Family Ingredients | England - Scones | Season 4 | Episode 2 - PBS

Amy Hānaialiʻi traces her lineage to England, uncovering ties between two monarchies.

Amy Hānaialiʻi traces her lineage to England, uncovering ties between two monarchies.

Native Hawaiian vocalist Amy Hānaialiʻi traces her lineage from Hawaiʻi to England, uncovering the remarkable ties between the Hawaiian Kingdom and British Monarchy. Along the way, she discovers that genealogy is more than a family tree—it is a bridge connecting generations, cultures, and the stories that shape who we are.

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Native Hawaiian vocalist Amy Hānaialiʻi traces her lineage from Hawaiʻi to England, uncovering the remarkable ties between the Hawaiian Kingdom and British Monarchy. Along the way, she discovers that genealogy is more than a family tree—it is a bridge connecting generations, cultures, and the stories that shape who we are.

Problems playing video?  Report a Problem | Closed Captioning Feedback

Before you submit an error, please consult our Video Help page.

Family Ingredients is available to stream on pbs.org and the PBS app.

-This whole journey, she's been saying, you have to know where you came from to know where you're going.

Scones and tea were just the catalyst.

Food brings people together and has the power to conjure up cherished memories.

-♪ No combination of words ♪ ♪ I could put on the back of a postcard ♪ ♪ No song that I ♪ -This is Samoa.

-I was born and raised in the Hawaiian Islands, one of the most diverse communities in the world.

-♪ I'll tell you one thing ♪ ♪ It's so much better when we're together ♪ -In this show, we'll meet a guest from Hawaii, learn about their favorite dish, and have some fun along the way.

-♪ Yeah, so much better when we're together ♪ ♪ Mm, mm, mm, mm ♪ -History is everywhere -- in the land, in the ocean, in the songs people sing.

-[ Singing in Hawaiian ] -Amy Hanaiali'i is one of those voices.

She's a Grammy-nominated recording artist, one of Hawaii's most celebrated performers, and has shared Hawaiian music with the rest of the world.

But accolades only tell you so much about a person.

To learn more about Amy, we meet her at Iolani Palace, a place where Hawaiian royalty welcomed the outside world into their kingdom.

-In the palace, I got to meet Auntie Zita.

-Last time I was here was probably about 50 years ago with a school field trip.

How long have you been a historian?

-I began working with the palace or volunteering with the palace in 1977.

This is the throne room of Iolani Palace.

Iolani Palace was completed in 1882 and became a place for meetings and entertaining.

He had the palace built to send a message to the world where modern were educated, were technologically advanced, and the more research I do about his entertaining, the more convinced I am he was networking.

-Amy just told me that Iolani Palace had electricity before the White House.

-Electric lights before the White House.

One of the things that we really appreciate actually going back to Kamehameha I, who unified the islands into a single kingdom.

He began combining traditional cultural practices, materials, and tools with things that were imported to make the community and kingdom stronger.

Kalakaua and his predecessors all did the same thing, combining Western and Hawaiian.

So if you look at it carefully, you have eight bars representing each of the eight major Hawaiian islands, and between each bar there's a taro leaf.

Taro being a food staple and important in Hawaiian genealogy.

-These garments are Western style clothing with Hawaiian elements on them.

For Kapi'olani, she took the gown to London when she attended Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee.

In 1887, Queen Victoria celebrated 50 years on the throne.

Kalakaua sent his wife, Kapi'olani, his sister Lili'uokalani, to London to participate in the celebration.

They are surrounded by royals from Europe.

-She's looking straight at the camera.

She's looking -- -It's not a camera.

-Yeah, basically, she's looking straight at the camera.

-We heard so much about this, but this is the first time I've actually seen it.

So the -- where they are seated, the proximity to the Queen is based on how they regarded you.

♪♪ So, Amy, my understanding is that on a recent trip to England, you had a profound food memory.

I got the wonderful opportunity to travel with my family, Kumu Micah Kamohoalii.

And we went to Harrowden Hall, where Princess Ka'iulani studied, and they had this big fanfare of scones and teas and oh, it was just absolutely magical.

We had lunch all afternoon and just talked about her.

