Grindz - the Special Hawaii Food Edition

We are taking time out from our regularly scheduled vacation, to bring you this update on Local Food.

Let's begin with the word grindz - we have seen it in several places, not just coffeehouses, so Ron got curious about it - what could it mean? Turns out, it is a Hawaiian slang term for food.

Well, anyone who has ever been to Hawaii, or listened to certain ukulele songs, has heard of that paste-y staple, poi, may know that it is made from the taro root, and is eaten as a starchy side dish to pork, fish, or whatever. The taro root was brought to this island by the early Polynesian discoverers.

But, there are many more indigenous edibles, there will be no way to cover them all here, but we will share what we've learned so far, during our slightly-more-than-one-week stay. There are a lot of wild pigs roaming around this island, and the Hawaiians prepare their pork in a few different ways. So far, we have had pulled pork, which is prepared the same way we do back home. Although it is not served with barbecue sauce, and it may be wrapped up in a type of seaweed, which was explained to us to be sort of "Hawaiian spinach". We also had a type of smoked (we think) pork, that has been sliced into chunks and has a sweetness to it. It's really delicious. Ron found this at a roadside stand nearby (at the Miloli'i junction). Don't remember what it's called.

Yesterday we stopped at a roadside stand called "The Hotdog Guy". Mari had an all-beef hotdog, and instead of going with her usual mustard and ketchup (sorry Chicago-dog fans), she tried the lilikoi-ghost chili sauce.  Lilikoi is the local name for passionfruit. It was delicious - and reminded her of jalapeno jelly she once made. Ron had the reindeer dog. Yes, reindeer - all the way from Alaska, just like the owner of the stand. He is looking forward to opening a stand at the Home Depot in Hilo next year.

Most visitors are shocked by the high prices of most groceries on the islands. But, if you love fish, you are in for a real treat, because there are all sorts available. When down at South Point last week, we saw a bunch of silver fish jump out of the water together. There were fishermen there at the time. Not sure if any of them caught these fish, but we think they were working on it. We think they are the ones called opelu - or a type of mackerel. You can buy dried opelu at roadside stands.

At the local grocery store, Mari decided to try some different bananas. The yellow ones in the photo are apple-bananas, and they have a tangy character to them. The green-and-white striped ones can be eaten raw, or fried in oil just like plantain. We are going to try that for supper tonight.

In addition to some larger grocery stores, mostly in the larger towns, there are many many small mom-and-pop stores. They can be found in the small towns as well as along the roadside. People also sell dried fish and fresh fruit at many roadside stands.

Kona has a reputation for its coffee, and there is a lot of it everywhere around. Around the southern tip, you get into another region, known as Kau. They also grow coffee, and it is slightly more "rough" tasting. I am not as big a coffee-drinker as Ron, so I couldn't tell much difference - I just put cream and sweetener in it like always, and it all tastes about the same. (Alright, I will admit that Ron has a pretty good coffee-making process at home - and it is the best coffee I've ever had.)

We keep seeing signs stating "Cherry-pickers wanted". I had to think about it for awhile, but do you suppose they mean coffee-cherries?

Also- there is a "Help Wanted" sign up the road at the Macadamia nut farm, if you know of anyone who wants a job on the Big Island!

We haven't tried the local wine yet, but were quite surprised to find out that there is some. At the higher elevation on the east side of the island you can get "Volcano Wine". They add other fruit to it besides grapes. So, you can get Hawaiian guava-grape wine, or macadamia nut-honey wine. The volcano-red wine has jaboticaba berries blended into it. The "Symphony Mele" white wine is comprised of 100% Symphony grapes, which were bred in California to be grown in hot regions.

At the top of the hill to our neighborhood, where all the mailboxes are located, there is a cardboard box that simply says "Fruit". Apparently, you can "take a fruit or leave fruit". There was a ripe lemon in there the other day. We've been eating fresh avocados that fall from the tree onto our deck almost daily. There is also a passionfruit vine that has given us a couple of fruits so far.

There is much more we could write about local foods, and we probably will include those in future posts.  In the meantime, may all your meals be tasty.