Show FEASTING IN HAWAII abundant food prepared in a novel manner for one guests the following extract from a private letter written bom honolulu by dr george P andrews outlines a novel feast we have been having a festival week the semi centennial of bahu college ix number of alumni came home from the states among others general S C armstrong of hampton va and he gave us some grand talks on his work in the great school there rev william gulick and wife also are here from their twenty years work in spain the great feast was a novel sight an awning ot bails covered in a space about GO by feet under which were laid tables and the viands cooked a la hawaii were laid on them As provision was made for a thousand people an account of the cooking may be of interest there were provided forty five halt grown pigs two beeves chickens several hundred fish bushels of sweet potatoes etc the larger pigs were cut into fragments and tied in bundles of banana and drachma leaves of a pound or two weight each the beef was served in the same way also the chickens the smaller pigs were wrapped whole in the leaves preparations for the cooking were made the day before four holes were dug one 10 by 4 feet one 6 by 4 feet and the others about three feet wide and two feet deep A quantity of wood was placed in the grotto and upon this were placed large stones a foot deep one fire was lighted early in the mom ing of the day before and the second about 1 at 3 the wood was burned out and the bottom was a mass of red hot stones upon these were spread a layer of crushed fresh banana stems six inches thick and upon these were piled the small bundles of meat two or three feet high and the size of the hole over them was placed a mas of fresh banana leaves several inches thick over this matting and then dirt a foot thick and the was finished and left to steam until the next morning at 5 in the evening the big one was similarly filled with the remainder of the meat and the trussed pigs and also covered one can imagine what a delightful heat would bo brought to bear upon the contents of the and how delicately the contents would be cooked during the long hours of the night early in the morning of the feast day the two small imus were filled with the fish tied tip in leaves and sweet potatoes and covered the large ovens covered the day before were opened during the morning and the contents taken out and covered to keep hot the tables seated between and at a time poi the native food a paste made from the Calo cosen esculent um and soured was put in small watertight baskets along the center of each table so that four persona could reach each one with the fingers knives and forks are eschewed at a luan each table was also gay with crimson fleshed watermelons water melons cut in fancy shapes various relishes of raw sea urchins meat seaweed raw scrimps shrimps and pounded enkui nuts and salt conveniently at hand were fern leaves and the viands leaves geurds gourds and wooden bowls and platters the guests recline at their ease on the left side and eat with tha right hand each one has a bowl of fair water to cleanse the fingers the method of eating is not disgusting the natives use their fingers dexterously and daintily and not though they are rather gormand izing in their native state detroit free press |