Mama Emelia Diaz won't tell even her own daughter the secret spices inside the family pastele recipe. But there they were together yesterday, dishing up the popular treat for some of the several thousand people visiting the 13th annual Hawaii Hispanic Heritage Festival at Kapi'olani Park.

"It's a recipe that was passed down to her from my grandmother," said Germaine Balutski, happy to take a quick break from the work line to talk while her mother — the namesake of the family "Mama Diaz's pasteles" business — kept loading plate after plate for eager festival visitors.

Like pasteles, a steamed combination of green bananas, pork and a special sauce that has become an Island favorite in the past decade or so, the Hispanic heritage keeps growing in Hawai'i.

Latest estimates put the number of people claiming Hispanic heritage in the state at about 100,000, or 8 percent of the population. That includes those who have been here for generations and recent arrivals from dozens of countries with Spanish-speaking backgrounds.

Nearly all of those backgrounds were on display at yesterday's festival. Judging by the number of T-shirts and flags moving among the food, entertainment and information booths, enthusiasts were on hand from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Ecuador, Cuba, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, Spain and many other places.

"The things we all have in common is a love of the culture, the dancing, the music, the food and the family," said Norma Koenig, a volunteer with Centro Hispano, a clearinghouse for information and help for the Hispanic community in Hawai'i.

The festival and community itself, she said, are a little like salsa, both the dance and the sauce: "It's made up of little bits of everything thrown together all at once."

For Monica Coeza, a 21-year-old University of Hawai'i psychology student who grew up in a Mexican family on Maui, the festival offered a chance to "get back in touch with her roots." While her family always spoke Spanish in the home, Coeza sometimes felt a little isolated from her culture in school and elsewhere.

"The opportunities are there to experience the culture, but you have to seek them out sometimes," she said. That's one of the reasons she was helping out at yesterday's festival. The other reason was that her UH Spanish teacher offered extra credit to those who attended.

Once dominated by those with Puerto Rican roots, the Hispanic community here, with an increasing number of Mexican and other immigrants, continues to evolve, just like Mama Diaz's new nacho pasteles, featuring tortilla chips.

There also are new newspapers, churches, radio shows, dances, restaurants and concerts all catering to the Hispanic community, leaders said.

Michael Gonzalez, who was grooving to the rhythms of a band called Latin Fire with his wife, Nathaly, and their 6-year-old son, Imanuel, said all those things helped him feel right at home when he moved to Hawai'i three months ago and found a culture very much like his own Puerto Rican one.

"You've got the emphasis on family and food, just like we do," he said. "Hawai'i is just like Puerto Rico, only with more money."

Reach Mike Leidemann at mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.