Eat with me Q+A Paula Fuga
What makes the relationship between Hawai’i and food unique?
I think eating has a lot to do with the relationships around you. I don’t like to eat by myself. I like to eat with somebody. When somebody is called a calabash cousin, that comes from sharing a ‘umeke of food with someone else. For some people, food is an emotional thing. It all comes from when you’re born. You’re fed as a baby. Breast-fed babies are a lot closer to their mothers than bottle-fed babies. And that has a lot do with the connection we have emotionally with food.
Do you cook? What’s your specialty?
Of course I cook! I love to cook. My specialty is chili. I’ll put my chili up against anybody else’s chili any day.
Who makes the best plate lunch?
This place called Kent’s. I love their teriyaki beef plate lunch, and I’m not a big fan of teriyaki. Their ginger chicken is good, too.
Dessert at a restaurant: always, sometimes or never?
All depends on how full I am after dinner. Sometimes I get a virgin piÃ’a colada instead of dessert.
You’re on death row. Tomorrow is execution day. What’s your last meal?
My mom’s fried chicken.
It’s your birthday. Where do you want to eat?
Sorabol on Ke’eaumoku. The fish cake, the mushroom, the kalbi is really good. I hear their cold soup is really good, too.
It’s potluck. What do you bring?
It all depends on what I feel like eating at the time. I could bring anything. Potato salad to a pot of chili. Or a macadamia nut-encrusted blackened garlic ahi papaya salad with a homemade papaya seed dressing. That’s what I took to a friend’s birthday party recently.
You’re at an okazuya. What’s in your bento?
Ooh. Vegetable tempura, fried chicken, cone sushi, fish patty, kabocha.
What’s the strangest thing you’ve eaten?
Hmm. Probably a garlic ahi sandwich with guava jam. It was so good. I made it.
Coffee or tea? Cream and sugar?
Tea. Honey and lemon. I’m a singer, remember?
How do you like your eggs?
Hard scramble or over-medium.
What food/dish do you find totally revolting?
I refuse to eat tripe and fafaru, the fermented fish sauce from Tahiti.
If you’re at a friend’s house and they’re serving tripe, what do you do?
Well, if the tripe is in a stew, I’ll eat all the stuff in the stew but not the tripe.
If there’s only one thing you could eat for the rest of your life, what would it be?
It would be coconut.
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