Poi

Poi is a traditional staple food in the Polynesian diet, made from taro. Traditional poi is produced by mashing cooked taro on a wooden pounding board , with a carved pestle (pōhaku kuʻi ʻai) made from basalt, calcite, coral, or wood. Modern methods use an industrial food processor to produce large quantities for retail distribution. This initial paste is called paʻi ʻai. Water is added to the paste during mashing, and again just before eating, to achieve the desired consistency, which can range from highly viscous to liquid. In Hawaii, this is informally classified as either "one-finger", "two-finger", or "three-finger", alluding to how many fingers are required to scoop it up (the thicker the poi, the fewer fingers required to scoop a sufficient mouthful). Poi can be eaten immediately, when fresh and sweet, or left to ferment and become sour, developing a smell reminiscent of plain yogurt. A layer of water on top can prevent fermenting poi from developing a crust. Poi is thought to have originated in the Marquesas Islands, created some time after initial settlement from Polynesian explorers. While mashing food does occur in other parts of the Pacific, the method involved was more rudimentary. In western Polynesia, the cooked starch was mashed in a wooden bowl using a makeshift pounder out of either the stem of a coconut leaf or a hard, unripe breadfruit with several wooden pegs stuck into it. The origins of poi coincided with the development of basalt pounders in the Marquesas, which soon spread elsewhere in eastern Polynesia, with the exception of New Zealand and Easter Island.

Source: Wikipedia