Foodie Friday–Pounding Poi!

Happy Friday, folks! I hope you’re excited for the warm weekend ahead of us! For today’s Foodie Friday, Duke (our VP of Marketing and Branding) is going to tell us all about poi, a food he (sometimes unwillingly) ate growing up in Hawaii. Take it away, Duke!

“Rather than get into details about poi, basically it’s made from mashing the taro root, which is kind of like a purple-looking sweet potato. In Hawaiian the word is Kalo (sounds like Frida Kahlo) and is uniquely from the islands of Hawaii but may be found in other Pacific Polynesian islands.

I can tell you that growing up I did NOT like poi. Ewww! I have foggy memories of my grandma stuffing this in my mouth like a natural Gerber baby food. Later as I grew up, I would load it up with sugar; it was the only way I could eat it. Oddly, though, I loved to eat it in the more solid form, kind of like eating a sweet potato that you put in the microwave.

Growing up in Hawaii kind of mandates that you eat poi, and I would imagine it’s just un-Hawaiian to not have tasted it, eaten it, known what it is, and in my case have winced at the bitter taste of it as it slides down the pipes.

Looking back, though, I can say I’m glad I was a part of this yam-like snack we know as poi. To learn more about poi and the Kalo history click here.”

Also, here’s a short video clip of two “brahs” pounding poi at the Bishop Museum in Kalihi, Honolulu, island of Oahu, Hawaii: Pounding Poi (1)

Thanks, Duke! And now, a question for our readers: Have you ever tried poi??

(Have a recipe you’d like to share? Tell us about it and we’ll feature it on a Foodie Friday!)

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