Did East Polynesians have a concept of luxury foods?

Abstract

As they settled the islands of the eastern Pacific, Polynesians encountered declining biodiversity. This was counteracted by the transfer of tropical crops and a few domestic animals. But on small isolated islands, or islands beyond the tropics, not all domesticates survived. Despite these losses and sometimes poor resources, Polynesians maintained strong traditions of hospitality and status display through feasting. On well-endowed high islands, flesh foods ranked highly, while cultigens gained in status on poorer islands. Like European luxury foods, Polynesian feast items might be rare, from a remote source, reserved for the elite or presented in elaborate forms. But, unlike most luxuries, they could also be a staple food elevated in status through labour-intensive processing, the diversity of forms in which it was served or through sheer abundance of display. As well, many prestige foods were proscribed to women on religious grounds. Polynesian feast foods were, therefore, much more than luxuries in a Western sense.