Hawaii's Community Cookbook

Hawaii's Community Cookbook

Hawai‘i’s Community Cookbook has over 600 delicious recipes from the islands’ most treasured community cookbooks. Back in the day, most cooks did not keep written recipes. The community cookbook became a way to preserve culinary and cultural traditions from generation to generation. As more people arrived in the islands from other countries, they became neighbors and generously shared their food with each other. The cookbooks they compiled reflected Hawai‘i’s diverse communities and how different cuisines were melded. Some cookbooks were a proud statement of heritage. Some spread the mission for organizations of every type—schools, business groups, civic groups, churches, quilting guilds, choirs, hospitals, and more.

This anthology of recipes, selected from fifty community cookbooks, invites the home cook to a statewide potluck with an abundance of personality. There’s a delightful recipe, Moa Ma Pua Kala, written in pidgin English; a story about the joyous camaraderie between the Daughters of Hawai‘i paired with their recipe, Kikila Chicken, that seems too simple to be so delicious; recipes named after mom or dad or an auntie or uncle; recipes that won blue ribbons and broke-da-mouth. There are “old-fashioned” recipes that are popular again, like popovers and made-from-scratch breads and biscuits, chutneys and jams. There are neighborhood favorites like Chicken Hekka, Coconut Fish, and Pulehu Ribs and recipes for quick, easy-to-make meals like Beef Tomato, Mochiko Chicken, and Saimin. Salads, vegetable dishes, pupu, and desserts use island ingredients like ‘ulu (breadfruit), taro, ‘ohelo berries, liliko‘i, and more.

Try West Kaua‘i’s curry, Hilo’s Mango Brown Betty, Hana’s Paniola Barbecued Ribs, or Molokai’s Crab Soup. Your sense of home will expand and feel cozy at the same time.