Time to bust out the 'buffet mu'u mu'u'

By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Columnist

It's happening this Saturday, but you may want to start getting ready now.

This will be the 30th year of the famed Kaumakapili Church lu'au, so it might do you good to pace yourself, skip a couple of lunches this week, make sure to iron your roomiest "buffet mu'u mu'u."

The official theme of Kaumakapili's Hawaiian food feast is "He Launa Pu Kakou: Together in Fellowship." But the unofficial theme is "eat till you tired."

Just looking at the numbers can make you weary: 2,350 meals, a nine-course menu, 250 people doing a week's worth of cooking. That's a lot of haupia.

Trevor Maunakea grew up in the church, working alongside his parents and grandparents in the lu'au preparations. He has gone from a little boy helping to throw away rubbish to the church president overseeing the entire event.

He has strong guidance from the old-timers, though. Some of the kupuna have been there since the first lu'au 30 years ago.

"They're still around, still working," Maunakea says. "They just can't lift like they used to, they can't mix poi like they used to."

Over the years, the recipes have changed. For example, the kalua pig is only lightly salted because, as Maunakea puts it, "People like to put their own salt. You can't go back from a salty pig."

Generally, the operation goes smoothly. The church members have been doing this so long, they know their numbers and they have a nice flow to the routine. But every once in a while, there's a snag. Maunakea recalls an " 'opihi crisis."

"The rule is, we give six pieces raw fish and six 'opihi, maybe seven if they're small. But instead of six maybe seven, people start giving seven, maybe eight."

I try to do the math in my head: 2,350 people served times six maybe seven 'opihi equals, uh, planny 'opihi. "So what? Where do you get the 'opihi from?" I ask. Maunakea stalls for time, "Uhhhhh ..."

"Secret 'opihi stash?" I ask. "Yeah," he laughs.

There's a lot of this good humor going around this week as the church families meet every day to scrub sweet potatoes, bake cakes, shred chicken for the long rice and chop tomatoes for the lomi salmon. It's hard work, but it's joyful work, the kind of thing that brings people together and makes them feel they're a part of something special and beautiful.

"We work together, and we enjoy each other's company," says Maunakea. "We hope that feeling translates into the food we prepare and into the people that eat it."

To order tickets for take-out ($15) or the sit-down dinner ($20), contact the church office at 845-0908.

And seriously, wear something loose.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Her e-mail address is lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.