Our First Hawaiian Thanksgiving

Our first Hawaiian Thanksgiving was awesome. It was super relaxed, made several new friends, and the food was wonderful. The favorite item of the evening was the turkey cooked in a imu (pronounced emu, like the bird). Anyone who has been to a Hawaiian Luau has seen an imu pit. At a tourist luau however, they cook a whole pig. I remember the luau I went to with my grandma and grandpa as a kid and not being too excited about it. Much different when the main dinner item still has the head attached though...

Since we only saw the end of the process, I had to do a bit of research into exactly how an imu is constructed and for that matter, spelled. Here's what I found:

First you start with a huge bonfire in the pit. The pit also contains lava rocks. Next, most of the unburned wood is removed from the pit, leaving only the glowing red hot lava rocks. The lava rocks are then spread out evenly over the bottom of the pit. On top of the rocks you layer chopped up banana stump. Banana stump is mostly water and provided the steam to cook the food. The next layer is banana leaf, then ti leaf. Now comes the food. On top of the food is another layer of ti leaf, then more banana leaf. The next layer is wet burlap sacks, which is then covered by a thick plastic tarp. Finally, dirt is put over the plastic tarp around the edges to seal it in.

The cooked leaves and stump provides a very distinctive smoky flavor to the meat and the slow, steamy way in which the bird is cooked made the most tender turkey I have every had. Amazing.

So back the the day. After a relaxing and exciting morning (see previous entry about the earthquake), the three of us piled in the car to head up to the North Shore. We took the scenic route along the windward side. Really nice drive. The waves were pretty big on the shore so we decided to pull of so Tanner could watch the surfers. Very cool. Continuing on we navigated up the hill to Billy and Dawn's house. They are friends of Dave and Liz's and very graciously allowed us to crash their thanksgiving.

It was not the large family affair we've grown used to in Michigan but rather a small potluck gathering of friends that was very relaxed. First let me say that Billy and Dawn have a killer place. It's on an acre of land in a neighborhood where every lot is about that size. Very "country" by Hawaiian standards. The main house is an A-frame that they are currently renovating and expanding. Judging by the work so far, I'm very interested in the final product. There is also a guest house as well as a tree house any kid would die for complete with it's own deck and a pulley system. Very cool.

We arrived early afternoon and just hung out and relaxed with Liz & Dave, Billy & Dawn, and their two daughters Amber and Sierra both of whom Tanner was infatuated with by day's end. The stream of tears that lasted half the trip home was evidence enough. Slowly more of their friends filtered in and by early evening, we gathered around the imu pit to unveil the turkey. It wasn't long after that that we all grabbed plates and dug in. Following the feast we hurried down to the beach to catch the tail end of the sunset while the munchkins climbed on the rocks. Another hour or so later and we were on our way home. Good food, great new friends, and very thankful to be living in such a beautiful and WARM place!

The pictures...

Removing the tarp

Removing the burlap

"Mom, isn't there going to be dirt in the food?"

The banana leaves

There's a turkey in here somewhere...

"Mom, it smells really bad!"

Our buffet\dining table out on the Lanai (porch)

Tanner's SECOND full plate

Tanner with the girls on the rocks at sunset