Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 16, Number 1, 1 January 1999 — Ua ʻai i ke kāī koi o ʻEwa. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Ua ʻai i ke kāī koi o ʻEwa.

He has eaten the kaī koi taro of 'Ewa . . . 'Olelo No'eau

By C I a i r e Hughes Dept. of Health ĪHIS SAYING means that one who has eaten the kalo from 'Ewa will always like it, as the kāī is 0'ahu's best eating kalo. The kāī alo was grown in 'Ewa into the early 1900s and was particularly prized for its flavor. There were three varieties of this kalo: kāī ele'ele (black); kāī kea (white); and kāī koi. The black kāī had a black stalk, the stems and leaves were dark-skinned. It was very firm and difficult to pound into poi while still warm after cooking, but even more difficult to pound when it had cooled. Kāī kea, had light colored stems and leaves. The skin was red and the flesh of the corm was dark, similar to the kāī 'ele'ele. It, too, was difficult to pound, especially when it was cold. Kāī kea poi was hard and became harder after pounding and sitting. The kāī koi was more like other varieties. However, it sent out more new shoots than other kalo. These new shoots would fill the planting mounds of soil until they spilled over and mingled with shoots of other

mounds. Thus, the name kai koi, whieh means forceful kāī of 'Ewa. The kāl koi mo'olelo says that even if a man from another part of Hawai'i is skilled in pounding kalo, when he tries to pound kāī koi with all of his skill and strength, he will

find himself exhausted. Pounding the kāī koi required a great deal of strength and skill, and water had to be added constantly to the stone pounder as the poi was being mashed on the board. It took a

native of 'Ewa to do the job best, goes the tale, so it would please the palate. It is further said that visitors who tried the kalo found it so good that they wanted to hve in 'Ewa for the rest of their lives. The poi of kāī kalo is that dehcious. This particular characteristic of the kāī koi was used figuratively to describe the relationship between a man and woman. Just as one takes to the kāī koi poi, one falls in love with a person from 'Ewa. In

addition, the kāī koi kalo multiphes over and over in one planting and often lasts as long as ten years. Kalo, the traditional staple food of the Hawahans, was beheved to contain the great mana of the god Kāne. Many different varieties

of kalo were developed from fewer than two dozen huh our ancestors brought with them to Hawai'i. We know by the prohferation of varieties and large land areas devoted to its cultiva-

tion that this food was of great importance to the Hawauan. While the growing time differed, for most types it took nearly a year to mature. One could hold the matured kalo in the lo'i a while before harvesting, depending on the needs of the 'ohana. It is interesting to note that the names of the kalo describe the physical appearance of the plant. This is the system that was used in the traditional naming of most plants.

Kalo is a very dense mass of complex carbohydrates or starches, fiber, minerals and vitamins. The amount of kalo and lū'au eaten daily by our ancestors is estimated at 15 pounds for males. It provided the major proportion of the mineral, vitamin and caloric needs for the day. In fact, with four cups of kalo, about two pounds and two cups of lū'au, one would exceed today's recommended requirements for vitamins A, B, and C as well as iron. Since the food was steamed, this amount would equal less than 1,400 calories and contain no cholesterol and fat. Captain James King, in 1784, described our ancestors as "above the middle size and well made; they walk very gracefully, run nimbly and are capable of bearing great fatigue." Hawaiians of today ean regain this grace, strength and endurance with the proper diet and exercise. ■

"The amount of kalo and lū'au eaten daily by our ancestors is estimated at 15 pounds for males. " - Claire Hughes

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Ciaire Hughes