Hawaii journal: 2007 part 4

The Farmer’s Market in Hanalei specializes in tropical fruits – pineapple, mangos, some unpronounceable things, something that looks like grapefruit, lychee, tomatoes, some cucumbers, salad greens, mustard greens, bok choy, onions, odd looking sweet potatoes, and arts and crafts of various kinds, the most interesting of which were the bowls made of moli (meli?) and kau woods. The bowls are sculpted, very thin, with fascinating grain running through them. The loveliest one, which would be used as a salad bowl, I guess, cost $500.

Speaking off expensive things, a fisherman we talked to for a while says that Hawaii is getting so expensive that many people are retiring to Las Vegas. Interesting how we are supporting our children’s education, and our old people through the questionable proceeds of gambling. I have heard that Las Vegas has its charms, but it would be quite a letdown from Hawaii.

I asked in the fish store if the fish was fresh, and got an ambivalent answer about when they were cutting the fish. The man who had just delivered his catch engaged us in a long conversation. He fishes near Nihau, the island off the western coast of Kauai which is owned by the Robinson family. There are 250 Hawaiians living more or less as they have always lived on Nihau, supported in part by the Robinson family, and tourists are not allowed. Nobody but the residents and the Robinsons are allowed, in fact. Rumor has it that if courtesy doesn’t do the trick, some very large Hawaiians make their appearance to make sure nobody trespasses.

This fisherman fishes around, not on, the island. He says that ocean fish should be hung for three days before cutting them up. Eating them straight out of the sea results in a rubbery texture. The secret is that the fish must be put on ice the minute they are caught, and then “hung”(how you can hang something on ice I don’t know) for the three days, after which the meat has somehow matured and become more tasty. His favorite fish is sea bass, but very few are caught near Hawaii. They have mostly tuna of various kinds, shark, snappers, and some fish whose names were in Hawaiian and I have no idea what they were. We bought ahpoh and something I should have written down, but is something like musti ghaou. We’re hoping for the best. We can cook at the B&B. The other night we had a nice dinner of leftover restaurant bouillabaisse and grilled vegetables and fruits. It was delicious. Tonight it’s eggplant, cucumbers and tomatoes, a salad, and the mystery fish.

He says the dark meat tuna is good only for sushi. Cooked, it tastes like Chicken of the Sea. I agree. In his opinion albacore tuna isn’t good for anything at all. I might agree with that, too.

The plan now is to drive to Princeville (the 7^th most expensive vacation home community in the country) and watch the rich people while we have a drink on the terrace well known for sunset-watching. No eating there is planned.

I was tired of living in everybody else’s world and took a nap and lazed around this morning. We then watched the end of the Yankees-Mets game and just missed the Preakness, but saw a rerun. It felt good to do something we would ordinarily do at home. This might be a good night for a laze in the hot tub too.