Luau Like a Local: The Easy Way

This delightful luau planner and cookbook honors the many influences that shape the cuisine of Hawaii. The islands have long welcomed people from around the world, and many foods of Asia are staples in Hawaii, along with Polynesian, Filipino, Spanish, Portuguese, and American dishes. An authentic luau is a global dining experience as well as a great party. The dishes offered in this cookbook make the most of the many cuisines of Hawaii, yet they are simple enough for mainland cooks to prepare easily, using ordinary ingredients found in many supermarkets. When special ingredients are required, JoAnn and Susanna Takasaki suggest the substitutions that they’ve come up with over the years. A Hawaiian luau brings friends and family together to enjoy food, music, and fun. It’s meant to be casual and lighthearted, an excuse for friends to spend time together and “talk story.” In Hawaii, a luau is usually a community effort. Every cook brings their favorite dish to make, the special recipe they know their friends like. Neighbors help dig the pit used to slow cook the pig. The hosts provide the setting for a casual outdoor party. The recipes in this book are time-tested and many have been passed down for generations. Each is well written and easy to follow, most accompanied by beautiful photographs. The authors have included extensive explanatory notes where needed and added entertaining commentary about particular recipes or their family history. The cookbook also includes shopping lists, online resources, and timetables for throwing a luau as effortlessly as possible. Readers will learn how to prepare traditional Hawaiian foods like kalua pig with sweet potatoes, lomi salmon, and poi. Guava cake is a favorite Hawaiian dessert, one that can be made from a mix or from scratch. On a luau dessert table, guava cake may be offered beside squares of sweet haupia, a firm coconut pudding with a Polynesian heritage. "The Hawaiians have incorporated many different dishes into what is now considered a traditional luau," the author explains. "This book has a little something from and for everyone, and you can mix and match as you please." Examples include recipes for Filipino-style adobo chicken wings and smoky-sweet yakitori (Japanese marinated chicken skewers). Luau Like a Local: The Easy Way offers easy yet authentic recipes for all the traditional luau dishes. Some recipes even come with instructions for making exciting new meals with the leftovers. Interested cooks can also make a true Hawaiian plate lunch with these recipes using scoops of Hawaiian white rice, macaroni salad, and an entree like pork or chicken laulau. Anyone who eats one of these lunches will think they are back in the islands. These authentic recipes are the real thing, gathered from a large extended family that loves to cook and entertain—without requiring anyone to dig up their backyard to throw a luau. They are recipes from a family that lived in many places outside Hawaii and often entertained with a luau wherever they lived. All are presented in delicious and easy-to-prepare ways so that anyone can put together the luau described in this book, anywhere. The purpose of a luau is to bring friends and family together and treat them well. This cookbook makes that easy. With it, you, too, can experience the joy of sharing the pleasures of the Hawaiian table.