[ HOW TO... ]
Throw a retro luau
Richard Perry's vision of a luau is less about traditional values, more about "Gilligan's Island." Nary a laulau is in sight; instead he offers -- pea salad? Plus pages full of easy party dishes that encapsulate the idea of Hawaii for people who are not actually from Hawaii.
Perry's "Retro Luau: Planning the Perfect Polynesian Party" (Collector's Press, 2004, hardcover, $16.95) is part of a series of "Retro" books on topics such as breakfast, pies, barbecue, happy hour ... Not all are cookbooks -- there's even "Retro Housewife."
Perry, president and publisher of the Portland, Ore.,-based Collector's Press, defines "retro" as the period from the end of World War II to the 1960s. A frequent visitor to Hawaii since childhood, Perry is a collector of Hawaiiana known to dress in bold Hawaiian shirts in defiance of Portland's gray skies.
"I was a chef and I am a collector and I'm a publisher, and as an authentic lover of Hawaiian culture and lifestyle, it just seemed like a logical thing to bring all of it together."
The recipes are designed to be simple, using ingredients available on the mainland and unintimidating to those who might be frightened by poi. "The whole idea is to bring people together and have fun -- and to recognize the foods they're eating is always a good thing," Perry says. "It's about wearing your colorful shirts and bringing people together."
And why not? Who are we to be preachy about luau standards? Think color, sunshine and big laughs -- the world could always use more of all that.
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Do it yourself
Plan ahead: Make an invitation list 30 days before the event, sketch out the menu and start figuring out where you're going to get your decorations (hula skirts!), flowers (fresh or fake?), game accessories (limbo stick!) and other accoutrements (sand!). Hire a photographer, if you're going all-out. Send invitations three weeks early and call people who don't respond within a week. Seven days ahead, "iron and primp your outfit."
Set the scene: Decorate as though your life depended on it. Think fishing nets, shells, glass floats, coconuts and driftwood for the tables. Or, consider a banana leaf as a table runner. Or ti leaves and flowers. Or hula grass as table skirts (keep far from the tiki torches, which you may have to rent, so see previous suggestion, "plan ahead"). Don't forget to decorate the bathrooms, too -- you don't want your guests to lose the mood just because nature calls.
Many iIllustrations in "Retro Luau" are from author Richard Perry's Hawaiiana collection. For information on the book, visit www.collectorspress.com or call 800-423-1848.
Keep your guests busy: Offer sturdy blossoms (carnations are cheap) and pre-threaded needles so each guest can make a lei. You could also give hula lessons, even if you don't know how yourself. Perry provides a list of simple hand movements ("Love: Cross chest with arms"). Games are good, too, such as Coconut Bocce Ball: Paint a coconut red and place in the center of the yard. Let guests try to roll unpainted coconuts as close as possible to the red one.
Presentation is everything: Fill a kiddie pool -- or maybe a canoe! -- with ice and serve drinks out of it. Put potato chips in sand pails, make pineapple baskets for fruit salad, stock up on paper umbrellas for the mai tais. Consider placing a pineapple on the tables of special guests -- your elders, for example -- so you can call them to the buffet line first ("All those with a pineapple on their table ..."). Final touch: Set up a beach scene with sand, beach toys, perhaps a portable palm tree, as a "Kodak Moment" site.
Finally, the food: Perry does explain how to build an imu to kalua a pig (ambitious, even in Hawaii, where we understand the concept), but otherwise his recipes center largely on dishes made with pineapple and/or coconut. Sample spread: As an appetizer, Island Fruit Kebabs with pineapple, banana and papaya chunks marinated in pineapple juice; as an entrée, Drunken Coconut Shrimp with Pineapple Dipping Sauce; for dessert, Hawaiian Carrot Cake covered in coconut. You get the drift. "This is not a true historical luau recipe book," Perry says. "This is how to plan a perfect Polynesian party."
ABOUT TODAY'S PACKAGE
Magazine fronts are full of cover lines promising the same things every month. You'd think all we care about is how to be rich, thin, unstressed and beautiful.
This week, we attempt to answer life's most perplexing questions, which will free us to pursue more serious thoughts.
Here comes the disclaimer: We do not promise that any of the methods and practices contained within this issue will work universally. They are guidelines. As always, when seeking answers and advice, consult experts who can analyze your particular situation and come up with a custom solution.
ILLUSTRATIONS BY KIP AOKI
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