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Rating: 
Summary: Well Researched, Good Resource
Review: It seems this book was born out of Laudan's attempt to categorize and make sense out of the foods in Hawaii. I was raised in Hawaii and grew up surrounded by the foods that Laudan presents in her book. Many of the local cookbooks put together and sold by Hawaii's churches, schools, and communities give you recipes from local home kitchens; nothing too fancy and usually no description of the dish, because it is assumed you know what the ingredients are and how they are used. More than a cookbook, Laudan has written well-researched histories of how various local foods have developed throughout the islands before each main and sub sections (The Plate Lunch, The Matter of Mochi, Sorting Out Sushi to name a few). And, she includes a brief explaination of the dish before each recipe. I bought this book hoping to shed some light on "crack seed" and how to make it. Unfortunately, it appears that she was able to get only the more well known recipes due to the fact that the main ingredient (oriental flowering apricot) is not widely available. This book is a good resource, if not for the recipes, then for the history of Hawaii's local food for both non-Hawaii and island cooks. One caveat: a recipe found in a cookbook is no more than a base on which to add/subtract/change ingredients as you see fit. There is no such thing as "The Recipe" for teriyaki sauce - recipes vary from home to home and island to island.
Rating: 
Summary: where's maui sherbert?
Review: Maui Sherbert 2 (7oz) cans strawberry soda AND 1 can sweetened condensed milk AND 1 (7oz) can 7-up Mix together and freeze for 3 hours. Whisk. Freeze again.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting to read, not the best recipes
Review: Reading this book brought memories of a childhood partially spent in Hawaii flooding back. Rachel Laudan definitely seems to cover a the broad array of unique goodies that can be found in Hawaii; for instance, Hawaii is the ONLY place to truly appreciate shaved ice and the potential myriad of delicious flavors. Unfortunately, however, the recipes don't quite live up to expectation. I can remember one of my earliest memories in Hawaii -- I had made friends w/ another little girl at the beach and her family invited me to share in their cooked-at-the-beach lunch of steamed rice and teriyaki beef. It was sooo good and not something that my mom cooked for ME at the beach! I've been looking to re-create that taste and memory for a while and Rachel Laudan's teriyaki recipe falls far, far short. Her butter mochi recipe is also very heavy and greasy for my tastes (and I love mochi). Nevertheless, it's a fascinating account of Hawaiian cooking. I just wish the recipes were excellent, too.
Rating:
Summary: where's maui sherbert?
Review: This book is not just thoroughly researched, but is very entertainingly written. For those of us who have been eating Local Food for years, but never really inquiring why we love it so, here is the unraveling of many a mystery. Our love of rice can be seen as a triumph of climate and culture, but the entire crack seed phenomenon is also excellently explored by an adventurous and appreciative non-Local. Thank you, Rachel Laudan, for opening up our history and unique culinary explorations.
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