As I wrote several weeks ago, a pig pickin' is a North Carolina tradition involving a pig, a converted petroleum drum cooker, a bunch of charcoal and a whole lot of time. But a pig pickin' is not the only way to cook a whole hog - cultures across the world have been spit roasting, grilling and burying pigs in hot ash for thousands of years. In many places, pork is the cheapest meal available, making pig roasts an affordable way to have big festive meals for the whole community. Here are a few whole hog traditions from around the world:

Hawaii: Possibly the most famous whole pig preparation of them all, the kalua pig is a staple of the Hawaiian luau. The pig is "dressed" (gutted, the outer layer of skin and hair removed) and salted and placed in an imu - a banana leaf-lined pit filled with hot stones. The pig is covered in more dirt and left for hours until smoky and falling apart tender.

Cuba: Cubans love their lechón (sucking pig), a Christmas Eve tradition. Pigs are often cooked in backyard roasters made from bricks or cinder blocks. One popular version of the homemade roaster is called a "caja china" (a Chinese box), a rather coffin-like device in which the pig is placed on the metal-lined bottom and a tray of coals is placed on top, cooking the meat through indirect heat.

Italy: At the annual Sagra del Maiale festival of pork, Italians grill whole pigs over a food fire and lovingly dis-articulate them to feed the whole village. Skin becomes crispy and meat is buttery soft and succulent. And not a big of the porker is wasted - even the ears and trotters are fair game. Not headed to Italy any time soon? Some Italian restaurants in NYC and other cities have their own Sagra del Maiale.

The Philippines: The image of the golden-skinned pig spinning on a spit over a roaring fire is a reality here in the South Pacific, where Filipinos adore stuffing the pig's belly with herbs and spices, impaling it horizontally, and roasting it until the skin crackles and the meat is meltingly tender. The dish, known as lechon baboy, is a festival day favorite.

• The wonders of poke.
• How about making pizza on the grill this summer?
• Summertime means a trip to the clam shack.
• Behind the scenes of the Future Chefs competition.
• Eat more fish, just for the halibut.
• Restaurant reviews: Steve's Diner and Shiraz Cuisine.
• This week's recipes: Roasted Onions with Thyme, Deviled Eggs, and Beef and Pork Chili (though I think it's a little warm for chili myself!)

The last of the March snow is still on the ground and I was wearing my down coat all day, so The Tasty Island, a Hawaiian food blog, struck me as drool-worthy in two ways - the reviews of yummy Hawaiian food and the amazing palm tree and beach backgrounds in the pictures.

Check it out - coconut shrimp, fried mahimahi, lychee yogurt, takeout Japanese chicken katsu and way more, all rated on blogger Pomai's own Spam musubi rating system (Spam musubi, or spam on rice with seaweed, is an iconic Hawaiian snack) - five Spam musubi means superb, one means average. I'm considering trying to make the sweet, glutinous rice cakes called kakanin with coconut topping, which Pomai describes as the lovechild of a Rice Krispie treat and a mochi (Japanese glutinous rice dessert). I wonder if there are any cheap tickets to Hawaii on Travelocity?

I used to hate macadamia nuts with a passion. When I was a child and then a teen they just didn't taste right to me. Maybe it was from years of eating just cashews and pistachios and almonds all the time, I don't know, but I just didn't enjoy them at all.

Then I went to Hawaii in the 80's, and everything changed.

When I hear the phrase spam and eggs the first thing I usually think of is Monty Python. That's not to say that I haven't ever enjoyed the guilty pleasure of a sandwich of scrambled eggs and Spam. But the much maligned potted meat is more than an occasional meal item in Hawaii, it's an institution.

McDonald's has offered the pinkish mystery meat as part of its breakfast menu in Hawaii for five years. Now its rival Burger King is getting in on the action. The King recently began offering the Spam Platter, which consists of two slabs of Spam, flanked on either side by white rice and scrambled eggs. The Croissanwich or Biscuit Sandwich with Spam have also been added to the menu. I wonder if they've created any ad spots with the King flashing the "hang loose" sign with one hand while digging into a Spam platter with the other.

Chef Alan Wong was the guest judge on last week's episode of Top Chef and during the show, he prepared food from a traditional Hawaiian luau for the contestants to try. It was the first time that some of them had had Hawaiian food and they certainly got to taste the creations of a master chef. Chef Wong has one of the best restaurants in Hawaii and was the recipient of a James Beard Award a few years back. He specialiazes not only in Hawaiian cooking and flavors, but on fusing those traditions with the techniques and ingredients from Asia, Europe and Latin America.

Alan Wong's New Wave Luau: Recipes from Honolulu's Award-Winning Chef has a large collection of many of his top dishes, both traditional and innovative. The recipes, as they are the work of a very experienced chef, can be complex, but many are very accessible to the home chef (particularly some of the appetizers and desserts) and there are plenty of beautiful photographs to keep you motivated to work. When followed through, the results are well worth it and you can get an idea of what the would-be Top Chefs experienced on their island lunch before the finale. Dishes include Kalua Pig (pit-roasted!), Li Hing Mui Chutney, Five Spice Risotto, Curried Chicken Lumpia with Mango Salad, Grilled Lamb Chops with Coconut Macadamia Crust, Guava Sorbet and Lilikoi Brulee.