[ Vocalizing ] -Talking about to me is really what food memories are made of.

It's not necessarily the food itself.

Being together with your family in a place that has importance to you.

I have been for over 35 years, so I-I don't know the Wood side of my family very well.

And I started doing a lot of genealogy and was able to find so many of my kupuna in Westminster Abbey.

My kupuna Basil Wood was ordained in Westminster Abbey.

-Yeah, scones and tea were just the catalyst to bring it all together.

-It all started with scones and tea.

♪♪ The British scone may look simple.

It's lighter and less sweet than the American counterpart, but this little round pastry isn't really meant to be eaten alone.

It's a delivery system for two of life's greatest pleasures -- jam and clotted cream.

And that's where things get interesting, because in Britain, there's only one right way to eat a scone.

And believe me, people have opinions.

But maybe that's what makes the scone so special.

Something so humble has become a delicious reflection of British culture.

♪♪ Few cuisines have been more misunderstood than British food.

Before Amy and I begin our journey, I want to get beneath the stereotypes to learn what really defines a British meal.

♪♪ I've heard quite a bit about my dining companion today, Tom Parker Bowles, established food writer critic in London and actually the world over.

-Tom Parker Bowles, just coincidentally, happens to be Queen Camilla's son.

And all I can think about is, am I going to eat with the wrong fork?

[ Both laugh ] Yeah, really, thanks for taking time out of your day.

Any, you know, come and see you, to come and talk about Hawaii, and to come to Wiltons -- three great things.

-You know, there's those people that really are just natural themselves.

And I think from the very first moment we interacted, I was like, oh, God, this is going to be one of the best meals of my life.

Now, Wiltons has been going for since 1742.

It's where you used to find cabinet ministers and diplomats and people will be plotting coups.

I mean, I love Wiltons with all my heart, especially if someone else is paying because this sort of food isn't cheap.

Sure, when you say British food and people, you know, burst into fits of laughter because it has this reputation, this reputation that it's gray and gristly and boring and bland.

-Why do you think it went that way?

Because every time I come here, I eat some of the most memorable meals I've had in my life.

It sort of starts 300, 400 years ago with the Acts of Enclosure, where the greedy landlords as ever decided to take the common land.

And that was the sort of first thing that took away the land from the people.

Then you throw in the Industrial Revolution a few hundred years later, which meant that huge numbers of the country moved to the city.

So we started losing our contact with the country.

Then, of course, comes two world wars, rationing.

You know, everyone's eating powdered eggs and Woolton pie.

And then after the war, women start to leave the kitchen, quite rightly, because they go and work and make a living.

But then again, one more link's pulled away from the domestic cookery tradition.

And then again, you add in, in the '60s, as Harold Wilson called it, the white heat of technology.

They loved all the instant meals and all the rest of it.

All these sort of different factors came together.

You know, we lost our food culture to a point.

You know, we lost our connection with the soil.

We lost our traditional cooking, and British food just became bland, boring food.

-We're moving back to the regional.

It's not Chinese, it's Sichuan, it's Cantonese.

That, for all of us, is much more interesting.

And we just take it all in in this country because we don't have a strong food culture and because London is a great immigration city.

You know, London is made by immigration.

-[ Speaking indistinctly ] -It's beautiful.

I mean, I've never seen the point of a fish knife.

You had to have 10 glasses, 10 knives and forks just to make things difficult for outsiders.

[ Laughs ] -That was -- You are brilliant.

-See, I wouldn't have even known this is a fish knife.

If you haven't seen this before, you're thinking, what the hell is this?

Being, as I said, British, you know, everything is tied up in class.

And the more glasses and the more cutlery they have, the better, because it sort of cements yourself as an insider and makes outsiders feel more outsider, which is the opposite of what food should be.

-Hearing we were going to be here, I was -- I was actually a little concerned.

I had to look up my book of etiquette to figure out.

You know, I think -- I really think that the idea of etiquette and food don't go together.

They love French food and it was always the -- the culinary language of the royal kitchen.

-Smoked haddock's a great British thing.

Even in the hotel, the butter with the toast every morning is leaps and bounds richer and more flavorful than the butter that we have at home.

-Again, we're going back to my defense of British food is ingredients-led.

