The Pacific commercial advertiser., 1893-04-26

NNN"N ~ tttcsS ahSenCp from the inca Il
81 the aawaiians, the poi being eaten
eS thrasting the first or llrSt aud sec,
ana hngerS into the poi and after col,
te1ung sufficient quantity ot the
auheSlve paste ON to the finger oi
ongerS. with a rapid twitl the hand Is
wtthdrawn. and by a tieNtrous move.
mcnts which requires practice ON The
part OF the performer. the hand with
ITS burden Is conveyed 10 the mouth
where the poi Is sucked oif with a
snacRing sound Of the lips, indicative
81 the great guS,o with which IL is
consumed, According 10 the consist
ency 9t tho paste, whether thick or
thin, poi has humoiously been classed
into zone finger poiH and "two finger
poi, As Is the case with the China
man and Jap and their rice. the Ha-
waiian generally desires to have some
accompaniment or relish Ia eat along
with his poi. This may be raw fish.
or hit of pork, or igomona, a species
of Hawaiian chutney made from
roasted kukui nuts, pounded aud
mixed with salt, Seaweed or iinlli
and shelltish of different kinds are also
favorite side dishes.
Seeing that poi fills such an inn
portant part in the Hawaiian's daily
htil-of-fare, il is only 10 be expected
that he should be a connoisseur in
regaptto the taste and color, etc, of
the national dish. Ii il is nj all lumpy
il is puUpuu If imperfectly pounded
and the poi is full of small pieces of
the fibrous part of the tuher, il is
declared TO be oneone. IL too coarse,
ana not we'll worked up after pound
ing, il Is pluhumahH. : and il made
from diseased or inferior kalo, il is
said 10 be mokdckac, and so on.
White folks who sometimes, for n
change, indulge in little poi, prefer
il when it is fresh, but the natives
like it TO be somewhat sour or fer
mented, and some even have strong
partiality for very sour poi, or poi
akiG. In the sour condition, it is said
10 "go high" with raw fish,
The time when the fermenting or
Souring process begins varies greatly
with the amount of water worked into
the kalo; the more water there is in
the poi the quicker il becomes sour,
but, on an average, poi viii com-
mence to ferment and swell up
within twenty-four hours or so after
being made. In weeks time or less
it gets too soar even fcT the native
stomach to digest. From food poir /
of view, poi seems to be a gond fas-
former, judging by the huge, unwieldy
figures of the ancient chiefeSses; but
it does not seem to give much stamina
or grit to the native constitution.
OTHER USES FoR KALo.
The kalo. when boiled or baked, is
cut into slices and served as yeget-
able. In this form it is appreciated
by foreigners, being dry and mealy.
Taro or kalo cakes made out of cooked
kalo pounded and then fried is also a
favorite dish on the tables of white
folks.
A kind of pudding called "kuEolo 4"
is made from a mixture of cooked
kalo and cocoanut. 1t is very pleas
ant in taste, although a little of it at a
time will satisfy most people. kuloto
may also be made from tGFo -four,
the receipt for making same as issued
by the Hawaiian Fruit and Taro Com
psny is as follows: "Take six cups of
taro -four, four cups of cocoanut-milk,
four tablespoonsful oil sugar, CRATE fine
the meat of the eocoanut, mix all to-
gether well, put in deep dish well
buttered, and bake one hour in mode
rate oven. Eaten warm or cold, this
is delicious dish.''
kalo root, uncooked, is used as a
native medicine; kdLo piidliior EaIo
scraped fine and put in a bowl to-
leaves and stalks of pdihi or ihi (pig-
Ill h.
mixture is drank in certain cases of
sickness.
An excellent substitute for spinach
is obtained by gathering the young
leaves OF the kalo, and, after binding
them III the oven in the usual fashion
This is a favorite dish in the South
Sea Islands in places like Tonga or
by the name of ''palusami."
The punkaIo or kalo blossoms are
also cooked and have been likened to
young soft tops and blossoms is
called ohnEau.
The stalks (hoho) Of some kind OF
kalo are edible, more especially the
kind called ka-i, grown at Eva and
w Lut pun P4iS1 5lE1sFhE5 Va lAlLt1
have a sweetish taste. 1t may be
called Hawaiian rhubarb.
Poi being Of an adhesive nature, ii
Is therefore sometimes used as bat
ter for wall papering or for pasting
pictures, etc, into scrap books.
As a change, the kalo was grated
fine and then cooked in Xxi leaves. In
this form il is styled pieLe or pie
pfeTe.
In addition to being used az a food
for mankind, poi was also given by
the natives to the species Of dogs
which were fattened up in Olden times
and served a delicacy at banquets.
Different breeds Of these poi dogs
were recognized, such a. the ii, q
brown animal, and the otoned, with
hair or bristles like a pig, etc.
At the present day, the area of land
laid down In kalo is much smaller
than at the time Of the discovery 81
the Islands by Capt. Cook. This Il
accounted for chiefly by the great de-
crease I'm theHawaifan race. Much land
formerly devoted 10 kalo IL now rent
ed out to Chinese for rice plantations.
An example of this may be seen al
Waikiki where a considerable area oi
land, which at the date VI Vanc0u-
yer's visit 10 the Islands in 1923 was
set apart for kalo, IL now almost en-
/ tirely planted with rice.
Outside of Honolulu, the planting
VI kal0 is still In native hands, but IN
/ that city, the Chinese have entirely
/ hustled the native To one side. Apari
/ from a couple of establishments be-
/ longing 10 white firms they are the
only retailers 0f poi. A Law va;
/ passed several years ago by the Ha
waiian Legislature forbiddibg the