page_title: Poi (food)
section_title: History and culture
hierarchical_section_title: Poi (food) / History and culture
caption_attribution_description: English: Hawaiian men pounding poi.
context_page_description: Poi is the primary traditional staple food in the native cuisine of Hawai`i, made from the underground stem of taro.
  Traditional poi is produced by mashing the cooked corm on a papa ku‘i ‘ai, a wooden pounding board, with a pōhaku ku‘i ‘ai, a carved basalt pestle. Modern methods use an industrial food processor to produce large quantities for retail distribution. Freshly pounded taro without the addition of water is called pa‘i ‘ai and is highly starchy and dough-like. Water is added to the pa‘i ‘ai during mashing, and again just before eating, to achieve the desired consistency, which can range from highly viscous to liquid. As such, poi can be classified as "one-finger", "two-finger", or "three-finger" depending on the consistency, alluding to how many fingers are required to scoop it up.
  Poi can be eaten immediately, when fresh and sweet, or left a bit longer to ferment and become sourer – it then develops a smell reminiscent of plain yoghurt. A layer of water on top can prevent fermenting poi from developing a crust.
context_section_description: Taro, a root vegetable thought to be native to Southern India and Southeast Asia and the primary poi ingredient, was highly regarded by Hawaiians, who believed that the taro plant (kalo) was the original ancestor of the Hawaiian people. Poi was considered such an important and sacred aspect of daily Hawaiian life that Hawaiians believed that the spirit of Hāloa, the legendary ancestor of the Hawaiian people, was present when a bowl of poi was uncovered for consumption at the family dinner table. Accordingly, all conflict among family members was required to come to an immediate halt.
  Although many of the world's people consume taro, only Hawaiians make poi. Hawaiians traditionally cook the starchy, potato-like heart of the taro corm for hours in an underground oven called an imu, which is also used to cook other types of food such as pork, carrots, and sweet potatoes.
  In recent years, taro-production shortages (from pests and labor shortages) have led to higher prices for poi in Hawaiʻi.  But at the same time, innovations in poi production have resulted in new formulations of poi that stay fresh longer and taste sweeter. However, such products generally sell at a premium price and require refrigeration, unlike traditional poi which can be kept unrefrigerated as it naturally ferments instead of spoiling.
caption: Hawaiian men pounding poi (c. 1890)
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