In ancient times, Hawaiian men and women ate their meals separately, and a religious law or tabu forbade women and commoners to eat certain foods. In 1819, King Kamehameha II did away with these practices. In fact, the king held a feast in which he was seated and ate with women, thus giving birth to the lu'au.
The traditional meal was eaten on mats that were rolled out onto the floor. The table was decorated with ti leaves, ferns, and flowers, and food was placed in bowls or directly on the leaves. Kalua pig, or pork cooked in a pit oven, was the main dish at the feasts.
In 1847, Kamehameha II held one of the largest royal lu'aus. The food prepared for the feast included more than 250 pigs, 3,000 salt fish, and 2,000 coconuts. Another king, who was known as the Merrie Monarch, loved to have parties and celebrations. When King Kalakaua celebrated his 50th birthday with a lu'au, over 1,500 guests were invited!
You may not want to throw such a big party, but having a lu'au is lots of fun, and modern conveniences make cooking the food very easy. The following are some recipes that are featured at A Friend in the Islands, a Web site created by Mike and Kim Crinella of Hawaii. Visit their wonderful site for more recipes.
Main Course
Oven Kalua Pig
Ingredients:
- 3 lb pork butt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons liquid smoke
- 2 1/4 teaspoons Hawaiian salt, or sea salt, or kosher salt
Preheat oven to 350-400 degrees F. Pierce pork butt all over with carving fork or score with a knife. Rub salt and liquid smoke into meat. Place pork fat side up in a roasting pan or deep casserole dish. Cover and roast in oven for 2 1/2-3 hours. Remove the pork from pan and shred with two forks. Makes six servings.
Slow Cooker Kalua Pig
Ingredients:
- 3 lb pork butt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons liquid smoke
- 2 1/4 teaspoons Hawaiian salt, or sea salt, or kosher salt
Pierce pork butt all over with carving fork. Rub salt and liquid smoke into meat. Cook in slow cooker on low for 16-20 hours turning once. Remove meat, shred, and then add juices from slow cooker to shredded meat. Makes six servings.
Vegetable
Hawaiian Sweet Potato Pie
Ingredients:
- 2 large peeled sweet potatoes (baked or boiled)
- 1/2 stick salted butter
- 1/2 c. brown sugar
- 1/2 c. white sugar
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- pinch of nutmeg
- 1/2 Tbs. pure vanilla extract
- 1 5 ounce can evaporated milk
- 1/4 cup crème of coconut
- 1/2 tsp. salt
Mix all ingredients except eggs with whisk or mixer until cream texture. Next add beaten eggs to mixture. Stir. Pour into an unbaked 9 inch pie shell. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour to 1 hour, 15 minutes. Cool thoroughly before slicing. Makes 1 pie.
Desserts
Hawaiian Ambrosia
Ingredients:
- 8 ounce can of crushed pineapple, drained
- 1 can lychee pitted and drained or 11 ounce can mandarin oranges drained
- 3 1/2 cups cool whip
- 2 cups shredded coconut
- 2 cups mini marshmallows
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 cup maraschino cherries
In a large bowl, mix pineapple,
lychee or mandarin oranges, whipped topping, coconut, marshmallows and
milk. Chill 1 hour. Garnish with cherries before serving. Serves 12.
Lilikoi Party Sheet Cake
Ingredients:
- 1 cup butter
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- 3 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking
- powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 cup lilikoi pulp (fresh or frozen concentrate)
- 1/2 cup lilikoi juice
- red coloring to tint the cake pink
Preheat oven to 350
degrees. Cream butter and sugar together and add eggs one by one, beating well.
Stir the baking powder into the flour. Mix the lilikoi pulp and juice. Add flour
and liquids in alternate portions to the creamed mixture and stir until blended.
Pour into a greased and floured 13 by 9 inch cake pan. Bake for 30 minutes or
until top of cake spring back when lightly pressed with finger. Frost with a
butter cream frosting: Mix 1 cup softened butter, 2-½ cups powdered sugar, and
just enough milk to make a creamy consistency.
Drinks
Banana Pineapple Punch
Ingredients:
- 6 cups boiling water
- 5 cups sugar
- Juice of 6 lemons
- 1 quart orange juice
- 2 cups pineapple juice
- 6 mashed bananas
- 2 quarts ginger ale
Add sugar to boiling water.
Once sugar dissolved mix in the lemon, orange, and pineapple juices as well as
the banana mash. Mix well then freeze mixture. Take out of freezer shortly
before needing and add 2 quarts bottle of ginger ale to the frozen mixture in
punch bowl.
Volcanic Punch
Ingredients:
- 3 cans frozen fruit punch concentrate
- 1 64oz-can pineapple juice
- 1 can cream of coconut
- 2 2-Liters ginger ale
- ice cubes
In a large punch bowl add the 3 cans of frozen fruit punch concentrate. Keep one of
the empty frozen juice cans. Fill the can with water 6 times and add to punch
bowl. Add pineapple juice, one bottle of ginger ale, and ice cubes then stir.
Then add as much of the 2nd bottle of ginger ale as possible leaving at least 3
inches from the rim of the punch bowl and stir again. Pour in the can of cream
of coconut on top. Will serve 40-70 people.
Background information about the lu'au was provided by
History of the Luau: www.hawaii-luaus.com/history.htm.
A Friend in the Islands, which is located at www.alohafriends.com, is being redesigned. Visit the site's archive at the
Wayback Machine at http://web.archive.org/web/*/%20www.alohafriends.com.
In ancient times, Hawaiian men and women ate their meals separately, and a religious law or tabu forbade women and commoners to eat certain foods. In 1819, King Kamehameha II did away with these practices. In fact, the king held a feast in which he was seated and ate with women, thus giving birth to the lu'au.
In 1847, Kamehameha II held one of the largest royal lu'aus. The food prepared for the feast included more than 250 pigs, 3,000 salt fish, and 2,000 coconuts. Another king, who was known as the Merrie Monarch, loved to have parties and celebrations. When King Kalakaua celebrated his 50th birthday with a lu'au, over 1,500 guests were invited!
