Nearly everyday, people come into the bookstore asking for “Hawaiian” cookbooks—which we have, of course.
However, for quite some time it seems Hawaiiian cookbooks have been somewhat divided in nature. Many of the professionally-published ones with pictures often contain only “chef-like” fancy dishes that most people who live in Hawaii don’t make (including those ones that simply add pineapple to a recipe to make it “Hawaiian”). Whereas most of the ones which contain all the genuine “local-style” recipes are usually those plastic-comb binding church or fundraiser no-picture cookbooks which are hard-to-find once their one-time printings are done.
It is interesting to watch people have difficulty picking between the two, because they want the authentic local recipes, but they also want a beautiful book with pictures that shows them what they are making.
Finally, one book has stepped in to bridge the gap: “Aloha Kitchen: Recipes From Hawaii” by Alana Kysar.
Presented in a larger hardcover format, “Aloha Kitchen” is truly a beautifully designed cookbook with incredible photography of every dish throughout its pages. Leafing through its pages is like walking through a gallery of photographic art. Truly impressive.
But what is more impressive are the recipes themselves. It contains all those cherished recipes that locals and visitors are looking for in a “Hawaiian” cookbook: chicken katsu, kalua pig, lau lau, kim chee, Portuguese bean soup, chicken adobo, spam musubi, malasadas, chicken long rice, butter mochi, haupia sweet potato bars, kulolo, lomi salmon, saimin, manapua, misoyaki butterfish, pickled mango, manju, lumpia, maki sushi, even mac salad—everything (and more) that you would find at a proper local luau!
We can think of no other cookbook which covers the gamut of Hawaii’s classic foods like this one.
If you want real recipes for what the locals eat—the real Hawaiian food—this is it!
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Ed Justus is the owner of Talk Story Bookstore in Hanapepe. Yuriko and Ed Justus are Kalaheo residents. Talk Story Bookstore is open daily, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and until 9 p.m. on Fridays.
