The Hawaiian Islands are some of the most recent and some of the most isolated islands on earth. Before the arrival of the first populations, the islands essentially grew nothing edible. Everything that the people of Hawaii eat has been brought in or introduced since then. | Chapter 11 The Cuisine of Hawaii American Regional Cuisine The Hawaiian Islands are some of the most recent and some of the most isolated islands on earth. Before the arrival of the first populations, the islands essentially grew nothing edible. Everything that the people of Hawaii eat has been brought in or introduced since then. From the Pacific Islanders who first reached the Hawaiian Islands, followed by the European voyages of discovery, to the migration of laborers to the sugar plantations, and now the focus on foods grown in the Islands, Hawaii offers a transparent look at the development of a society and a cuisine. Hawaii is “The Aloha State.” The word aloha means both “hello” and “good-bye.” The state fish is the humuhumunukunuku apuaa (the Hawaiian alphabet has only 12 letters: a, e, i, o, u, h, k, l, m, n, p, and w), also known as the rectangular triggerfish. History of the Islands History of the Islands Cont. The people who first lived in this part of the world are called “Polynesians;” the name means “people of the many islands.” Hawaii is a chain of 132 islands that extend for more than 1,500 miles. The eight main islands are Hawaii (the Big Island), Maui, Oahu, Kauai, Molokai, Lanai, Nihau, and Kahoolawe. The islands have absorbed wave after wave of immigrants bringing bits and pieces from their homelands to create a unique people of blended ancestry. In addition to those of Polynesian descent and whites and blacks from the mainland United States, Hawaii’s population includes people of Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, and Portuguese ancestry. All have contributed customs to what has become Hawaiian culture. First Visitors In the late 1700s, Captain James Cook of the British Navy, searching for the Northwest Passage to lead from Europe to Asia, discovered Hawaii. During the early 19th century, the Hawaiian Islands were ruled by four chiefs. But in the 1780s, Kamehameha I—the ruling chief of Hawaii Island—defeated the other chiefs and united the . | Chapter 11 The Cuisine of Hawaii American Regional Cuisine The Hawaiian Islands are some of the most recent and some of the most isolated islands on earth. Before the arrival of the first populations, the islands essentially grew nothing edible. Everything that the people of Hawaii eat has been brought in or introduced since then. From the Pacific Islanders who first reached the Hawaiian Islands, followed by the European voyages of discovery, to the migration of laborers to the sugar plantations, and now the focus on foods grown in the Islands, Hawaii offers a transparent look at the development of a society and a cuisine. Hawaii is “The Aloha State.” The word aloha means both “hello” and “good-bye.” The state fish is the humuhumunukunuku apuaa (the Hawaiian alphabet has only 12 letters: a, e, i, o, u, h, k, l, m, n, p, and w), also known as the rectangular triggerfish. History of the Islands History of the Islands Cont. The people who first lived in this part of the world are called
