Lû`au! |
Source: Pukui, Mary Kawena & Elbert, Samuel H.,
Hawaiian Dictionary, Revised and Enlarged Edition, University Of Hawai`i Press, Honolulu, 1986.
KA `ÔLELO HAWAI`I (HAWAIIAN) : |
KA `ÔLELO HAOLE |
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`aha`aina [ah' hah ai' nah] [LOO' au] Elongate the first syllable and take a breath break (note `okina) before the second syllable. Not: [loo' wow] |
Hawaiian feast or large party. Lit., meal gathering.Click here and here for more on the history of lû`au. |
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`Aka`akai me pa`akai / `alaea [ah' kah ah kai' meh pah' ah kai' / ah lae' (y)ah] |
A relish of onion with pa`akai (Hawaiian sea salt) or `alaea (red Hawaiian sea salt colored with ocherous earth). Slices of sweet, white Maui onions are the best. Grown on the slopes of Maui's Haleakalâ mountain, they are so sweet that they can be eaten like apples. |
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ake |
Liver, served maka (raw). |
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haupia [hau pee' (y)ah]
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A custard-pudding dessert made from a mixture of niu (coconut) cream and formerly with pia (arrowroot); these days, cornstarch is substituted as a thickener for pia. Click here for more information on niu and here for more information on pia. |
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hua |
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i`a [ee' ah]
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Fish Various preparations: Click here for more information and translations of Hawai`i fishes. |
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imu
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In-ground (earth) oven used to cook a whole pig, fish, taro and bananas, using `eho (red-hot stones placed inside a carcass in cooking, especially in an imu) or filled with pôhaku ahuli`u (white hot stones).Click here and here for pictures of imu. |
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`inamona [ee' nah moh' nah] |
Relish made of the roasted kernels of the kukui (candlenut) and mashed with salt. Perhaps a contraction of `îna`i momona (sweet garnish). Go easy on this side dish, or you'll be spending the rest of the evening in the lua ("john"), as excessive kukui has a purging effect.Click here for more information on kukui. |
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kâmano lomi [KAH' mah noh loh' mee] |
"lomi salmon" . Side dish made of small chunks of salted or raw salmon, marinated with chopped green and round onions and tomatoes. The kâmano (salmon) is worked with the fingers (lomi = knead, massage), and thus, lomi salmon. |
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kûlolo |
A thick, brown dessert pudding made with piele (grated taro) mixed with grated niu (coconut), and traditionally baked in an imu. |
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laulau |
A bundle of good eats. Pork, chicken, and/or butterfish wrapped in (edible) taro leaves, then bundled with an insulating (non-edible) outer wrapping of ti leaves. Traditionally baked in an imu; these days, steamed. Often a main course.Click here and scroll toward the bottom of the page for a picture of laulau. |
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Mai, mai e `ai. |
Come, come in and eat! |
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moa [moh' (w)ah] |
Chicken. These days, often prepared as chicken lû`au (shredded chicken cooked with lû`au (taro greens and coconut cream) or chicken long rice (shredded chicken cooked with clear, Asian noodles). |
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`ôpae |
Shrimp |
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`opihi |
Limpet. Plucked from the rocks along wave-swept shorelines. Considered a delicacy. Served marinated and raw. Retails for $125 or more a gallon. Taste one, and see if you like it before taking more. Don't waste. |
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pâpa`i |
Crab |
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pipi kaula |
Jerked beef (beef salted and dried in the sun, broiled before eating). Lit., rope beef. |
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poi [poi]
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Taro pounded and thinned into a paste. A staple. Staff of life in the Hawaiian diet. Poi shortages are common in Hawai`i . Don't waste a spoonful! |
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poke Not: [poke-y] |
Bite-sized pieces of raw fish or other seafood, including octopus and clams, marinated with limu (seaweed), pa`akai (salt) chili peppers, and/or `inamona (kukui relish). Click here for a picture of a poke platter and here for tako (octopus in Japanese) poke. Poke = slice, cut crosswise into pieces, as fish or wood. |
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pua`a kâlua |
"Kâlua pig". Shredded pork , traditionally from a whole pig cooked in an imu. "Special Event / Party food" in old times, as Hawaiians did not use much meat.Pua`a = pig.Kâlua (kâ= causative + lua= pit) . |
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pûpû [POO' POO'] Elongate each syllable. |
Appetizer, hors d`oeuvre. Formerly, the fish, chicken, or banana served with `awa (a ceremonial narcotic drink) and mullet. Possibly derived from the meat of the pûpû (snail), as eaten by Hawaiians.Click here for a picture of a pûpû platter. |
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`uala [oo (w)ah' lah] |
Sweet potato, a staple since ancient times. Click here to learn more about `uala. |
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ula |
Hawaiian lobster |
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wai nîoi [vai NEE (y)oi] |
Chili pepper water made of tiny red chili peppers, water and/or vinegar. "Firewater" to some; to others, essential. Bottles of it often found on the tables of local restaurants. |
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Click to this site's Food Links webpage, scroll down to Lû`au for recipes and check other sites on the page for Hawaiian recipes. |
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