Book excerpt: The beloved, bestselling book is back! Kau kau: It's the all-purpose pidgin word for food, probably derived from the Chinese "chow chow." On Hawaii's sugar and pineapple plantations, kau kau came to encompass the amazing range of foods brought to the Islands by immigrant laborers from East and West: Japanese, Portuguese, Filipinos, Puerto Ricans, Koreans and others. On the plantations, lunch break was "kau kau time," and the kau kau could be anything from adobo to chow fun to tsukemono.In Kau Kau: Cuisine and Culture in the Hawaiian Islands, author Arnold Hiura-a writer with roots in the plantation culture-explores the rich history and heritage of food in Hawaii, with little-known culinary tidbits, interviews with chefs and farmers, and a treasury of rare photos and illustrations. This hardcover book includes the essential-the "Kau Kau 100 Ethnic Potluck Primer," a guide to 100 different items commonly found in local cuisine-and the esoteric-a 1920's recipe for a "poi cocktail"-in a single, well-researched volume. From the early Polynesians to the chefs of fusion cuisine, Kau Kau follows those who have shaped Island society with their food and folkways: immigrant plantation workers from East and West, the military in wartime, modern entrepreneurs who tap the potential of local tastes and diversified agriculture, and many others.Recognized by critics and readers as a landmark chronicle of the Islands' unique culinary landscape, the book received the Hawaii Book Publishers Association's Ka Palapala Po'okela Award of Excellence in Cookbooks in 2010. The tenth anniversary reprint gives a new generation of food lovers a glimpse into the ways Hawaii's food and culture are inextricably intertwined-and why. The new edition includes fresh material exploring the evolution of food in Hawaii during the decade since the book was first published, and a foreword from respected Island chef Mark "Gooch" Noguchi of Pili Group.