Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1897-07-08
POI FROM HAWAII.
Native Kanaka Food to Be Tried
in This Country.


A dispatch from San Francisco an
nounces the arrival at that port of
consignment Of poi for the Chicago
market. There are 200 bags of stuff
1t comes in the form of -four.
This is the first shipment of poi to
the United States, though the name is
familiar to most persons, by reason of
the great volume of transformation
that has been published about it.
AS matter of fact, poi is porridge.
made of -four obtained by grinding the
roots of tara, or taro. This latter is a
plant grown in most Of the Polynesian
islands, especially in Hawaii. Its
scientific name is alocasia macrorhiza,
but that is never whispered in Hawaii.
being not necessarily for publication.
but merely a guarantee of good faith.
The plant grows to the height of about
two feet in small beds, which are so con-
structed that they may be flooded. as
rice fields are. The tops are used by the
natives as pot herbs, but the root of
the matter" as the Scotch preachers
say, is the portion underground whence
comes the poi.
The process of acclimating poi in
America should be watched with inter-
est. This is the age when good house,
wife is expected to serve to her dys-
peptic husband new cereal for break
fast every morning in the year, as the
wife of the Bedouin Arab was expected
to regale her lord and master In respect
of the date.
To the distracted housewife poi will
come as boon. True, it is not cereal.
strictly speaking, but it is a practical
foundation for ''mush," and that is the
main thing. Persons suffering from 4
certain class Of disorders, including
some dyspeptics, may not toy with poi
because of its excessive richness in
starch, but in the main the stuff is harm
less-as witness the splendid health of
the Hawaiians-at least before the mis-
sionaries came.
A very pretty sight it was in those
days to observe the pretty Kanaka girls
in primeyal grab grinding the tara root
upon stone as the wife of the Mexican
peon still grinds the corn for her hus-
bands rejection. At least / am told so.
In my day at Honolulu the native wom-
en- wore Mother Hubbards," and were
already civilized to the point of dis
liking housework.
Still there was plenty of poi to be had
and still is, doubtless. 1t is served
for breakfast at the Royal Hawaiian
hotel-which hostelry must. of course.
have a new and republican name by
this time. And there I had my first
taste Of the stuff. II was served after
the oranges delightful oranges of
Qnahol-and I saw the resident whites
feeding their portions with cream and
covering II With sugar. They said they
liked it. but admitted 1t was an acquired
taste.
did not stay long enough to acquire
the taste. The mush was pinkish in
hue-a most unhealthy looking pink
and sickish in taste. was content to
be able to say / had tasted it The
Kanakas may have It for all of me-
but there is no accounting for tastes.
Later on / had the fortune to en-
counter poi In circumstances much more
nearly au naturel. This was at luau,
or feast given by his majesty, the late
Kalagaua, of insanity, but most jovial
memory. This was on the Wa-ki-lSi
beach, paradise, whore eating Is a
proclamation, except by the kings or
ders, anyway.
At this function poi was served. as on
the table of the lowliest native, in Jar
of rough ware, and eaten, as the lowly
natives eat it-with the finger. Notice
not fingers, but finger. The index
digit of the right hand thrust into the
pink and quivering mess, bent at the
proper angle, turned about and then
brought forth, with a portion Of the poi
adhering to the upper joint, by which
1T was thrust into the mouth.
Looking back at 1t the process seems
well, yes, nasty. But at the time, as
remember, 1t was not SO, but, indeed,
quite the contrary. Tastes change as
well as differ-it may be that.-N. Y.
Herald.