Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-08-05

COuS edt WOIklL tLciI AIteE Wutlc
the minister returned, and, placing an ear on
| the pulpit, remarked: "He that hath ears to
| hear. let him behave himself" The sermon
then proceeded without interruption.
->>>
A Sandwich Island Supper.
| From the San Francisco Morning Call.
Poi suppers are great institution on the
islands. l have had the fun of eating them in
all sorts of Places ranging from the floor Of
native f1shermans grass hut to the dining
room of royalty. believe that just now will
| be good time to describe the best poi supper
have eaten SO far. 1t was at the beach summer
residence of Honolulu merchant. The mer-
chant was married to a haf-white lady, and
their beach home is little gem of elegance and
comfort. The party was small-four half-white
ladies, one white lady and half-dozen gentle
| men. The half-whte ladies are sisters. the
daughters of ffne-lookng old German. a noble,
who was one of the party. The sisters were
| educated in Germany, and l have never met
more gracefully entertaining and cultivated
people, despite the novel experience of eating
supper with them without the use of knives or
forks.
The table was spread in large and airy room
opening out upon moOnlit bit of sea beach.
The white cloth was almost hidden beneath q
spread of woven ferns. over which the service of
| silver, cut glass and fine china formed pretty
picture. Pretty enough. yet with one element
homogeneous to the stranger; for, by the side of
each dainty cut-glass fnger-bowl, filled with
perfumed water. stood heavy, dark, but
highly polished wooden calabash, filled to the
brim with poi. 1t was the first table ever sat
down at where the finger-bowls were used be-
fore the meal began. Each bathed and dried
the right hand, and proceeded to dip the index
finger of that hand into the poi. Everyone-that
is, except myself-and the young lady VINO was
to share my calabash. observing that used my
| fork, she did likewise. had only eaten mouth
full or two, however. when the jolly host cried out
''Shame" at me for daring to eat poi with
fork. l had only attempted before that time to
finger poi furtively and chiefly in the dark dur
ing our night supper on the Likelike and SINH
| lar occasions had not made very brilliant
go of the operation, and so felt little nervous
when my host spoke; but, rather than be guyed,
determined to try. turned to my compan-
ion in poi, so to say, and said would eat la
native. if she would teach me. She would be
charmed. We bathed our right hands. and
wouthout another word dipped in. tell you
| it is novel sensation to plunge your hand in
the presence of a table full of civilized beings,
into dish of food of a consistency which gen.
orally demands spoon. The sensation is made
more queer when. as did, you find your hand
swimming about the dish in company with the
you the while with mild repYoof
The occasion of the reprOOf she explained
thus: "There is no absolute need of your
moving your whole body; not even your shoulder
4OA I'll q NIlbI uOScWCut, tuus.
We removed our fingers together On the end
| of hers was pear-shaped ball Of pol. Ny finger
was thinly veneered with poi.
| whats wrong with me ?" I asked, looking
hungrily at my meagerly supplied digit.
She explained that l had held my finger too
straight. "Crook your finger little, like this
she said, as we both dabbed back into the poi,
land turn your hand, not too fast. with a wrist
movement only"
did as Instructed, and soon the surface of
the calabash was disturbed by the movement of
two wheels Of poi. crcling about our respective
fingers. We withdrew our fingers and each was
well supplied. We carried our fingers to our
mouths, licked them clean, and again dabbed
into the calabash.
It doesn't sound pretty, does it? But, upon
my word, when one comes to try 1t, old pre-
JUDGES and the force of lifelong training rap
idly disappear, for poi from fork loses half its
flavor and merit. When one takes one finger
from the calabash the finger is carried to the
mouth in sort OF spiral movement, otherwise
| ones shirt front gets the poi. My instructress
spoke to me just as was about halfway be-
tween calabash and mouth, on the up trip,
once, and, naturally, l stopped my hand as one
would with fork. Pretty soon 1 saw her big
black eyes-glorious eyes, by the way-laugh-
ing at me. Then looked for my poi 1t had
gracefully dropped from my f1nger-part of it
divided on my shirt cuff and ornamented the
end of my undershirt sleeve and my coat
cuff. When damages were repaired she said:
M you want to converse, and happen to have
pol on your finger, do like this" AS she spoke
she gracefully waved her poi-laden hand back
ward and forward, with slow, graceful turn
at the end Of each beat, and the motion kept
the poi in place on her finger-end.
OF course, with the poi there was 1sll-raw,
cooked and dried The dried and raw fish is
easily enough eaten with the fingers. The
cooked fish was the only dish partaken of with
forks. The raw fish is served desiccated with
tomatoes or in some kind OF pickle Some
times perfectly plain. Ipassed on the raw fish.
The cooked fish, umauma and kumu, were deli
cious. They were baked underground in XII
leaves which gave them flavor new and novel
to me. But the dish which l fingered by most
afectionately. which created happiness in this
life for me, was the chicken. cooked in luau
style-a luau is native feast and dance but the
style Of cooking. The chicken was boned and
stewed with tarO tops. TarO, or kalO, is the
esculent from which poi is made, and the tops
and sprouts are both excellent articles of food.
have been, by the way, two months trying to
find out whether this national vegetable is taro
or kalo. I conclude, chiefly from my own inner
consciousness, that 1t is, native "kalo, foreign
corruption. ''taro." as the foreigners have al
tered the pronunciation of K and L in the ma
tive words to and r. neither Of which latter
letters occur in the native alphabet. Well, this
taro. then, is big, coarse, dark-skinned escu-
lent, grown under water on most parts of the
Islands, the size and shape of very large sweet
potato, which, boiled or baked, has rich, sweet
flavor. and is far superior to potato. Then it
can be fried, or made into cakes. Taro cakes
are revelation! II 1t is not to be used fresh, It
Is pounded up into coarse, moist mass called
palai, and packed in XII leaves, for use or mar
ket. More pounding and moisture and strain
ing, and slight fermentation, makes it into
poi. The stalk Immediately above the roots
somewhat resembles asparagus, and is eaten as
that vegetable is. The leaves-not q particle of
root, stem nor leaf is wasted-made an excel
lent spinach, or favoring accompaniment Ior
luau dish
Negro PhflOSOphy.
From the Arkansas Traveller.
What is on de outside oh man is de straw.
but what is on de inside is de grain