The History of Five Local Grinds
Where did the Spam musubi originate? What does “manapua” mean? We traced the history of five Hawai‘i comfort food favorites all the way back to their earliest origins to decipher the roots of their modern-day multicultural appeal.
MALASADAS (pictured above)
The deep-fried, sugar-dusted fried-dough treat was brought to Hawaii with the 1878 arrival of Portuguese plantation laborers from the Madeira and Azores islands. But until Leonard Rego opened Leonard’s Bakery on O‘ahu in 1953, the crispy-on-the-outside, fluffy-on-the-inside pastry was rarely offered in local bakeries. The grandson of Portuguese immigrants, Rego began selling malasadas on Shrove Tuesday, the day before the start of Lent. Following his grandmother’s recipe, he whipped up a batch of the traditional Portuguese dessert. “The bakers didn’t think it was a good idea,” says Lenny Rego Jr., the founder’s son who now runs the bakery. “No one had heard of this malasada thing. But we did it anyway. And we’ve been selling them from that day on.” A lot of them, actually. While Leonard’s Bakery is one of the most well-known bakeries in Hawai‘i crafting fresh, warm malasadas all day, these days you can procure them everywhere—from the square malasadas of Tex Drive In in the Hawaii Island town of Honokaa to Lahaina’s Star Noodle on Maui where customers dip them in chocolate and caramel sauces. They’re also staples at many Hawaii fairs and carnivals.
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