Poi is a traditional staple food in the

Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...

n diet, made from

taro Taro () (''Colocasia esculenta)'' is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, and petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in Afri ...

. Traditional poi is produced by mashing cooked starch on a wooden pounding board, with a carved pestle made from basalt, calcite, coral or wood. Modern methods use an industrial food processor to produce large quantities for retail distribution. Water is added to the starch during mashing, and again just before eating, to achieve the desired consistency, which can range from highly

viscous The viscosity of a fluid is a measure of its resistance to deformation at a given rate. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of "thickness": for example, syrup has a higher viscosity than water. Viscosity quantifies the in ...

to liquid. In Hawaii, this is classified as either "one-finger", "two-finger", or "three-finger", alluding to how many fingers are required to scoop it up (the thicker the poi, the fewer fingers required to scoop a sufficient mouthful). Poi can be eaten immediately, when fresh and sweet, or left to

ferment Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food p ...

and become sour, developing a smell reminiscent of plain yoghurt. A layer of water on top can prevent fermenting poi from developing a crust.

History and culture

Poi is thought to have originated in the

Marquesas Islands The Marquesas Islands (; french: Îles Marquises or ' or '; Marquesan: ' (North Marquesan) and ' ( South Marquesan), both meaning "the land of men") are a group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in ...

, created some time after initial settlement from Polynesian explorers. While mashing food does occur in other parts of the Pacific, the method involved was more rudimentary. In Western Polynesia, the cooked starch was mashed in a wooden bowl using a makeshift pounder out of either the stem of a coconut leaf or a hard unripe breadfruit with several wooden pegs stuck into it. The origins of poi coincided with the development of basalt pounders in the Marquesas, which soon spread elsewhere in Eastern Polynesia, with the exception of New Zealand and Easter Island. Ring type and Pedestal type Poi Pounders found only on the Island of Kauai on display at the Kauai Museum

Ring type and Pedestal type Poi Pounders found only on the Island of Kauai on display at the Kauai Museum

Poi was considered such an important and sacred aspect of daily Hawaiian life that Hawaiians believed that the spirit of Hāloa, the legendary ancestor of the Hawaiian people, was present when a bowl of poi was uncovered for consumption at the family dinner table. Accordingly, all conflict among family members was required to come to an immediate halt. Although many of the world's people consume taro, only Hawaiians make poi. Hawaiians traditionally cook the starchy, potato-like heart of the taro corm for hours in an underground oven called an ''imu'', which is also used to cook other types of food such as pork, carrots, and sweet potatoes.

Fermentation

Poi has a paste-like texture and a delicate flavor when freshly prepared in the traditional manner, with a pale purple color that naturally comes from the taro corm. It has a smooth, creamy texture. The flavor changes distinctly once the poi has been made: fresh poi is sweet and edible; each day thereafter the poi loses sweetness and turns sour due to a natural fermentation that involves lactobacillus bacteria,

yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are estimated to constit ...

, and

Geotrichum Geotrichum is a genus of fungi found worldwide in soil, water, air, and sewage, as well as in plants, cereals, and dairy products; it is also commonly found in normal human flora and is isolated from sputum and feces. It was first described in ...

fungi. Therefore, some people find fermented poi more palatable if it is mixed with milk or sugar or both. The speed of this

fermentation Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food p ...

process depends upon the bacteria level present in the poi, but the souring process can be slowed by storing poi in a cool, dark location. To prepare commercial poi that has been stored in a refrigerator, it is squeezed out of the bag into a bowl (sometimes adding water), and a thin layer of water is put over the part exposed to air to keep a crust from forming on top. New commercial preparations of poi require refrigeration, but stay fresh longer and taste sweeter. Sour poi is still edible but may be less palatable, and is usually served with

salted fish Salted fish, such as kippered herring or dried and salted cod, is fish cured with dry salt and thus preserved for later eating. Drying or salting, either with dry salt or with brine, was the only widely available method of preserving fish unt ...

or Hawaiian lomi salmon on the side (as in the lyrics "my fish and poi"). Sourness can be prevented by freezing or dehydrating fresh poi, although the resulting poi after defrosting or rehydrating tends to taste bland when compared to the fresh product. Sour poi has an additional use as a cooking ingredient with a sour flavor (similar to

buttermilk Buttermilk is a fermented dairy drink. Traditionally, it was the liquid left behind after churning butter out of cultured cream. As most modern butter in western countries is not made with cultured cream but uncultured sweet cream, most m ...

), usually in breads and rolls.

Nutrition and dietary and medical uses

Taro is low in fat, high in

vitamin A Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin and an essential nutrient for humans. It is a group of organic compounds that includes retinol, retinal (also known as retinaldehyde), retinoic acid, and several provitamin A carotenoids (most notably ...

, and abounds in complex carbohydrates."Powered By Poi"
'' Maui No Ka 'Oi Magazine'' Vol.11 No.4 (July 2007) Poi has been used specifically as a milk substitute for babies, or as a

baby food Baby food is any soft easily consumed food other than breastmilk or infant formula that is made specifically for human babies between four and six months and two years old. The food comes in many varieties and flavors that are purchased ready-ma ...

. It is supposed to be easy to digest. It contains no gluten, making it safe to eat for people who have celiac disease or a gluten intolerance.

Citations

General and cited references

* Sky Barnhart
"Powered by Poi Kalo, a Legendary Plant, Has Deep Roots in Hawaiian Culture"
''NO KA 'OI Maui Magazine'', July/August 2007. Retrieved on 13 November 2012. * Amy C. Brown and Ana Valiere
"The Medicinal Uses of Poi"
The National Center for Biotechnology Information, 23 June 2006. Retrieved on 13 November 2012. * Pamela Noeau Day
"Poi – The Ancient 'New' Superfood"
POI, 22 December 2009. Retrieved on 11 November 2012. * Stacy Yuen Hernandez
''Got Poi? The Original Hawaiian Diet''
POI, 24 March 2009. Retrieved on 11 November 2012. * Marcia Z. Mager
''What Is Poi Anyway?''
POI, 24 March 2009. Retrieved on 11 November 2012. * Craig W. Walsh
''Where Can I Buy Poi?''
POI, 26 May 2005. Retrieved on 12 November 2012.

External links