Posted on: Friday, February 4, 2005
Punahou malassada costs more dough
By Will Hoover
Advertiser Staff Writer
For decades, the raging argument surrounding deep-fat-fried, sugar-coated Portuguese dough balls was how the heck you spell 'em — was it malassada or malasada?
Advertiser library photo "Outrageous!" exclaimed Bonnie Judd, erstwhile spokeswoman for Punahou School, on hearing the news. "The Punahou malassada was the last bastion for inflation."
True, the cost of corn flakes or the medium price of an O'ahu home might get stupefying. But the good ol' one-scrip malassada was a constant. Now, it's toast.
The malassada rumors were reluctantly confirmed by Punahou director of development Laurel Bowers Husain.
"It is a huge tradition that we would love to uphold," she said. "They've been on the midway for half a century. They've always cost one scrip."
Alas, economic reality rules. It was either raise the price of the 25-cent scrip, or double the price of the malassada
"It hurts to say it, but it's true," said Husain.
Ever upbeat, Judd offered some solace. If the two-scrip malassada is too much to bear, just look around for someone carrying a greasy bag, she said. It's filled with malassada.
"Everybody knows what the greasy bag is," she said. "Just reach in the bag and get one."
Nobody's going to say no.
Now comes the great malassada controversy of 2005 (and some of you will want to be sitting down for this): Today, for the very first time, the price of a malassada at the annual Punahou Carnival escalates to two scrip. That's a 100 percent increase.
Inflation hits hard — a malassada is now TWO scrip at the Punahou Carnival this weekend.
