St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1893-12-30

[NGTON, ST. TAMMl
LEARNING TO EAT POI
Aes.ha.g r.sss TEE tAs Nasss.al Dsi,s
stthe Sandwich lslnoAa
At your first meal says . letter frou
Hawaii You inquire hungrily for POI
, and there. b brought you . littl
wooden bowl or calabash containing
queer-looking grsyish sticky compoun'
resembling Paper-hanger's paste. Yo'
regard It as1Eance, and ask for Q spoon
but are told Il II TO be eaten with th
dngerA ,te
why, NO one could take that stuf
mp In their fingers" you gasp
%. yes. just soe," and into q com
panfon calabaah your instructor dip
TWO fingers, and with . twirl. only &C
quired BY long practice, withdraw,
them loaded with the compound, which
u st once transferred to his mouth and
swallowed, his countenance assuming
meantime IN expression of beatified
epicureanism. You do not know what
expression may have taken its abode
upon your visage, but you know your
principal sensation ID ono of simon.
pure horror.
Now, you try it." says Epicurus.
Tentatively you thrust one finger into
the mess and gather mp . minute dose
OF the delectable Wand. As you raise
1t toward your mouth your nose takes
cognizance Of . sour smell that har-
monizes perfectly with the appearance
OF the poi You close your eyes, and.
mentally breathing forth . devout
ejaculation. open your mouth and suck
the poi from your Angerr. by q sublime
effort Of will you keep your lips closed
over the mouthful, while your compan-
ION looks on interestedly, evidently cx-
Pecting to hear your palate scream with
delight Meanwhile your imaginat tion
ID working with lightning speed. The
POI Is cold and clammy. The poi tastes
like stale yeast; it stings your tongue.
and an unutterable disgust possesses
your soul You are sure you are going
to choke, though you know you dare
not and you figuratively take yourself
BY the throat and force yourself to
swallow the compound. You can trace
its progress through the esophagus by
the horrifed shudder that organ gives
- the mouthful passes along it; you
can hear the Wilt in your stomach
shrek N the frog-lile lump makes its
appearance among them. and you think
you are going to die then and there.
Don't you like it," your hear some one
say. You struggle back to conscious
ness and murmur your fear that you
are not educated 70 such . high point
of taste.
20. never nina" 10 the consolinR
reply. You'll be SO fond of it in q day
or two you can't keep house without it."
You know better than that, hut you
o6er no contradiction TO the assertion.
But II you would leave the islands
with conscience untainted BY poi you
must hold to your resolution to alb
stain from tasting the stuff again. This
will be difficult to do You will see all |
your scquaintances dipping into their
and hear them expetiatin1
on the delights of poi. and you begin |
70 aspire 70 taste again. You think |
about it by day and BY night. and at
ast you venture. fou take another |
'tep along the downward pathway.
As the poet has SO touchingly described:
You first endure, then pity, then EN-.
brace" the calabash.
Poi is . dish that must long remain
,eculiar to the Hawaiian islands-al.
Ways. in fact, unless some means are
'ontrived for preserving taro 30 that il
will stand export Poi is made from
sro. root resembling the turnip. It
rows in the water, with large, hand
ONE. green leaf, and Il is almost
astelesS. There is also an upland
aro cultivated in the mountains bv
he natives which has . more de-
ided taste. and which, as I learned
D my cost on tasting it raw, bites the
hroat like horseradish. The low taro
J the chief vegetable in the island, and
! early days constituted the natives
rincipal crop. When cooked il as-
ames . mottled gray and white sp-
earance very like the lava rock that
bounds every where in the islands. The
roeess Of manufacturing the poi is
aite . lengthy one. A great hole Is
ug in the ground, and into this the
NO roots are placed around piles of
ut stones. The earth il then heaped
rer the place and the taro left to
cam. When the taro is thoroughly
'oked, which operation often takes
veral hours, the roots are dug out
ysin, peeled. and put into . huge stone
in which they are pounded
pulp. This work Is performed by
'e men. 1t is IN arduous task. and
J hot day land nearly all days are I
It on the islands) the pounding Of poi
. scene over which il il desirab BILE To {
NV . veil. The poi poundef not only q
rms his bread by the sweat of his
ow, but mixes it - we'll largely with r
1t fluid. u
The poi Of commerce" ID now made 3
machinery. The natives, how. Il
er. still make their own. When a
z mass is thoroughly beaten and II
looth IL Is mixed with water to the
oper consistency, about like good II
lex paste, strained through . coarse .
'th, and set away for two or three a
Us, until It begins 70 ferment, when K
b ready TO b eaten. It then tastes RI
little like buttermilk, and is very nu- n
tious and wholesome. The natives I
! il by the gallon. Give the average d
tive big pot Of poi, half doeen IN
y ash, and . bottle Of gin, and you hi
y have the kingdom and the rest Of
. earth - well. He will squat upon Al
ground, break the head Oh one OF fr
. fish, take bite from It's raw side, Ii
X Il In . moathful Of poi, and wash m
. wh0le d0vvn NTH = svwn1Dov,v ~ r,;v, | ~