Kaua'i Purple Pie


Purple has always been my favorite color. To me, everything looks and tastes better when it's purple. So I was thrilled to discover that two Hawaiian staples glow with  a lovely violet hue. Poi, or mashed taro root, plays a major part in any truly Hawaiian meal but the Hawaiian sweet potato, called uala, comes in a close second. Also referred to as the Okinawa sweet potato, I saw them grace tables mashed, in soups and my favorite, in a pie.




Growing up, sweet potato pie was the finale for all holiday meals, which was of course, my favorite part. So imagine my excitement when I gazed at my beloved dessert drenched in a vibrant version of my favorite color. I almost forgot to eat it, I was so busy staring at it. The pie was covered in another Hawaiian favorite, haupia or coconut pudding. The flavor was smooth, delicate and only slightly sweet.


Filled with antioxidants, Hawaiian  sweet potatoes pack a  powerful nutritional  punch with a low glycemic index and more antioxidant activity than Vitamin C or E.  Basically, this means that downing lots of purple pie is good for you.  I think I ate a piece every day I was on Kaua'i and I believe I'm much stronger from it. Either that or the purple has gone to my head...

Comments

Marie said…
How beautiful! We have some Maori potatoes here in New Zealand that are purple or a mix of purple and regular potato colour. Perhaps I should try making a pie.
May 24, 2011 at 9:38 PM
Catherine said…
wow what a vivid vibrant violet hue indeed - bet it tastes really good too...what else would the purple diet include - grapes and aubergines....
May 25, 2011 at 12:14 PM
Fly Girl said…
Marie, the Maori are related to Hawaiians so I think the purple sweet potato is probably related as well!

Catherine, a purple diet for me would be grapes, plums, eggplant, grape jelly and wine!
May 25, 2011 at 1:41 PM
A Cuban In London said…
Hahaha! I'm laughing because I just had my dinner and your post is really up my street. Although nor a 'purple person', except for "The Color Purple" :-), that is some serious colour we're talking about here. Nature always has a little surprise up its (or should it be 'her'?) sleeve.

Greetings from London.
May 26, 2011 at 12:23 PM
Fly Girl said…
Cubano, I think Mother Nature is a total purple person and wants us all to eat lots of purple pie!
May 26, 2011 at 1:13 PM
Rachel Cotterill said…
Purple is my colour, too, so I love this. Most of the purple vegetables we have here lose their colour when you cook them.
May 28, 2011 at 10:09 AM
Fly Girl said…
Rachel, I know, there aren't that many vivid purple vegetables that I've seen either but these sweet potatoes are like nothing I've ever seen.
May 28, 2011 at 6:43 PM
Andrew Graeme Gould said…
Now those would be very interesting to try...
May 30, 2011 at 7:55 PM
Fly Girl said…
Andrew, Kaua'i is filled with interesting food.
May 31, 2011 at 6:06 AM
Thomas said…
Fly Girl you bring back memories of growing up in SC. My grandmother cooked some of the best coconut and sweet potatoes pies EVER! This does look yummy. Hope you save me a piece.
June 3, 2011 at 6:17 AM
Bluegreen Kirk said…
Really enjoy eating pie but I not sure I feel the same why about the color as you do. I mean I would probably try it simply because of how great you've made it seem but if I walked into a place and saw purple pie it would be my first choice.
June 3, 2011 at 6:19 AM
Fly Girl said…
Thomas,this tasted different from SC pies which are very yummy. The flavor is more delicate. Sorry I gobbled it all up!

Kirk, That's alright, everybody can't love purple.
June 3, 2011 at 6:25 AM
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