblings living in symbiosis.
There are Hawaiians living today that have taro in their genealogy. They
believe that they are genetically related to the taro plant. This concept
is at the root of the Hawaiians deep relationship with nature. Every part
of the taro plant is edible. The root is best grown in running water similar
to rice. The taro plant has a crystal in its structure that must be broken
down by cooking to be edible or you will get the notorious "itchy
throat". The leaves are extremely high in iron. So much so,
that when you pick a leaf a drop of red "blood" oozes from the
wound. There are many ways to eat taro not just as "poi"-the
cooked and pounded root that is the #1 comfort food of Hawaiians.
The
green, soccer ball sized fruit in this photograph is a breadfruit. A mature
tree will bear hundreds of breadfruit twice a year. For this reason, in
the rest of Polynesia, it is the #1 food plant.
When the fruit is first ripe it is a good substitute for potato. After a few says, it gets soft and all the starch turns into sugar. Then breadfruit is used a dessert and has the consistency and taste of cantaloupe custard.
Sweet Potato Leaves and flower. The Sweet Potato was second to taro in Hawaiian culture. They had as many as 200 varieties including purple, orange, variegated....The leaves are also highly nutritious and when cooked an excellent substitute for spinach without the bitter taste.
Without the rustling of the coconut
palms it's just not the islands. Niu is probably the most
easily recognized and best known palm tree in the world.
The perfect drinking nut is full-sized, yet immature. It is green, with no trace of yellow color, and it must be picked. Up to one quart of water is inside, but you can't hear it when you shake it. The yellow or browning coconut is mature when it drops to the ground. There is still some water in the cavity, which can be combined to make coconut milk. Coconut milk is a blend of coconut water and the scrapings of the coconut meat. This milk is a good source of iron and contains calcium, phosphorus, protein and vitamins.
Coconut water, like the taro, is an alkali producer in the digestive system and therefore helps in the important balancing of pH in the human body. Often, a too-acidic body is prone to disease, whereas if the pH is balanced with alkaline-producing foods, the body is more prone to stay in good health.
As food, the niu flesh or meat is used for different purposes, depending upon the maturity of the nut. The jelly-like spoon meat of a green nut is called `o`io. The next stage is haohao, when the shell is still white and the flesh soft and white. Half ripe, at the ho`ilikole state, it is eaten raw with Hawai`i red salt and poi. At the o`o stage, the nut is mature, but the husk not dried. The flesh of a mature nut at the malo`o stage is used to make coconut cream, which when mixed with kalo/taro makes a dish called kulolo; with `uala/sweet potato it is called poipalau; and paipaiee with ripe `ulu/breadfruit. These delicious dessert-like foods were traditionally cooked in the
imu, underground oven. Haupia is made with niu cream mixed with pia/Polynesian arrowroot, traditionally wrapped in ti leaves and baked in the imu. The mature meat of coconut is also grated, squeezed or scraped to be cooked in main dishes with fish, chicken or greens.
Far more important were its many other uses. From trunk, husks and shells, leaves and fronds, the Hawaiians created food containers, hula drums, fans, children's toys, rods and other tools. And the canoes, which brought the precious protein in the form of fish, were lashed together with invaluable sennit, the indestructible, coarse rope yarn spun out of the fibers of the coconut husk. No other rope could withstand the pressure of water, weight, and wind as well the coconut. In Hawaiian legend it is said that the god "Maui" snared the sun's rays with coconut sennit!
Hawaiian Chili Peppers
are Hot, Hot, Hot! They are comparable to Jalapeno Chili Peppers.
These balls of fire are not only used to spice up food but in a local Hawaiian concoction
called "Chili Pepper Water" which you can drink from the bottle or use
as a sauce. Here at Pick Your Own we have our own special recipe for the
devious brew.