The end of the season for a show like Bravo's Top Chef is always bittersweet. Like a good chocolate, you want to finish it off, but you also sort of wish that it could go on. Come to think of it, this season might be more like the "finishing off" chocolate, since there has been so much drama that it will almost be a relief to see it end. Almost.

Last night was the first part of the show's season finale and it started off by giving viewers a sneak peek into what the chefs have been doing for the past few months during the break between the main taping and the filming of the finale. Marcel and Sam spent the time practicing their technique, with Marcel trying to learn as much as possible about new ingredients and presentations and Sam learning about pastry, which he felt was a weak spot in his training. Elia and Ilan each spent time learning about Hawaiian food, but neither actively tried to learn as much new information as their competitors.

The Big Island City Council in Hawaii has just passed a resolution to require coffee sellers to use more Kona Coffee in their "Kona coffee blends." Currently, the required minimum amount for a coffee to be labeled with the Kona blend term is only 10% of the beans. The new resolution ups the amount to 75% - an increase the growers and officials say is necessary to protect the Kona coffee name and reputation, as well as the financial well-being of the growers. They borrowed the 75% standard from California wine growers, who require that 75% of the grapes used in a wine to come from California grapes.

Proponents of the change, which passed through the council in a unanimous vote, say that not only will this protect the (wee deserved) reputation of Kona coffee as a luxury product, but it will ultimately prove to be better for consumers, who will know with certainty what they are paying for when they buy a Kona Blend and won't end up overpaying for a substandard product that bears the region's name.

If you think that you are the master of sandwich making, especially if you prefer deli-style sandwiches with sliced meats to hot ones, you might want to consider entering your recipe in the Sara Lee Sandwich Search. The contest is in its second year, and hopes to uncover the best deli-style sandwich in the country. The winner gets a trip for 4 to Hawaii, so even if you're not a huge sandwich fan, there's no time like the present to become one.

Last year's winners (pdf) are a good place to start brainstorming. You'll notice that the top two are both Hawaiian-themed, but don't let that scare you if you don't usually get tropical with your sandwiches; the others are distinctly less exotic, many with slight twists on favorite foods. The only rules are that the sandwich must use at least one sliced cheese product and one sliced deli meat product - both from Sara Lee, of course. Fifty first place winners get $200 each, which isn't a trip to Hawaii, but certainly isn't bad for a sandwich.

Last week we explored the San Diego food blogosphere, and tonight we head west and south to Hawaii!

• James brings us the Big Island Grinds from Hilo, Hawaii
• The Free Range Gourmet is Larry, with free range thoughts on the finest ingredients, cuisine, and fine dining in Hawaii, with recent posts on some good reading.
• It's KauKau Time for Reggie, writing from Honolulu-Kalihi, Kahaluu, Salt Lake, Hawaii. Pulled pork, anyone?
• Maona is Hawaiian for "satisifed after eating," and with a gorgeous photo of a red mango, I'm full.
• Jupiter of Nattokun {heart}s food in Mililani, Hawaii.
• The big daddy of Hawaii food blogs is 'Ono Kine Grindz, with 'onolicious eats from Hawaii and around the world (and I'm looking forward to  some posts about an LA trip!)

Did we leave anyone off? Let us know!

The gigantic 76-pound jackfruit grown on Hawaii's Big Island two years ago now has some company. Joining it in Guinness World Records is the  world's heaviest mango – a whopping five pounds, seven ounces – grown in Kailua, Kona.

Colleen Porter, who has a small mango and avocado orchard, tended the freakish fruit for two months, even covering it with plastic bag to keep birds from eating it. Before she harvested it she almost gave up growing altogether. I know it's a long shot, but given Hawaii's track record so far, I'm holding out for the world's largest Kona coffee bean.

[image: The Honolulu Advertiser]

Fresh Del Monte Produce, Inc. will end its pineapple growing operations in Hawaii in roughly two years, according to a recent AP article. Del Monte, which has grown pineapples in Hawaii since 1916, said it would now be cheaper to buy the fruit on the open market than to continue growing, marketing and distributing the fruit themselves. The final crop of Del Monte pineapple, set to go in the ground later this month, will produce fruit until mid 2008.

Forget cooking a steak on your car engine. The folks at the Dolphin Bay Hotel in Hilo, Hawaii, have a guide for cooking a game hen with hot lava. Yep, just wrap that bird in some banana leaves and cover it with a few shovels of 2000 degree molten rock. As anyone who's ever worked with pastry knows, you have to make a vent for steam, too. After about 45 minutes, smash the cooled rock with your shovel and pick the meat from the charred leaves. Oh, and wear gloves. The Dolphin Bay site even tells you where you can get special ones graded for the 2000 degree heat.

Our friends at Gadling turned us on to iGourmet's 50 States of Cheese, a guide to, well, the best cheeses from each United state. It's no surprise that a state like Wisconsin produces several notable cheeses, but it's nice to see some of the more unlikely suspects (like Juustoleipa, a Finnish cheese similar to Halumi that doesn't melt when grilled) highlighted. Even Alaska and Hawaii are represented, the later by Diabolic by Surfing Goat, a disk of chevre marinated in olive oil and "exotic ingredients like jalapeños, Thai dragon chilies, Bhudda Hand citron, Malabar peppercorns, and garlic." I was a little surprised, though, to only see one cheese from New York - and it's not even from Coach Farm, which, to my mind, is the best goat dairy in the nation.