(BIVN) – The second annual Kanaka Culinary Explosion will take place next weekend at the Nani Mau Gardens in Hilo.

The free community event, hosted by EA Ecoversity, will be held on November 2nd from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event, which takes place several weeks before Lā Kūʻokoʻa, the Hawaiian Independence Day, will showcase creative holiday dishes featuring Hawaiian staples blended with locally sourced foods.

From the Kanaka Culinary Explosion event coordinator:

Kanaka Culinary Explosion is designed for individuals and families hoping to incorporate more Hawaiian foods into their diet and more Hawaiian language into their lives. Participants will have opportunities to learn from award-winning professional chefs, Hawaiian food experts and cultural practitioners on how to integrate healthy, delicious Hawaiian fusion foods into their everyday diet. In addition, vendors specializing in Hawaiian and local foods will share how to use their products to prepare tasty dishes for the holiday season.

Kanaka Culinary Explosion team, courtesy EA Ecoversity

Kanaka Culinary Explosion will enrich participants by immersing them in an atmosphere of aloha, where all feel safe and cared for, and where they can participate hands-on in bi-lingual Hawaiian food preparation experiences, blending Hawaiian staples such as kalo (taro), ʻuala (sweet potato), ulu (breadfruit), with other locally sourced foods. Additionally, participants will have opportunities to establish personal contact and interact with Hawaiian chefs, Hawaiian language, culture, and food experts, as well as young Hawaiians currently enrolled in EA Ecoversity’s Kanaka Culinary Arts program. This program prepares young Hawaiians, ages 15-30 for careers in Hawaiʻi’s food industry, focusing on perpetuating Hawaiʻi’s native food heritage by incorporating Hawaiian foods into the menu.

“Kanaka Culinary Explosion will give kanaka of all ages opportunities to learn about Hawaiian cuisine and become more comfortable integrating Hawaiian foods into their upcoming holiday menus,” said event organizer ʻIʻini Kahakalau. “We are excited to share some of our recipes perfected over the past decades that are both healthy and delicious, along with educating the public about Lā Kūʻokoʻa.”

Taking place several weeks before Lā Kūʻokoʻa, Hawaiian Independence Day, which falls usually right around the time of Thanksgiving, Kanaka Culinary Explosion will provide participants with extraordinary opportunities to learn how to curate a highly original Hawaiian-focused holiday menu for their ʻohana and friends, using Hawaiian staples and locally sourced ingredients. Food preparation demonstrations will include how to make taro stuffing, kōʻele pālau, or mashed sweet potatoes and lūʻau biscuits. In addition, the Kanaka Culinary Explosion will allow participants to learn Hawaiian vocabulary and phrases relating to food preparation so that they can incorporate more Hawaiian language into their daily lives. Moreover, in preparation for the celebration of Lā Kūʻokoʻa, attendees will have opportunities to learn about this important Hawaiian holiday through fun, interactive presentations, games and crafts.

Kanaka Culinary Explosion endless sampling, courtesy EA Ecoversity

The Kanaka Culinary Explosion event is sponsored by EA Ecoversity’s Kanaka Culinary Arts Program, preparing young native Hawaiians for careers in Hawaiʻi’s food industry, so that they can remain in their ancestral lands. This event is also supported by Kū-A-Kanaka, a Hawaiian owned and operated social enterprise located on Hawaiʻi Island, the Kamehameha Schools Kaiāulu program, the Chef Hui and other sponsors.

EA Ecoversity is Hawaiʻi’s first independent, culture-based post-secondary education and career training program for native Hawaiians who want to reach their highest potential. EA Ecoversity’s mission is to provide culturally-driven learning, training, credentialing, and other long-term societal benefits to ka lāhui Hawai‘i. Our vision is an independent, self-sustaining Hawai‘i where native Hawaiians thrive as we perpetuate and advance traditional Hawaiian language, culture, and traditions into the future.

EA Ecoversity was inspired by the international Ecoversities movement, made up of over 400 organizations in over 40 countries, reclaiming diverse knowledge, relationships and imaginations to design new approaches to higher education. EA stands for Education with Aloha, but also means sovereignty in Hawaiian. This way of education, which is at once ancient and modern, emerged as a result of over 40 years of research by EA Ecoversity’s founder and president Dr. Kū Kahakalau, the first person in the world with a Ph.D. in Indigenous Education.

To learn more about EA Ecoversity and our social enterprise sponsor Kū-A-Kanaka, go to kuakanaka.com/eaecoversity and sign up for our mailing list, which will share registration information for other programming, including Basic Hawaiian, an innovative, asynchronous, culture-based series to learn Hawaiian language the easy and fun way.