Big Hunks of Hawaii Carved Meat
At this time home economics was a normal part of a school curriculum and cooking was an interest that many people had as a way to feed themselves or their families. People would go steady with one another in school, some would break up, but there was a consistency in relationships and that was everyone needed to eat. People could either cook or go-out if they could. Meats that were processed were all the rage in the 1960s and there was no exception to Hawaii as it may have taken a couple years into the 1970s for people to commonly own a household kitchen. They would be making use of what they had from shopping from the grocery markets to find something for dinner recipe or come up with their own recipes. These did not come over night as it was places like Lunch counters, Hand carved meats, and western food that made for a taste for meat. People would head down to the neighborhood butcher or to a larger grocery store and there would be someone to actually talk to about meat. The seller would talk to the customer and ask what sorts of meat cuts they would need and at this time using ovens really was fun. So people would go and buy a roast and make food for the family and slice it thin so everyone could eat a bit. Many Hawaii families that had immigrated years ago would finally have some income to spend on eating out and spending a bit for a nicer than average meal. They didn't have that sort of income before so during the 1960s they could actually jump in the car and start going places and spend a bit more than they had expected. Western food was still new and exciting, so it would be a great night out to go somewhere into town to have a bite to eat. Dinner Sets When people did go out and eat they would dress up to look all nice and would typically want a sit down cozy meal called a "set meal", but if they were on the go they would grab a sandwich and eat quickly at the counter. These lunch counters had "Dinner Sets" that were a meal made for a fine dinner. Typical meals had a meat, meat gravy, garden vegetables, butter rolls with fruit jam or home made butter, and creamy whipped potatoes. People would actually get excited that they got the haole food experience. It was what people on the mainland were eating and it had an appeal of something foreign because it was so different. Some of the varieties would get people for a taste of roast beef, roast turkey, corned beef. This was just an introduction to these dishes as they would be taken to another level as time went on. Some examples of this would be: Roast Beef Dinner, Roast Turkey Dinner, Baked Meat Loaf Dinner. It would be common to have ice cream sundae or Jello and whipped cream along with a soda with a meal. This would be the standard across multiple islands which had a lunch counter available to them, which most did. Delicatessans and Hand Carved Meats Delicatessens that served sandwiches were a popular destination especially in shopping centers on the islands. Inside the restaurant establishment people could see an employee carving some freshly made meat that was served on a sandwich at the specialized deli area. Limited deli cuts would be available with a live meat cutter at establishments with bigger range of menu items like a lunch counter. Those who were in the sandwich business would be quite familiar with the typical deli meats of western meals and would hit up a lunch counter in town. More delis started to open up and were comparable to their mainland counter parts that were bringing in trends from delis from the mainland. Different sandwiches and different meats and different choices would make many of these dishes good fun. With a number of gravies, sausages, and sliced meats it would create many people who would want more of the choices of delicious meat. These would pave the way for people looking for multiple different wursts of germany, but a particular one that was used quite well was the Liverwurst for its use of offal. It was a pretty heavy meal as well, since it was more than a sandwich, because it came with pickles and a potato salad. Other foods they had at delicatessons was. steak dinner, BBQ chicken, mainland-style BBQ ribs, and Pizza. Sandwiches The sandwich of the time that would beat some of the classics of lunch counters would be the mixture of more fancy hand carved meats that were spiced with a complex rub and came with bread. A sandwich would really be the main attraction at these places with: single decker (two bread slices), double decker (three bread slices), and triple decker sandwiches (four bread slices). Some places would even have open faced sandiwches as an option. It would be hot hand carved meat like hot pastrami, topped with a cheese like swiss cheese, topped with a slice of fresh bread, it would come with a sausage (usually liverwurst) or pate. There would always be something a bit meaty, smokey, rich soft spread. There were these add ons that would be put in the sandwich as well known as "fixings" that you could choose: shredded lettuce, sliced tomato, sliced sweet onions, shredded kimchi cabbage, sliced pickled cucumber, julienne pickled radish. Some of the sauces that were also a sort of fixings would be: mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, hot sauce, dijon mustard, or relish, black pepper, salt. Hand Carved Meats at Home After awhile people in Hawaii started to make more of the meats they ate at restaurants and started getting more gourmet food on the scene. There was those who looked at delicatessens and they thought they could make it out in the culinary world so they went for it and started their own local delicatessen. As many things it started out from its western ideas and changed as it was made to cater to its audience as many other places that had to adapt in the competitive world. Local spins on Hand Carved Meats became popular in Local homes as they made their own takes on the traditional hand carved Hams, hand carved Roast Beefs, hand carved Pastrami, hand carved Prime Rib, and hand carved Corned Beefs. They even had some specials like: Tongue Sandwiches (aka. Soft Meats). Often times when serving visitors from the mainland or during a family get together carved meats were a must, so many families started having their own family recipe to their own carved meats. Carved meats would differ per island. It would end up helping sales of meats of beef, pork, and turkey and allow for more interests in curing meats.
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