Imo Ceremony, Smith’s Luau, Kapa’a, Kaua’i (Photo by Kristin)

Cousin, Rob & Sarah at the Luau Buffet, Smith’s Luau, Kapa’a, Kaua’i

Dallas Learning to Hula, Smith’s Luau, Kapa’a, Kaua’i (Photo by Rob)

Dallas, Kristin, Cousin, Rob, Sarah :: Smith’s Luau, Kapa’a, Kaua’i

Tahitian Dancers, Smith’s Luau, Kapa’a, Kaua’i (Photo by Kristin)

Dancers, Smith’s Luau, Kapa’a, Kaua’i (Photo by Kristin)

Monday night we went to Smith’s Luau. First thing on the schedule was to attend the Imu Ceremony. It is here that we meet the Smith family, who despite their English name, have a long Hawaiian history. Grandma Smith waves at us, she is 97 years old. Next starts the ceremony. The imu is the underground oven that is used to make Kalua pork for the Luau. The meat is seasoned with Hawaiian sea salt and placed in the Imu. It is then surrounded with banana leaves, which produce a smoke flavor that is called Kalua. The imu is usually about 4-6 feet deep and is lined with lava rocks that get and stay very hot for a very long time. A fire is set and the food is placed inside, covered with banana leaves and other vegetation. This produces a cover and seals in flavors.

There is a short wait while the Smith’s prepare the meat from the imu. We take advantage of this time to start drinking our unlimited supply of mai tais that are included in the price of the luau. We plan a strategy since we know we are going to be cut off the free mai tais in about 1 1/2 hours and also since it is a Hawaiian law that you can only have one drink per person at a time.

When we get to the food it is amazing and abundant. The pork is excellent, as is the beef, and most everything else. I liked the sweet potatoes which were surprisingly purple in color. I tried poi for the first time. Poi is a kind of purplish pudding made from taro. It wasn’t very good. Dallas doesn’t even like it.. which I translate to mean that the haolies don’t have to pretend they do! Everything else in the buffet was excellent. I was introduced to Papaya seed dressing for the first time and loved it. I ended up buying some later on to take home with me.

During dinner we were entertained by some Hawaiian musicians and after dinner they taught people who were selected from the audience how to hula. Somehow Dallas got chosen, which is suspect.. but was very funny. We had a great time laughing at him as he hulaed with the little girls and drunk tourists.

Next we walked through the Smith’s beautiful gardens to the ampitheater to see the International Pageant. Here we saw performances by each of the ethnic groups who have come to call Hawaii home. Each of these groups also did dances - Tahiti, Hawaii, China, Japan, the Phillipines, New Zealand, and Samoa. My favorite were the Tahitian headresses, the dance with the flaming poi balls, the huli huli dance with the flowered rattles and when, during the Phillipino ceremony this guy was supposed to be demonstrating how to put a chicken to sleep and it just wasn’t tired I guess. It took a while and made for a nervous moment in the spotlight. We joked for the rest of vacation that at the end the guy just snapped the chicken’s neck.

On the way home from the Luau we stopped to get gas. The gas prices in Kaua’i are about $2.50/gallon plus a $0.47/gallon tax. Expensive!

See also:
» Dallas’ Dancing Lesson 1 (.mov, 960k)
» Dallas’ Dancing Lesson 2 (.mov, 956k)
» Smith’s Luau (oFoto Album)

Previous Hawaii Posts:
» Cousin
» Spouting Horn & Laiwai Beach - Koloa, Kaua’i
» La Playita Azul - Kapa’a, Kua’i
» Brunch at the Hyatt Regency Kauai Resort
» Our Condo in Poipu, Kaua’i
» Airports