When Poi becomes a Debate on Variety...
Recently I was talking with a few people about poi and its different variations that I have been studying. I still have not yet placed any article, because there is actually so many Hawaii cuisine variations that are argued from many different angles. It can be the pronunciation, or the legalities involving lawyers, or even the idea from a tutu. There are a million ways to argue poi, so what are some questions we could take into account? Some may say their generational belief from Pre-contact Hawaii and change the discussion to political belief? but, is that the same as the food belief when people eat the dish without knowing it through the introduction? Does it discount certain areas of history for a perceived more important time in history? or is it just history as a whole? These are important to think about when people are discussing the food, but it tends to take away about the basics of what food is. Is Hawaiian cuisine stuck to a specific time? A few people stated their Tutu teaches them orally, so maybe from the last 80 years? When I had grown up some of my earlier baby sitters they told me that their great grand mother who said it's a sin to add anything to poi. But with that idea is it restricted to those who all people who cook? what if they needed to stretch poi because it got expensive like the Hawaiians in the plantation days? or modern variations of poi that are made locally in their own personal history interpretations of poi from their own family? There are so many factors can poi or any particular dish be kept in such restriction? Foreigners Poi? or Just Poi... Precontact Native Hawaiians ate poi after it was made or kept it out for a bit and ate it later with a variety of Taro (Kalo) species as well as other corm foods they had available to them. This might not seem controversial, but it actually starts by separating that time period of Precontact Hawaii. Poi after pre-contact may sometimes be accused as "Foreigners Poi", but that brings back the argument of foreign which is always never ending, due to the fact that Hawaii is ever changing. But, if the term Foreigner Poi exist, wouldn't that mean "Precontact Hawaiian Poi" also exists or have it refer to having it defended at "Kanaka Maoli Poi"? this separates itself from the overarching term of "Hawaiian Poi" that is marking it originated from the Hawaiian people. Blood Quantums in Every Argument, even Food Another point was categorizing Hawaiians was not okay, but if people have different perspectives and are not categorized there is no end to the conversation of where a point begins or it ends without putting a term for it. This happens in american politics all the time within binary parties and stretches into native arguments as well. The People who are Hawaiian who identify as American, even if by force continue to call themselves "Hawaiian American" even if many disapprove. So, some might say Kanaka Maoli blood of 50%+ is needed, while some argue 49% is still okay due to government instructions of King Kamehameha. Or some follow the updated % from the US government and some have an ideal of 100% blood (koko). But, there is no stagnant eating for the Hawaiians as they were historically interested in many sorts of food. What historically can be complicated is citizens, even non Hawaiians of native blood were recognized as Hawaiians during the rule of the Hawaiian Kingdom. Food has evolved throughout time in Hawaii and for the Hawaiians and so have other forms of expression and respected forms of arts. Culinary Arts is ever changing and so are the traditional hula competitions and way of dancing, due to the fact both art of dance and art of food are difficult to accurately recover from the ancestors due to passing on information mostly orally to their families. So is blood quantum percent more important of kanaka maoli? is a royal blood line more important? are either more “authentic”? its up to perspective, but regardless to opinions on the matter the food has changed over the years.. just like other Hawaiian traditions based on the tastes and passion placed into the art form from their creators. Searching for Poi Definition Perspectives I asked many people for their different trains of thought and wrote them down as such, because is there really a idea of who is more right than another when the controversy of politics keeps on getting in the way of simply discussing food? The first definition was (1) Poi is pounded and thinned with water, definition (2) Poi is a restrictive unchanging dish where no ingredients other than water is added, but also can include Paiai (Paiai is usually different amounts of water content), definition (3) Poi