Aloha! Welcome to Paradise—the word often used to describe the Hawaiian Islands with their tropical flowers, palm trees, beautiful weather and world-renowned beaches. It is also a culinary paradise with a unique range of foods from the East, the West and everywhere in between. Many groups of people have settled on the Islands, bringing their traditions with them, including the Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Portugese, Puerto Rican, Spanish as well as the native Hawaiians.

The first humans arrived on the islands in the 3rd century, probably from other Pacific islands. They brought plants with them, as well as pigs, dogs and chickens. The most important plants were taro and sweet potato, as well as yams, sugarcane, breadfruit and coconut. The taro root, called poi, was cooked and pounded, becoming a staple of the Hawaiian diet. Fish were farmed in large, man-made salt and freshwater ponds. Salt from the shoreline and seaweed were used, as well as the nuts of the kukui (candlenut) tree. Food was often cooked in an earthen pit oven or imu.

Today the traditional Hawaiian feast is celebrated as a lu'au (the word comes from the leafy tops of the taro plant which were cooked in coconut milk and served at the feasts). In today's lu'aus, you are often given a lei of flowers while enjoying the food, hula dancing and music. Foods include kalua pig, fish, opihi (raw mollusks), haupia (coconut milk custard) and poi. Influences from other cultures include char sui (Chinese roast pork), sushi, chicken adobo (Filipino dish simmered in vinegar, garlic and soy sauce), pasta salad and lomi-lomi salmon (salted salmon traced to whalers from the Pacific Northwest).

Besides great food, Hawaii is a fascinating place with a rich history and offers today's visitors many activities:

• see green sea turtles, humpback whales, Hawaiian monk seals and the state fish, humuhumunukunuku apu a'a.
• visit Iolani Palace, the only royal palace in the United States
  (Hawaii was ruled by Polynesian kings and queens until 1894).
• go to Pearl Harbor and see fleets of ships.
• surf on Oahu's North Shore.
• tour Volcano National Park on the Big Island of Hawaii, Haleakala Crater on Maui (the world's largest inactive volcano) or see Kilauea, from a safe distance (the world's largest and most active volcano)!
• see pineapple plantations and macadamia nut or orchid farms.

If you can't get to Hawaii any time soon, have a taste of paradise with the following recipes, with Adult Supervision.

• Huli Huli Chicken
• Maui Pasta Salad
• Polynesian Sweet & Sour Meatballs
• Wiki Wiki Rice
• Steamed Rice
• Aloha Sweet Potatoes
• Hawaiian Brownie Cookie
• Guava Delight
• Hawaiian Crunch
• Hawaiian Chicken
• Shrimp Ono Nui
• Sumnomo, Cucumber Salad
• Haupia, Coconut Pudding
• Macadamia Nut Pineapple Banana Bread

Try the Tastes of Paradise Word Search!