Ok, so in Hawaii we eat such things as raw fish (sashimi) poi (pounded taro root), lomi lomi salmon (raw like cerviche) and other "interesting delights" and SPAM being the top of the list. We fry it, chop it up in our saimin (noodle soup) make samwiches and cook it with eggs and add rice.. HUMMM ONO one meal.
My first meal in Charleston my mother put a big slab of meat on my plate, it was dark, smelt funny and was gross. I asked her "what is this?" She said, "STEAK". What? I have never seen such a thing. In Hawaii, a piece of meat like that would feed and entire family. My next question was "where did it come from? She replied, "the cow". WHAT? Hey I wasn't lolo (stupid/crazy); we used to butcher cows and pigs when we had luaus (dinner parties) so I knew what the heck a "cow" looked like.. but people, I had NEVER had/seen such a huge piece of meat like this. Cow meat was always cut up in little pieces, some put on skewers and put on the grill (Bar b Q) and some put in stews (beef stew). But NEVA like dis.
So as I cut up this humongous piece of meat, I am telling my mom that I only eat fish, eggs, vegetables and fruits. We begin a debate on nutrition and food that the mainlanders eat; and my step dad eats steak, deer, chicken, fish and other ferocious fowls. OK.. so next week my dad comes home with a big chunk of meat and he says "this is your FIRST deer meal". I am in pain.. OH NO, YOU KILLED THUMPERS mom! My little brother decided that after 5 years of eating dad's "kill", he would never eat another piece of deer meat again.. We had deer steak for dinner that night and I watched my dad savor the flavor of his trophy "deer heart". UGH.. and you people said that SPAM was awful.
Two weeks later our neighbor (a REAL SOUTHERNER from Mississippi) brought over a "special" gift just for me. Collard greens. What in the hell is that? Mom said, "it's a VEGETABLE that they eat here in the south". She got me. .I ate a big bowl (mom dished it up for me) of this southern delight and just about choked. I heard people say that POI was "nasty" and I thought, "oh no.. you don't know what real food is"..
Over time I learned that in the south the main dishes are: lima beans, fried chicken, GRITS, catfish (you can't eat catfish like you can sashimi), liver and onions and something called "fatback". I also cooked my first pot of chicken and dumplin's.. OK that was a treat and another story.
