#28 Food

People eat for many different reasons. It's been said that some people eat till they are full. Some eat till they fall asleep. Well, if that's the case, then Hawaiians eat till they pass out. That's probably how we got the pidgin term, "choke." Some braddah was eating at a luau, as usual, when suddenly he passed out from the lack of any oxygen to his brain. He choked because he ate so much food. What can we say, we love food. It doesn't matter what kind as long as it has the three main ingredients: taste, color and enough of it to fill half the plate.

Hawaiians eat all kinds of food. Beef, poultry, Seafood, Dry food, Cajun food, Mexican, Filipino, Chinese, Korean, African, Mediterranean, Atkins, South Beach, Jenny Craig, Costco, can goods, etc. are all good foods for us. We eat SPAM, corn beef, tuna and even rice at every meal.

Hawaiians love food so much it's become portable. Not to be confused with fast, because often times it's not very fast. We came up with the plate lunch after the Japanese taught us about making bentos. See, bento portions were made to keep the person that eats the bento slim, trim and efficient at getting back to work. Plate lunches give its eater a more satisfying feeling closer to that of one healthy helping at a luau, bar-b-que or potluck.
To hear a Hawaiian say they don't like that kind of food is really incredible. With all the starving homeless people in our state who can really afford to be so choosy in the kinds of food we like or rather not prefer.
Staying Hawaiian means loving all kinds of food.

If you're in Hawaii, 5 foods you cannot miss:

1. The bento roll at Paauilo Store on the Big Island, Hamakua Coast between Honoka'a and Laupahoehoe.
2. Ted's bakery pies. At any grocery outlet
3. Leonard's Bakery Madasalas - On Kapahulu Ave. or if you can spot the Leonard's Wagon
4. Shave Ice with ice cream- it's a heavenly experience on a hot, humid and sweltering day; Town: Waihole Store near the Stadium Park on Waihole St. In the Country: Matsumoto's Shave Ice in the Historic Haleiwa town before the Rainbow bridge.
   
5. L-n-L's Plate Lunch; not hard to find

Correction:  #4:  The store to get good shave ice at in town is "Waiola Store" - Thanks for the correction MomD.