is pounded and thinned with liquid and can be mixed with ingredients (such as kalua pork or lomi salmon). Food is consumed, food has variations, food changes with society, and food has its unique history for better or worse. And, yes, food can have a political angle. Each portion of the food is in its own category of food definition. From my Kumu and Ohana When I first ate poi I would only eat it: plain fresh as it was done at festivals I have been to, but I did know that many older generations enjoyed sour poi "Sour Poi". But then I learned that there were many pois involving Breadfruit, Sweet Potato, as well as different Taro Corms, which of course depended on who and what region. Without much guidance at the restrictions of Poi by asking different groups of kanaka maoli, different ethnic hapa, and different races that grew up with the teachings of kanaka maoli with the lifestyle... there were a multitude of poi variations that I had never heard of. Mostly, because there were a loud few that would gateway my knowledge of different time period pois and different regional pois that would be shared only with the family and friends. This would bring me to finding out about Standard Poi, Sour Poi, Salty Poi, Mixed Poi, Dairy Poi, and Sugar Poi. The Days of Sweetened Sugar Poi Sugar Poi, was introduced from the waves of immigrants into the missionary, Hawaiian kingdom, and plantation timelines. There were different types of poi that started using sweet fruits or sugar, some of these were: Sugar Poi, Brown Sugar Poi, Banana Poi, Guava Poi, and Lilikoi Poi. These were not the typical poi from recontact and were eaten by many Hawaiians, residents, and visitors to the islands. Sugar Poi has an ugly history, since it was a symbol of history that marked back to the days of sugar cane and plantation days that created power and riches for the sugar business owners. Kanaka Maoli who would have been poor from the changes in politics and survived the fields would use all kinds of different foods mixed in from different cultures as a matter of survival. It would lead to varieties of Poi dishes, but it would also bring diabetes, dental problems, and effect fat retention. The Hawaiian Kingdom held its food to a royal standard and innovation had happened as well. The Hawaiians would develop foods inspired by other cultures and were made their own, however not all Hawaiians would agree that this food was Hawaiian. This would carry on in the argument of people calling dishes like: Lomi Salmon, Chicken Long Rice, Paniolo Kalua Pork (tin foil wrapped), Hawaiian Beef Stew, Kulolo, and Haupia, as unauthentic dishes of Hawaiians. They have nick names like Non-Kanaka Maoli Foods, Hawaiian Kingdom Cuisine, and/or Haole Hawaiian Foods. Dairy Poi (also known as Haole Poi) The golden days of dairy had cows eating grass all over the place with many small groups making their own milk and other dairy goods. Those who know the later days would know this group of dairies would shrink over time from the government interference of big money dairy taking over the islands through restrictions and taxation. This was the time that people had eaten their sugar poi by adding some milk for a poi that was sweet and a bit creamy. Those who worked at ice cream factories would bring home tubs of bad packaged ice cream and it would be put in the poi as well. There were still many that would almost always prefer the plain variation, but the palates of people who liked the variation would keep it as their secret treat to eat. It was also a matter of not wasting any of the food that was in the ice box (ice with box inside or refrigerator). If yogurt was going sour or was fresh it wouldn't be wasted and would go into the poi as well. If the vanilla pudding was going bad? they would also throw it in the poi. Maybe some haupia was going bad, they would throw in that as well. Cheese would be thrown inside the poi if it needed to be used and even butter... those on ranches especially enjoyed using butter in their cooking and poi was no exception. Mixed Poi (also known as Local Poi) Varieties: -Sesame seed oil, Dark Shoyu -Vegetable oil, Garlic, Alaea Salt -Lomi Salmon, Tomato, Onion Powder -Lomi King Salmon, Peanut oil, crushed Garlic -Lomi Sockeye Salmon, Sesame seed Oil, Alaea Salt -Opihi, Limu Kohu, Chili Pepper Water, Alaea Salt -Kalua Pork, Lomi Salmon, Alaea Salt -Butter, Green Onion, Chili Pepper Water, Alaea Salt -Kalbi Short Rib, Sesame seed oil, Ginger, cane sugar -Pipikaula, Garlic, Ginger, Hondashi, Black Pepper This is going to be a continued article in the future, but this is just a bit of information that has been gathered thus far.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
|