Page 5 - MidWeek Central - Nov 3, 2021

While the age-old adage implores a prospective read- er not to judge a book by its cover, the same can be said about its author.
Mililani resident Danny Kagehiro is an auto me- chanic by trade with more than 50 years of experience to his credit. The Leilehua High School graduate who will turn 73 this month, was a pioneer in the mobile auto mechanic business for more than 35 years, and owned two family-run gas stations before retiring in November 2018.
“Kapakahi Kau Kau was published in 1989, well be- fore computers,” Kagehiro says. “It was written on a typewriter and the pictures were drawn by hand by my young goddaughter, Janell.”
The author explains that his favorite food combina- tion is a peanut butter, grape jelly and tuna sandwich. He describes the unique sand- wich as being built with “one slice of bread with peanut butter, the other slice with grape jelly and tuna in the center. Or, you can use garlic bread with guava jelly. Why? Because they’re ‘ono!
Mililani resident Danny Kagehiro tries out some creative food combinations. PHOTO COURTESY DANNY KAGEHIRO
After all, the creative thinker is also busy with a host of other projects, in- cluding creating his own party games as well as handy tools to use around the house, such as “Da Corn Cob Back Scratcher,” “Da Oven Rack Pullas,” “Da Back Rack,” and one that might be used in the next book: “Da Fish Scaler.”
Kagehiro’s talents under the hood and around engines are evident by his longevity
“I have tried every one of the combinations and reci-
Readers of the book tend to have mixed reactions, Kagehiro notes, ranging from “Yuck!” “No way!” and “No can!” to “You gotta try this,” “You know what
Kagehiro estimates that he has “sold and given away hundreds and hundreds of copies” of the book, which includes more than 100 unique food combinations and recipes. He says that his motivation for writing the
pes in Kapakahi Kau Kau, and most of them are pretty darn good.”
NOVEMBER 3, 2021 5
Central O‘ahu Man Loves To Explore Unlikely Food Combos
BY KYLE GALDEIRA
in the field. However, the mechanic continues to foster his creative side as an author, more than three decades af- ter publishing his first book, Kapakahi Kau Kau, a collec- tion of odd, sometimes off- the-wall food combinations.
book is linked to his fascina- tion of watching the strange combinations of food that he saw others enjoying.
“Back in the early 1980s, I started making a list of the different combinations of food I noticed, and started asking people questions,” Kagehiro says. “I quickly found out that most of these strange combinations had actually been passed down for generations, and some had eventually been changed according to different indi- viduals’ tastes. Most peo- ple call these combinations ‘poor man food,’ because many of them evolved from the plantation days when people ate what was avail- able and affordable.
“It was good fun watching and learning, and I found that once a person read the book, he or she usually has something to add, guarantee! This book definitely brought people together with a focus on the common, favorite topic of food.”
was really good?” and “You evah tried ...” This con- tinued fascination with in- triguing food combinations has kept Kagehiro busy as he collects and compiles new ideas and recipes for a potential second volume of Kapakahi Kau Kau, al- though he is in no rush to finish the next book.
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