It's seasonal- and ingredients-led.

Natives are one of the great British treats.

And you can only eat them really when you have an R in the month.

It's because they're milky in the summer.

And you get that real taste of the sea and seaweed and ozone.

I get this vegetal, savory, something I've never experienced in an oyster.

-So this is one of my favorite dishes.

This is an invalid dish in Victorian Edwardian days.

It was for when you were ill and you were recovering.

But I think it's absolutely fantastic.

It's fallen out of favor, these sort of dishes.

-My parents were Hawaiian entertainers.

They would serve it in a -- in a pewter kind of sleeve that had crushed ice around it.

-And this is probably the first time I've had it in 50 years.

When I heard you order it, I was like, "Uh."

We love mustard, chutneys, pickles.

You know, way back before we became this sort of great tiny island trying to conquer the world, there was a sign of wealth back in Tudor days -- the spices.

You know, pepper was as expensive as gold in those days.

-You've -- You've kind of touched on maybe this is someplace we wouldn't go, but the sordid past, colonialism.

Now it seems like we're more conscious.

Maybe this generation is kind of conscious of our pasts.

-Are you finding people -- This is nothing to do with food.

But everything's has to do with food.

[ Both laugh ] -In Hawaii in particular... -Yeah.

-...we've, um -- It's in essence an illegally occupied nation.

And so whenever we travel, we always make it a point to -- to meet with the indigenous peoples of the areas and listen.

-So when you had brought that up, it just had me thinking.

-I think it's so important, you know, if we're not responsible for the sins of our fathers, we certainly got to be, you know, be sensible or respectful to them because you're always a visitor in someone else's country and someone else's culture.

I think respect is the main thing to -- to understand.

And, you know, the past is difficult and the past is complicated.

Um, and you can't change the past, but you can certainly influence the future.

You know, we've got so much to learn from everyone.

And, you know, you go in with open mind and the rest of it.

And I think you come out a lot better, I hope.

I mean, coming to Wiltons is on the one level, many miles removed from the horrible issues of colonialism and slavery and everything else.

Although I'm seeing French history here with the French... -Well, one of the women that we were traveling with, Amy Hanaiali'i Gilliom, this whole journey, she's been saying, you have to know where you came from to know where you're going.

♪♪ -It seems like in every family, if you're lucky, there's one person that really, really takes the torch and tries to dig deep and find out about the family.

We go straight to the heart of the matter, and we went to Westminster Abbey primarily because Amy -- she has been successful in tracking her fifth-great grandfather to the Abbey.

Your great-grandparents, who was -- -My grandmother's mother was pure Hawaiian.

-So -- -And that's all his -- -That's all about -- -That's all his family.

♪♪ -The fact that she can trace her English lineage back to King Edward -- I mean, this is generations.

And she has jotted down her mo'oku'auhau, which is her actual Hawaiian lineage.

And it may just look like names on paper, but it goes back a century.

♪♪ ♪♪ [ Laughter ] ♪♪ ♪♪ -I loved doing our little huakia'i on the River Thames and going to that English restaurant.

There was like a big family party going on.

And we went in the back and we had, like, roast with mashed potatoes and peas.

Yeah, I liked it with all the gravy and stuff on it.

My grandfather cooked like that roast and stuff like that, but never in England.

We strolled down the street and from five doors away we could smell that unmistakable aroma.

Most everything we've been eating has been all about atmosphere and sense of place.

-So we've ordered cod and chips and haddock and chips, mushy peas, pickled eggs, coleslaw, homemade tartar sauce.

And we're gonna sit in the park and eat it.

-Why do they call them chips when they're fries?

He said, "Would you like curry sauce for your fries?"

-So I don't know if it's usually dipped or dumped, but I'm dumping.

Anything -- Because it's so fatty and rich.

You were concerned about the fish being too strong.

-So we asked for the most mild one.

How is the curry on the French fries?

So you don't ruin your fries if you don't like it, try this.

[ Both laugh ] -You've been able to see some sights.

-Trace a little bit more of your lineage.

-When I was talking to the priest at Westminster Abbey, he said that "your family is a very old English family here."

So I took my book, my Reverend Basil book, and I said, "This is my ancestor.

