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Natural History

THE NOBLE MACADAMIA NUT
(Macadamia integrifolia)

One of the treats Mainland folks enjoy receiving from Hawaii relatives is the succulent macadamia – whole, pieces, bits, roasted, unroasted, salted, unsalted, covered in chocolate, herbed or honeyed, incorporated in cookies, cakes, candies, and other sweets...the variations keep morphing into one more irresistible pupu. (Best of all, they’re good for you. They are high in fat, protein and carbohydrates and a good source of calcium, phosphorous, iron, thiamine, riboflavin and niacin.) The oil extracted from the nut is excellent as a cooking oil, and is good for your skin too.

The first macadamia trees, it is said, were planted in Honokaa on the Big Island in 1881 by William Purvis, a sugar plantation manager who brought the seedlings from Australia, where it flourished in the coastal rain forest regions of southern Queensland and northern South Wales. Over the years many trees were planted in private gardens, but for 40 years, the trees were grown in Hawaii (as in Australia) mainly for ornamental purposes. Its full, deeply green form, composed of wavery-edged, long leaves, dangling clusters of hundreds of tiny, fragrant white flowers followed by the smooth-skinned green husks covering the brown nuts were a beautiful adjunct to any garden large enough to accommodate the trees which can grow to 40 feet or more. The nickel-sized nuts were considered just too hard to crack. A standard nutcracker was not the answer.

Some old-timers remember putting the nuts under boards and then driving a car over the boards as the most efficient way to crack the shells. Island kids knew that you had to find THE special crack in a concrete sidewalk or an asphalt driveway that could hold the nut just so as you tapped it delicately or whopped it soundly with a hammer (depending on how good you were at hitting the seam just right). The trick was to get the nutmeat out whole without squashing it all flat or having half get stuck in a stubborn shell.

Now, of course, there are portable gadgets built like a squeezing vise that can take on the mighty mac and crunch that tough shell until the luscious nutmeat plops out. Since not even experts can tell when a nut is ripe on the tree, those lucky enough to still have a tree in their yard just wait for the nuts to fall to the ground. (Country folks often have to beat the rats to the nuts. Even those tough shells are not strong enough to keep the rodents from partying.)

The research and experimentation necessary to make the commercially viable as a crop began as early as 1892. In 1916, the Honokaa Sugar Company on the Big Island planted the trees as a reforestation project and, as their value became apparent, developed these plantings into a major orchard. Another company, established in 1922, planted one orchard on the slopes of Tantalus overlooking Honolulu, and another in the Kona District of Hawaii. During the 1930’s there was enough production for small commercial sale of the nuts in the islands.

The first grafted orchards were planted between 1938 and 1941 and by 1947 the Hawaii Agricultural Experiment Station had developed superior varieties of the tree which produced higher quality nuts larger quantities. After World War II, in 1948, Castle and Cooke planted an enormous, 1,000 acre orchard in the middle of an old lava flow at Keaau, near Hilo on the Big Island. Island agricultural research had found that lava, because of its porous nature and resulting good drainage makes an excellent vehicle for growing some crops provided there was adequate water. Castle and Cook also built the first nut-cracking and processing plant for Hawaii’s largest macadamia nut orchard. New plantings in other areas continued at a steady rate during the 1960’s and 1970’s. At first, it didn’t look like the trees were going to be worth much. They took so long to produce nuts. Some begin bearing when they are five years old, reaching good production at age 7 and full production at age 14. In time, the macadamia nut emerged as a major agricultural industry in Hawaii. Machinery was developed to suck up the nuts that fall to the ground, to husk them, and to remove the shells without crushing the meat inside.

In the 1980’s increasing numbers of trees were planted around Wailuku-Waiehu as unprofitable former sugar cane land became a macadamia nut forest. Unfortunately, the great Maui macadamia movement never quite got off the ground.

