From Western contact, through the migration of Asian, European and South American workers in the 19th and 20th centuries, through the continued influx of new cultures to the larger local community, Hawai'i tables have been an ever-changing reflection of the Islands' diverse populace.
Far beyond the state's much-celebrated affection for Spam, a salty staple since World War II, local palates are equally well versed in such everyday fare as Hawaiian poi, Filipino adobo, Chinese dim sum, Portuguese sweet bread, Japanese tempura, Spanish empanada, Korean meat jun, Samoan palusami and many others.
And while the sight of kim chee and natto at the traditional Thanksgiving table might be jarring to some new arrivals, Island fare has often been a matter of synthesis as much as cobbling. Consider poke fried rice, Spam musubi, kalua pig quesadillas, for example.
The makeup of Hawai'i's take-out and casual dining scene offers an indication of the changing socioeconomic landscape as well, with Vietnamese pho shops filling the void left by the now-disappearing 1950s Japanese okazu-ya and saimin stands.
Yet, Hawai'i's eclectic tastes never translated to haute cuisine until the early 1990s when new movements like Hawai'i Regional Cuisine and Pacific Rim Cuisine entered the national consciousness.
Developed by renowned chefs like Roy Yamaguchi, Pacific Rim Cuisine features a fusion of Eastern, Western and Pacific ingredients and cooking styles, all plated with an artistic touch.
Hawai'i Regional Cuisine, founded in 1992 by Yamaguchi, Peter Merriman, Alan Wong, Sam Choy and others, puts an emphasis on high-quality, locally grown ingredients, hybrid cooking styles, and extreme cuisine makeovers of popular local dishes. Thus, greasy box comfort food like manapua were reimagined for fine-china presentation.
