4 Influences that shaped Hawaii food culture, by Sheldon Simeon

That is the basis of all things in Hawaii is respect the land, respect your community, respect your neighbor. Respect each other, that's the aloha spirit. And Aloha goes both ways, in order to reach Aloha, you gotta give Aloha.


Cook Real Hawaii is my experiences from when I was born until now. I wanted to represent our food to the fullest. The realness comes from the feeling of putting my heart into this book and sharing my history. That is just as real and raw as it gets.


Today, we have the opportunity as chefs to showcase the food of our grandparents and the food of our community and the things that we want to preserve.


The media has painted Hawaii as this paradise of tropical goodness, but when you peel back the layers, there are moments of dark history and humble times.


That's a big thing for me and for Hawaii cuisine, being one of the chefs, alongside many others, who are uplifting our cuisine and trying to move it forward, think progressive about it, but equally as important is preserving it.