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Arts & Culture

THE STREETS OF LAHAINA TOWN

During the time of the first Kamehamehas, and at the time of the arrival of the missionaries on Maui in 1823, the streets in Lahaina had Hawaiian names. Present-day names came into effect at about the time the royal capital was being shifted to Honolulu, during the reign of Kamehameha III, King Kauikeaouli. The move was officially made in 1850.

The word for street is “alanui.” “Ala” means “path” or “way” and “alanui” means “big path” or “big way.” Front Street was known as Alanui Moi, or the King’s Road or Government Road. At that time, Lahaina was a village of some 2,400 persons who lived in a series of grass houses along Alanui Moi. It stretched from Mokuhinia Pond north to the neighborhood known today as Mala.

William Ellis, a missionary who arrived in 1823, wrote, “The appearance of Lahaina from the anchorage is singularly romantic and beautiful. A fine sandy beach stretches along the margin of the sea, lined for a considerable distance with houses, and adorned with shady clumps of kou trees, or waving groves of cocoa-nuts....

“The level land of the whole district for about three miles, is one continued garden, laid out in beds of taro, potatoes, yams, sugar cane or cloth plant. The lowly cottage of the farmer is seen peeping through the leaves of the luxurious plantain and banana tree, and in every direction white columns of smoke ascend, curling up among the wide-spreading branches of the breadfruit tree...”

Where the Pioneer Inn is located today in downtown Lahaina, there was once a large taro patch. This was King Kamehameha III’s personal taro patch which he daily tended himself to show the commoners “that common work has dignity.” It grew a few steps away from his father’s house in Lahaina.

Next to the royal house, was a brick “palace,” a modest two-story European-style structure made of bricks of Maui earth, fired in Lahaina. It was the first European style building in all of the islands, erected by order of King Kamehameha I in the early 1800’s, when he learned from his European and American visitors that Western buildings were not made of grass. The foundations of the structure are still visible today, a rectangular clearing in the grassy park in front of the Lahaina Library.

The building stood long enough to be used as a storehouse well into the 19th century. It had apparently been constructed by two ex-convicts from Botany Bay, Australia. Nonetheless, according to one source, the palace stood for 70 years despite many years of neglect.

When the palace was excavated in 1968, it was found that the weight of the upper building had long ago cracked the bricks in the lower part. The bricks in the foundations which are exposed to view today are fragments.

The structure was two stories tall and apparently divided into two rooms on each floor. Queen Kaahumanu, the King’s favorite wife, refused to live in this house because it was so confining and stuffy. They both lived in a grass house erected directly beside the brick one. The King used the building mostly to keep watch on the arriving ships.

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Braddah-Nics Lexicon

STANDARD:Would you please look at this?
BRADDAH-NICS: Try look.....

* * * * * *

STANDARD:That made us laugh a lot!
BRADDAH-NICS: Only bus' laugh, da kine!

* * * * * *

STANDARD: We had a nice conversation.
BRADDAH-NICS: Us guys was talking story. Was cool.

* * * * * *

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Local Grinds

GUAVA BANANA PIE

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sliced bananas 1 1/4 cups guava nectar 1/2 cup sugar 1 tablespoon lemon juice

3 tablespoons cornstarch 3 tablespoons cold water 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 baked pie shell

Procedure:

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Spotlight On….. Legend of Molokini

2 1/2 miles off the southern coast of Maui, the extinct volcano of Molokini sits peacefully in the pacific. Known worldwide as a prime destination for diving, with hundreds of species of marine life (some endemic to this spot) and clear calm waters, Molokini is one of the most beautiful places on the planet. But before the crater, there came the legend of Molokini . . .

Many moons ago, the Hawaiian warrior Lohi'au came to the attention of the fire goddess Pele. Through time, Pele fell in love with Lohi'au. But Lohi'au could not return her affections, for he himself had already fallen in love, and wed, the giant lizard Mo'o. Intensely jealous of Mo'o, Pele flew into a rage. If she could not have Lohi'au, nor could Mo'o. Pele attacked Mo'o, and in one swift blow, killed her. Pele subsequently tossed Mo'o's tail into the ocean, landing in and creating the place we now know as Molokini.

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