Condiments
Recipes to enhance your reading of the Natalie Seachrist Hawaiian Mysteries
The following two recipes come from Caroline Farias, a friend and the subject of Conversations with Caroline Kuliaikanuʻukapu Wilcox DeLima Farias, A Series of Seven Hawaiian Oral History Interviews which were recorded between 1992 and 1993. The interviews express her reflections on family, Hawaiian culture, and life in upcountry Maui during the early twentieth century. Most were conducted in Auntie Carol’s home in Kāneʻohe, Hawaiʻi, on the island of Oʻahu. We were usually in a sitting room surrounded by antique koa furniture, heirloom furnishings, books, photographs, and a chiming clock. We were usually in her sitting room surrounded by antique koa furniture, heirloom furnishings, books, photographs, and a chiming clock. One of our very special conversations took place on land that once belonged to her family on the island of Maui, in the beachside community of Kalepolepo [now part of Kīhei]. Sadly, Auntie Carol passed from the family, friends and land she loved so much in 2001. Whenever I see a rainbow, I feel I've received a blessing from her enduring spirit!
Carol always prepared enough food to accommodate unexpected guests and never cared whether those guests arrived empty handed. But when they left, it was never empty handed. Food from the crowded buffet table, fruit, vegetables and flowers from her garden were all shared with love and an invitation to return soon. As I had difficulty in keeping orchids alive, let alone blooming, orchids I received as gifts would reside in Carol's screened orchid house for much of their lives. Periodically I would get a call saying, “Jeanne, your orchid plant is now waiting for you with beautiful blooms.”
Caroline Kuliaikanuʻukapu Wilcox DeLima Farias
Beloved Auntie Carol