MALIHINI GATHER AT LŪʻAU

Hundreds of tourists gathered at long tables laden with all sorts of food at noon this past Tuesday, in order to see Hawaiian foods for themselves. Laughter erupted at how some of the malihini ate poi and some other things which they had not eaten before.

The Hawaiian food however became great favorites of a majority of them, because of how delicious it was, while some people did not like it. However each of them will record in their journals the names of the foods so that they have something to show before their friends when they return to America.

The foods that the lūʻau banquet was supplied with was just like a regular banquet, like poi, laulau [puaʻa hoʻolua], fish cooked in ti leaves [iʻa lāwalu], lomi salmon [kāmano i lomi ʻia me ka ʻōhiʻa], chicken lūʻau [moa me ka lūʻau] and some other foods.

Some malihini were confused at how to eat poi. Some thought because it was soft, that it was to spread on a piece of bread, and eat it like butter. And when a malihini woman was shown that it was eaten with the fingers, she put all of her fingers into the poi bowl and the malihini who were watching that ignorant act broke out in laughter.

What made the laughter go on was that the woman had stuck her hand in while wearing gloves.

However, when some malihini tried the poi, and the laulau pig, they came to truly like it, but of the lomi salmon, there was no one willing to try it.

At the conclusion of the lūʻau party, the malihini wrote in their journals each of the names of the foods, and some of them placed the red salt [paʻakai ʻulaʻula] in their handbags, then they spent some time listening to the singing youth and watching hula that was performed by Hawaiian girls skilled in this activity.