Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 14, Number 2, 1 February 1997 — Traditional ways simple ways [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Traditional ways simple ways

fn the traditional culture, women gathered limu and shellfish from the reef and caught shoreline fish, while the men fished in the deeper waters. Limu, he'e, wana, loli, paki'i, 'ōpae, alamihi and manini were the seafoods gathered by women along the shore. Among the limu, līpoa was a great favorite to eat with fish and poi. Līpoa could be salted and dried, then rolled into little balls and stored for the winter months. Dried limu was served during stormy periods when fresh limu could not be gathered. The dried limu made ehoiee gifts for relatives, friends and 'ohana who lived mauka, far from the oeean, and was often sent via yoimger children. A/othing was wasted in the traditional culture. Kūpuna saved the shells of the hāuke'uke, 'ina and the shell backs and legs of the 'alamihi and 'a'ama crabs. These shells were pounded with a little salt and the resulting mixture was stored. When no fresh fish was available, this mixture would be thinned with water. The resulting broth, with some limu added, served as the i'a (fish) for the meal. The broth could also be added to raw, fresh fish as a kai (sauce). Winter is not a good time for open oeean fishing. The rough wintery seas make sighting of

schools of fish difficult, and the ocean's rough waters are unpredictable and often

treacherous. In the traditional culture, winter * was the Makahiki season when heavy work was

suspended and competitions and celebrations of the season were held. During the Makahiki, reef fishing and gathering of limu and shell fish provided Hawaiians with fresh suste-

nanee from the sea. Another alternative was dried, salted fish, whieh was preserved during the summer months

and provided some i protein for the family. Our kūpuna remember, however, that dried fish was never fed to infants, and to young children only in hmited amounts. 4f awaiians of old

used two basic cooking methods. One was the underground imu for steam-

f ing larger quantities of food. The other was pūlehu (broiling) or lawalu, whieh

W was appropriate for smaller quantities. Imu cooking required great strength and was

men's work. The men actually prepared two imu so that food for women and men could be cooked separately. Food was wrapped in ti leaves (lā'i) before cooking. These pū'olo of lā'i wrapped foods could

be lāwalu or pūlehu on white-hot coals. To prevent burning, the pū'olo were carefully turned over the coals, while larger pū'olo of lā'i wrapped foods were cooked in the imu. ^oung sweet potato leaves, palula, were another vegetable dish favored in ancient Hawai'i. The tender sweet potato leaves were gathered early in the morning, washed and wrapped in lā'i. About % two handsful would make a single serving when \ cooked. This could be cooked pūlehu style or in 11 theimu. Palula cooked more rapidly than the l\ lū'au leaves, and individual pū'olo could easily be cooked for very young children and infants at their mealtime. As you see, a great deal of thought went into food preparation to provide nutritious and eeonomieal meals for the family. We ean learn mueh j from the simplicity of the ancient ways.

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