LIHU‘E — The sign said “Open about 10 a.m.” but the lines were forming long before sunrise Tuesday at the Kaua‘i Malasadas booth outside the Big Kmart store. “I came early, about 4:30 this morning, and people were already here,”
LIHU‘E — The sign said “Open about 10 a.m.” but the lines were forming long before sunrise Tuesday at the Kaua‘i Malasadas booth outside the Big Kmart store.
“I came early, about 4:30 this morning, and people were already here,” said Marlena Bunao, the booth’s owner and operator. “The line never stopped, and I’m trying to accommodate as much people as I can.”
Tuesday is celebrated in Hawai‘i as Malasada Tuesday and scenes typical to the Kaua‘i Malasadas booth were found at other places dispensing the tasty sugary morsel.
Malasada Day dates back to the days of the sugar plantations of the 1800s, when Catholics would celebrate Shrove Tuesday, or Fat Tuesday. Catholics mark the day by eating richer, fatty foods and desserts before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which lasts 40 days, starts today on Ash Wednesday ends with Easter Sunday.
Kapahulu, O‘ahu’s Leonard’s Bakery, a bakery known for its malasadas since 1952, describes a malasada as a Portuguese “donut” without a hole, according to its website. Balls of dough are fried until golden brown on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside, and then the fried morsels are coated with sugar immediately following frying.
Malasadas, similar to other foods and traditions brought to Hawai‘i by the different ethnic groups imported to labor on the plantations, have become adopted into the Hawai‘i lifestyle. The recipe for malasada, an egg-sized fried dough ball coated with granulated sugar, was first created by the inhabitants of Sao Miguel Island, part of the Azores, according to The Pastry Channel website.
Today, malasadas can be coated with the original sugar coating, or optionally, with cinnamon, li-hing powder, or other creative toppings.
The interior of the malasada can be filled with custard, chocolate, coconut, or whatever creative flavor the baker can think of.
Like the Kaua‘i Malasadas booth, Malasada Tuesday is one of the biggest days of the year for Leonard’s Bakery.
Kaua‘i sports at least three places where malasadas are sold on a daily basis: the Kaua‘i Malasadas booth, Kaua‘i Bakery in the Kukui Grove Shopping Center, and the Menehune Mart in Lawai. Other places purchasing wholesale from Kaua‘i Bakery also may offer malasadas.
“There used to be other people, especially churches, who used to sell malasadas as a fundraiser on Malasada Day,” Bunao said. “But I don’t know if they continue to do that.”
Bunao said she brought in extra help to accommodate the demand for malasadas Tuesday.
“I have my two girls, Chasity and Ariel, helping me,” she said. “I also have two pots going full blast. I hope I have enough batter so I don’t have to close too early.”
For those who missed Malasada Tuesday, the West Kaua‘i Methodist Church usually sells the morsels created from Becky Komaki’s original recipe during the Waimea Town Celebration, Feb. 22 and 23 in the shadow of the Old Waimea Sugar Mill.
