Celebrating Hawaii’s Statehood : A Great Luau Depends Only on the Hostess’s Imagination

Although it seems like any excuse would do for a luau, such tropical-themed outdoor celebrations should be in full bloom this weekend, because Monday is the 30th anniversary of Hawaii’s statehood.

With plenty of resources at local party-favor shops and ethnic grocery stores--perhaps catering to the 150,000 estimated Hawaiians in Los Angeles--Angelenos can easily bring a little of the 50th state into their neck of the tropics. Just fill up the back yard or patio with flowers, palms and lots of greenery, and bring a little ingenuity, an easy, hang-loose attitude and plenty of aloha, which translates into “love� as well as “hello� and “goodby.�

“It (a luau) is our way of being together, sharing with loved ones and just having a good time,� said Loretta Mangold, an organizer of luau shows for 20 years, who hosts elaborate ones of her own. “It’s very relaxed; living is much slower. The people are always close to nature--the sand and the ocean.�

With Los Angeles about 2,500 miles from the islands, luaus here may be of a more mainland variety.

‘You Have to Adapt

“You have to adapt to whatever’s available in your environment,� said Honolulu native Carmen Postrzech, co-founder and president of the 18-year-old San Fernando Valley Hawaiian Club.

According to Mangold, whose Playa del Rey patio is decked with papayas, plumerias, a macadamia nut tree, ginger, taro, a ti bush and other exotic plants native to the islands, “You can’t have too many decorations--especially greenery.�

First, scout your yard and the yards of your friendly neighbors for flowers and shrubbery, or visit a flower shop or the downtown flower mart. While carnations, Boston ferns, gardenias and orchids are the most tropic-like, Doris Keawe, luau chairwoman for the Wilmington-based L.A. Polynesian Society, insists that “whatever you can get your hands on is fine.� Yellow hibiscus is the state flower of Hawaii, but Postrzech doesn’t recommend them for evening luaus because “they close at the end of the day.�

One might also visit a party-goods or stationery store for invitations to match the tropical theme, along with napkins and plates. Other luau paper novelties include cardboard cut-outs of hula dancers and palm trees, and crepe-paper sculptures of pineapples and ribbonfish. And, one shouldn’t forget those ubiquitous plastic floral leis and garlands. Bananas, coconuts, mangos and papayas make great table centerpieces, especially when arranged inside pineapple or coconut halves used as fruit bowls. Wicker baskets also make tropical-looking fruit containers. (The bowls can be filled with diced fruit speared by colorful toothpicks.) Other creative decorations include sea shells, which look great in fish netting or as ashtrays.

One might set out souvenirs brought back from Hawaii, such as shell necklaces, ukeleles or drums. Lily pads and other floating plants can line the swimming pool.

Tiki and wooden ornaments, as well as anything made of bamboo or wicker, “makes it look really Polynesian,� says Keawe, who moved to Los Angeles from Honolulu in 1949.

For a warm nighttime glow, install bamboo posts with tiki torches and place colored-glass lanterns on tables. The more ambitious might want to construct a little grass hut over the bar area and draft a bartender who can whip up fruity tropical drinks.

A luau is a feast, so eating should rank high among the festivities. The food can be as ethnically mixed as the Hawaiians themselves, with elements from various countries.

“A lot of people have adapted menus to their own taste,� Postrzech said. “There are a lot of (Hawaiian) dishes people here don’t eat,� Meat, often roast pork, short ribs or chicken, is usually cooked teriyaki-style or grilled as kebabs. Side dishes might include rice and sweet potatoes.

Those who want a more Hawaiian flair may try the trademark staple: poi, the mushy, grayish goo that looks like papier-mache paste (it’s made from the root of the taro plant and mixed with water). But Hawaiians themselves admit it’s bland and takes an acquired taste, even when sweetened with cream or sugar. Other Hawaiian dishes include lomi lomi salmon (fish marinated with green onions and tomatoes) and saimin (wheat noodles in broth). Coconut pudding or sheet cake is the dessert de rigueur. Poo poos (hors d’oeuvres) may consist of sweet breads, fruit salad and madacamia nuts, one of Hawaii’s main exports.

Ultimate Delicacy

Traditionalists may want to serve the ultimate Hawaiian delicacy, a kalua pig, which is roasted underground in a pit over lava rocks. Preparation takes more than a day and is undoubtedly a lot of work. Postrzech, who now cooks hers in an oven, said: “It got to be too much of a hassle. You can’t get lava rocks here unless you bring them back from Hawaii.�

Keawe, who owns a Hawaiian-style restaurant in Wilmington with her husband, Joe, advises hosts to order the pig from a restaurant or caterer.

Clothing is casual and colorful; women wear the roomy muumuus or midriffs with sarongs (floral-print wraparound skirts), and men wear loose wildflower shirts and shorts. Or, Mangold suggests, good-humored guests may opt to look like tourists in Hawaii, with white pants, straw hats, sunglasses--and leis or cameras around their necks. Children might want to dress up as hula dancers, with grass skirts, leis and flowers in their hair.

Hawaiian Hospitality

Just as vacationers to Hawaii are greeted with flower leis, your guests can be greeted with “aloha,� and then draped with a lei. “When you present someone with a lei, always with a kiss, always,� emphasized Postrzech, who attends about 10 luaus a year. Guests can be made to feel like kings walking between feathered staffs, which represent royalty, on each side of the entryway.

Entertainment, which often tells the story of Hawaii, can range from one performer dancing to taped music to a 10-person choreographed troupe accompanied by a four-piece band. It all depends on your budget and how much you want to impress. Elaborate bands typically include a steel guitar, drums, the ever-present ukelele (which is Hawaiian for “jumping flea�) and a Hawaiian vocalist a la Don Ho.

Hula dancers, who move like swaying palms to the beat of the drum, demonstrate dances and costumes of all the islands, with props including drums, feather gourds and bamboo sticks. For extra excitement, some male Samoan dancers perform with fire and knives, twirling and flipping their props into the air like jugglers and touching hot fire to their tongues and feet. Troupes, which typically perform half-hour to one-hour shows, should be booked three months in advance during the high-demand summer. Check regional magazines, the Yellow Pages under “Entertainers.�

This time of year, one might hear a verse of Hawaii’s national song, “Hawaii Pono’i,� which means “Hawaii, together, we stand.�

Hawaiian decorations and clothing:

Murakami’s, 1975 Portero Grande Drive, Monterey Park 91754, (818) 571-0711.

Oriental Gifts, 10770 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, (213) 839-9328.

Styles of Hawaii, 2603 Pacific Coast Highway, Torrance, (213) 326-2151.

Orchids of Hawaii, 3703 Provost Ave., Bronx, New York 10466. Mail-order catalogue, toll-free (800) 223-2124. Items can be ordered by phone with a credit card.

Hawaiian foods:

Aloha Grocery, 4515 Centinela Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 822-2939.

Aloha Teriyaki, 4834 W. Rosecrans Ave., Hawthorne, (213) 644-2330.

Higashi’s, 9066 Woodman Ave., Arleta, (818) 893-3335.

To handcraft Hawaiian implements for a luau, see the August, 1989 issue of Crafts magazine, which shows how to make flower leis, hair flowers, grass skirts and table decorations such as palm trees, Hawaiian fish and pineapple centerpieces.