And he was like, "Well, you actually have a lot of family ties to Westminster Abbey, but you mostly have it to Saint Margaret next door."

There I found the Atwood side of which Wood turned into Atwood.

This is Reverend Thomas Alexander Atwood, a picture I have here, and this is a marker for him.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -Chef Claire hails from Northern California.

Back in the early 2000s, she was the pastry chef for the mecca of farm-to-table dining, Chez Panisse.

-Well, I'm about to make this coconut cake, which is a recipe that I've been making at Violet since I opened 15 years ago.

The filling is a-- an interpretation of -- -Haupia.

And then it has rum and a little vanilla bean.

-But it's still thickened with cornstarch?

She showed us her inspiration for this filling.

-And to me, just I immediately think, oh, no, 1950s Time Life.

But you open it up and it's actually genuine Hawaiian food.

Look, I mean, like salt pork watercress.

-I love this, and I'm so glad that you're not, um, appalled by this book.

-You may find it missing tomorrow morning.

This is my most favorite cake that we make at Violet.

We just have, like, an American buttercream that we use.

We do like a little border here, and then we just fill it with -- with the pudding.

This is the rum syrup that goes on first.

-Um... [ Laughs ] So, this one's going to go into the fridge and chill.

-But it's like having this as like your little, um... -Your guide.

You're going to see here this one I'm going to take out and it's going to be perfect.

Actually this was a sponge that I developed specifically for the royal wedding cake that we made for Meghan and Harry.

We did four cakes actually, just to make sure that all 1,000 people could eat it at the same moment.

-And so I wanted to make sure the sponge was not dry.

-With all those amazing people eating it.

So I developed this sponge because I love the taste of butter and sponge.

But then to add a little bit of oil, it keeps it super moist.

The haupia comes through really strong.

I think my tutu would have loved rum in the haupia.

Reflecting back when you came and had scone, this probably doesn't look much like what you... -It's a little different.

So they're really rich and really buttery.

-So this is a fragola grape from Italy.

These grapes that are like the Concord grape in America.

The flavor is like this grape flavor that you remember from candy when you were a kid.

And then clotted cream, which is this ingredient that I learned about when I moved to London, and it's so delicious.

It's this just kind of heated cream, and then it sets when it reaches a certain temperature and it gets this sort of like buttery separation on top.

And then you kind of want that in the scoop.

So you want to make sure you get it from the top to the bottom of the dish.

-It's like a hybrid of butter and cheese.

Your rendition is to cut it and put all the ingredients in one.

But traditionally it's usually served with the clotted cream on the side and maybe the fruit.

Like you would kind of assemble your own.

We like to put the jam or fruit first because it kind of soaks into the scone.

And I like the way it sort of seeps in.

And then we put the cream on top and then the lid and people come in and eat them for breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea.

-It's like Christmas in your mouth.

-You would think it would be heavy, but it's really not.

-And I love the acidity of the fruit with the really creamy cream.

-And then you can make it so easily.

-Do they have it at duty free in the airport?

But the clotted cream is like something so special that England has, so it's nice.

And this is part of why I'm still here 20 years later actually.

♪♪ -What touched me the most when I was here on my last trip is I was here when the Queen passed.

We all came with our 'ahu 'ulas and our kahilis, and there was 40 of us, and we stood there for four hours waiting for her.

And everybody around us was like, "What are you?

We're here to honor your ali'i, your royal.

And they're like, "Why would you do that?"

And then we explained and they were like, "We had absolutely no idea.

But I know that our queen would have wanted us to do that with a sovereign passing.

-It's interesting to me because Great Britain's sordid past, and oddly enough, it wasn't Great Britain that overthrew our monarchy.

♪♪ Amy's story is a reminder that history is rarely simple.

Britain gave the world beautiful traditions and remarkable stories worth remembering, but it also left behind a complicated and painful legacy.

And Hawaii is no stranger to complicated histories.

We must acknowledge what came before us, the good, the bad, and everything in between.

Amy wouldn't be here without the people who came before her, and standing with her daughter by her side, she is proof that her story doesn't end here.

She is carrying it forward, still singing the songs of her ancestors.

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