“Mixed Plate Soliloquoy” by ku‘ualoha ho‘omanawanui

Author Questions:

• Good food and good literature feed the mind and nourish the soul—how is the concept of memory intertwined with both?
• Hawai‘i is known for its diversity of languages as well as cuisines and mixed flavors—how does writing about food in multiple languages enhance (or affect) the reader’s experience?
• Language and food are essential aspects of any culture (and cultural identity). How does reading and writing about specific intersections of food and language lend to a better understanding of the history and politics of the place where cultures, languages, and foods are situated?

Hawai‘i is a melting pot they say
where all races melt seamlessly like wax
into the perfect golden man.

Hawai‘i is a big bubbling delicious pot of stew they say
where each culture retains its own chunky shape and color
like the meat and the vegetables in Tutu’s pot
adding their own flavors to the broth.

But me, I am a mixed plate special
a combination of flavors and spices
linking continents and oceans
native lands and foreign desires.

Some days, I am the raw cabbage, shredded,
at the bottom of the Styrofoam plate
soaking in the grease and ‘ono
from whatever lies above me, steaming.

Some days, I am the two scoops of sticky white rice,
fat starchy lumps, a gift from gods to Chinese ancestors
bland without accompaniment.
But without me, no plate is complete.

Some days, I am the macaroni salad, fattening and gooey.
A mix of tubed pasta and glistening mayo is for purists
but everyone has a secret ingredient to enhance the ‘ono—
Hawaiian chili peppa wadah brings out my flavahs!

Some days, I am the teri beef, thin sliced, charred on the edges
marinated in salty shoyu, sweet cane sugar,
and spicy ginger, smashed
infused with flavor from the sear of kiawe coals.

Some days I am the mahimahi
filleted, dredged in egg flour and fried
the subtle salt of the sea
oozes forth from my delicate juiciness.

I am a mixed plate special
satisfying the hunger, the craving, the ‘ono
the savory sweet sour salty spicy flavors of continents and oceans
sustenance of the ancestors landed on a styrofoam island.

© 2011 by ku‘ualoha ho‘omanawanui