Luau!

A few days ago we went to a picnic style luau, a scholarship benefit for the Kihei Canoe Club. We had expected a dinner of plate lunch, but there was music and dancing as well. the plate lunch was all the usual suspects -- kalua pig (my favorite), chicken laulau, tuna poke, lomi lomi salmon, rice, cake and haupia (gelatin made with coconut milk -- yum!).

Kalua pig traditionally is a whole pig wrapped in ti leaves and roasted in a pit in the ground lined with stones that have been heated red hot in a fire. The pig is left all day, then opened for the luau. Chicken laulau is chicken meat wrapped in a little package, sometimes with other vegetables, and cooked or steamed with coconut milk. Poke is a ceviche-type dish, with chunks of fish (here it was ahi, or tuna), onions, seaweed and other flavorings. Lomi lomi salmon is also a ceviche-type dish, with tomatoes and onions along with salmon, all cut into the same size chunks.

The event started with a traditional blessing, with all participants -- over a hundred -- holding hands in a giant circle, after which we made a beeline to the dinner line. The musicians played local music, asking their friends, daughters and cousins to come up and dance in their shorts and jeans. I have not been able to figure out how to attach the music to the photos, so just hum something Hawaiian to yourself as you browse the photos....