Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2015 June 2

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June 2

Hawaiian cuisine and pineapple

Here in Finland, a restaurant dish "Hawaiian style" usually means anything made from pork or chicken with pineapple, and possibly very mild chili sauce, on it. However, the article Cuisine of Hawaii claims that pineapple was first cultivated in Hawaii in the 19th century, after contact with the Europeans. Is the pineapple in any way an authentic part of Hawaiian cuisine or is it just an invention for the tourists? JIP | Talk 21:12, 2 June 2015 (UTC)

Do you consider the tomato to be an "authentic" part of Italian cuisine? Same deal, except Italians have had access to tomato a bit longer than Hawaiians have had access to pineapple. The fruit grows well there, they seem to like it, and they've had a few hundred years to work it in to their local cuisine. Compare spam musubi, which is distinctly Hawaiian, regardless of the fact that spam (and pork) are not native to HI. You may also be vindicated by reading Hawaiian_pizza, which was invented in Canada, not clear on if Hawaiians even really like it. SemanticMantis (talk) 21:47, 2 June 2015 (UTC)

Pigs are as native as people to Hawaii, having arrived together. Spam admittedly wandered in a bit later. Rmhermen (talk) 12:10, 3 June 2015 (UTC)

Also if I'm understanding [1] correctly, rice wasn't really introduced until the mid 19th century, after pineapples. Nil Einne (talk) 03:10, 4 June 2015 (UTC)

You can get pineapple on just about everything in Hawaii, but that doesn't mean that locals eat it. In an attempt to avoid being offensive, I must state that I only lived in Hawaii for three years and the native Hawaiians that I met were pretty much interested in nothing more than avoiding work and smoking pot. They ate pineapple because it grows wild across Oahu. Just pull over and get some. What they prefer is any meat (usually ham) with plenty of salt. So, for pizza, they want ham, bacon, pepperoni, sausage, etc... and then they add plenty of salt. I found it more palatable than the Philippinoes that I worked with. For them, everything was spicy chicken. Spicy chicken in eggs for breakfast. Spicy chicken on rice for lunch. Spicy chicken with vegetables for dinner. No pineapple. 209.149.115.214 (talk) 18:54, 4 June 2015 (UTC)