Lūʻau

A lūʻau (Hawaiian: lūʻau, also anglicized as "luau") is a traditional Hawaiian party or feast. It is usually accompanied by entertainment.

It often features Native Hawaiian cuisine with foods such as poi, kālua puaʻa (kālua pig), poke, lomi salmon, lomi oio, ʻopihi, and haupia. It is often accompanied with beer and entertainment such as traditional Hawaiian music, kanikapila, and hula.

Among people from Hawaiʻi, the ideas of "lūʻau" and "party" are often mixed. This results in graduation lūʻau, wedding lūʻau, baby lūʻau, and birthday lūʻau.

History

In ancient Hawaiʻi, men and women ate meals separately because of special rules called kapu. These rules affected many parts of daily life for Native Hawaiians. In 1819, King Kamehameha II changed this by eating with women, ending the kapu. This started a new time called ʻAi Noa, where everyone could eat together freely. This is when parties called lūʻau began. These were either small dinners named pāʻina or bigger feasts called ʻahaʻaina.

The word "lūʻau" was used as early as 1856. It described a celebration for the wedding of King Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma, where a special feast was prepared for the people.

Food

The name lūʻau comes from a special stew called lūʻau stew. This stew uses young taro leaves and may include octopus or chicken with coconut milk. The main dish at many lūʻau is kālua puaʻa, a whole pig cooked slowly in an imu, an earth oven. Another popular food is poi, made from taro roots.

Traditionally, these foods were eaten by hand, often while sitting on mats with decorations made of tī leaves (Cordyline fruticosa). Some common foods you might find at a lūʻau include:

• Chicken long rice
• Haupia
• ʻUala
• Hawaiian rolls
• Kālua puaʻa (Hawaiian roast pig)
• Kōʻelepālau
• Kūlolo
• Laulau
• Lūʻau stew
• Lomi ʻōʻio
• Lomi salmon
• Pepeieʻe
• Piele
• Poi
• Poke
• Tropical fruits

Lūʻau-themed parties

Lūʻau-themed parties can look very different depending on how much they follow Hawaiian traditions. Some parties might use special food from the islands, while others might just have artificial lei, Mai Tais, and a fun pool area.

To have a lūʻau-themed party, you need an open space like a backyard, since lūʻau are usually held outdoors under large tents. A lei is a common part of these parties. A lei is a necklace made from flowers, ferns, ti leaves, or kukui nuts, which are polished candlenut shells. Guests can often make their own lei to wear. Live music and entertainment, like kanikapila style with ukulele and guitar, are also popular. Sometimes there are even hula dancers.

Some people say Donn Beach helped make lūʻau popular in the United States. A Life article from 1946 showed one of his famous lūʻau in Encino, California.