Our friend Carol has been visiting the islands each winter for over a decade now. We have been having a wonderful time learning from each other - and I enjoy it when she tells me about local things she has learned from others. For instance, early on in her time here, one of her other friends invited her to a pot luck, and told her, "But don't bring any of that haole food!" - Meaning things like, chips and dip, tuna casserole, and the like.

This anecdote led to quite the discussion on intercultural visiting. For instance, I had no idea that in many areas of the Mainland, it would be considered insulting to bring food to a party. Here, it's insulting NOT to! Carol explained to me that in some areas the hostess would feel that perhaps you think she might not provide enough food. Here, it is simply an extension of the Hawaiian value of mahele - sharing.

We had a holiday party, and one of the guests from the mainland who came, walked in and announced, "Well, we knew you would be cooking a lot of food, so we didn't see any sense in bringing one of those fifty dollar sashimi platters, so we didn't bring anything." Aue! Since he was drinking plenty of beer, bringing a $7 six-pack would have been nice! The point is not to bring some hugely expensive or complicated dish, but to add something of your self to the happiness of the event.

Carol arrives with a simple dish, willing hands, and a kindly heart. She phones just before leaving her hale to ask if she might pick up anything on the way. And she has developed a wonderful chili dish for these events. It is so `ono that it is rather expected of her to bring it, and it is much in demand as the mea `ai for work crews at friends' homes! I asked her to make a pot up to photograph for this article. While she was shopping, I started building our new dining table, thinking that she and I would be pau about the same time. Well, she got back from shopping and had that chili cooked before I had finished measuring the wood!

Carol's Ono Chili

Brown the meat. While it is browning, chop the onion. When the meat is almost brown, throw in the onion and stir a bit. Then sprinkle on the seasoning packet and cook a few minutes longer. Add the kidney beans and tomatoes. Simmer. The longer you simmer it, the more flavor it will have.

This is great served the next day, or frozen to use when needed.

Carol was surprised to learn that here we eat chili over rice. She grew up eating her chili with cornbread, garlic bread, or tortillas.

If you would like to try it with cornbread, here is a recipe I like. It is not as sweet and cake-like as some, but it is very good with wet things like chili, or buttered and toasted.

Mix together the cornmeal, milk and sugar. Let set for at lest half an hour. I like to start the cornmeal soaking the day before, and put it in the fridge until needed. Beat the egg well, and add the shortening. Stir this into the cornmeal mix. Blend together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Preheat the oven to 425F degrees. Grease an 8" cake pan with oil, butter, bacon fat, lard, or whatever you like, and then put some dry corn meal in the pan. Shake it about a bit to evenly coat the pan with the meal. Spoon the batter into the pan and then bake it for about 20 minutes. To test, poke a clean, dry wooden toothpick into the center. If the toothpick comes out clean, the cornbread is done.

For a more robust cornbread, try adding a half cup of frozen or canned corn and a quarter cup of bacon cracklings. Or, you can stir in some salsa and grated cheese. Minced ripe avocado stirred in to the batter will give it a lovely richness, and is especially `ono toasted.

One of my own favorite pot-luck dishes is crockpot laulau. When I harvest my kalo, I like to boil and freeze all the extra lu`au. I also like to buy the other ingredients on sale and keep them in the freezer Then, when I want to make the crockpot laulau, I have everything I need.

Kalo

Remove the `iwi (center bone) from the la`i. Discard the `iwi and use the la`i to line the crock pot. Put about a 1" layer of lu`au in the bottom of the pot. Place a ½" layer of meat on the lu`au and cover that with a ½" layer of fowl. Sprinkle with a thin layer of butterfish. If you are using a local fish, you will want to make a thicker layer and add salt. Top with another inch of lu`au. Fold the la`i over the lu`au and put on the lid. Cook on low for at least four hours. This is a great dish to make the night before and have ready to take.

With the recent floods, kalo and lu`au are in short supply right now. But, you can still prepare this dish - collard greens make an excellent substitute for lu`au - even better than spinach!

Glossary
aue - exclamation of surprise, especially dismay
hale - house, home
haole - foreign, a Mainland person
`iwi - bone, midrib of a leaf
kalo - taro, the Hawaiian "Staff of Life"
la`i - leaf of the ki or ti plant
lau - leaf, thus, laulau - lots of leaves
lu`au - taro leaf, slang for pa`ina, a Hawaiian feast
mahele - share
mea `ai - food
`ono - delicious, tasty
pau - finished
pohaku - stones, rocks

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