The traditional Hawaiian meal is organized around a central starch — poi (pounded taro) or ʻulu (breadfruit) — accompanied by iʻa (fish, meat, or seafood) and condiments (sea salt, seaweed, kukui nuts). There is no succession of courses: everything is served together on lauhala mats. The kapu system imposed a strict separation between men and women during meals, and certain foods — pork, some fish, red bananas, coconut — were reserved for men and chiefs (aliʻi). Great occasions gave rise to the ʻahaʻaina, a community feast centered on pork cooked in an imu (underground oven).

The imu is Hawaiʻi's iconic cooking technique: a pit dug in the earth, lined with volcanic stones heated by a wood fire, in which meats and starches are wrapped in ti (kī) and banana leaves and steamed for hours. This slow cooking gives foods a characteristic smoky flavor and unparalleled tenderness. For Kamehameha, the size of the imu was a sign of power: a great feast could require an imu several meters long.