In 1878, Portuguese laborers from Madeira and the Azores came to Hawaii to work in the plantations. These immigrants brought their traditional foods with them, including a fried dough pastry called the “malasada.” Today there are numerous bakeries in the Hawaiian islands specializing in malasadas.
Two popular malasada bakeries, Leonard’s Bakery and Champion’s Malasadas, are about 35 minutes from the Ko Olina Beach Villas. A malasada is a Portuguese confection, made of egg-sized balls of yeast dough that are deep-fried in oil, coated with granulated sugar or cinnamon sugar, and served hot. Traditional malasadas contain neither holes nor fillings, but some varieties of malasadas are filled with flavored cream (custard, chocolate, or coconut/haupia) or other fillings.
Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, is Malasada day in Hawaii. Being predominantly Catholic, Portuguese immigrants would need to use up all their butter and sugar prior to Lent. They did so by making large batches of malasadas, which they would subsequently share with friends from all the other ethnic groups in the plantation camps. This led to the popularity of the malasada in Hawaii.
