He'll Create A Luau In Your Yard, Tonga-Style

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As Tui Foukimoana patiently turns the roasting pig on a spit over a fire of maple and alder in the yard of Bellevue partygivers, he kindles memories of his birthplace in the Polynesian kingdom of Tonga.

Memories of Sunday rituals. Of grandfather supervising from the shade of a mango tree as younger family members prepared the underground oven for cooking fish and vegetables. Of returning from church to a feast that was shared with neighbors. Of napping the rest of the afternoon away with soft breezes as his only blanket.

Foukimoana was vice principal of a secondary school in the Tongan capital, Nukualofa (the city of love), when he married Ana, who was serving in the Peace Corps. They moved to Ohio in 1975 to be near her family, and three years later they settled here. Now they live on a six-acre parcel in Duvall with their two children, Michael and Sela. His main job here was supervising a sheltered workshop, but he found time to sandwich in talks to church groups, organizations and school children about Polynesian culture.

Since the summer of 1990 he has been the soft-spoken dynamo in charge of his own business, Backyard Luau, bringing the food, the dance, the music and the traditions of his South Pacific islands to homes and clubs of Puget Sound area residents for wedding anniversaries, family reunions, corporate parties and celebrations of birthdays and graduations.

"I used to teach in a school classroom," Foukimoana says. "Now my classroom is in back yards of the people." Two or three days before a party he prepares the underground oven, digging a pit about 30 inches square and 8 inches deep for baking potatoes and a special Tongan dish made of spinach, tomatoes, onions, corned beef and coconut cream. He brings the rocks and fire fuel.

Unlike Hawaii, where luau pigs often are cooked underground, the pigs in Tonga are spit roasted. Foukimoana prefers pigs weighing 40 to 50 pounds. He cooks them several hours, plenty of time for party guests to work up awesome appetites, and for him to share. He brings tiki lights, hula skirts, a Tongan drum and a conch shell. He plays recorded music of traditional songs from Tonga, Fiji, Samoa, Tahiti and Hawaii. He strums some of his favorites on a guitar.

"The Marines stationed in Tonga in 1942, the year I was born, had a big influence on the islands, including our music," Foukimoana says. After enduring his first winter blizzard in Ohio, he telephoned relatives and told them they could continue to sing "You Are My Sunshine," but urged them to drop "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" from their repertoire.

The roasting pig becomes the natural centerpiece for a party, drawing guests around the fire to hear stories and songs.

"There's a special spirit of sharing and caring in the islands," Foukimoana says. "And the pace is so much more relaxed. When I lived there, my typical work day was get up at 8 a.m., milk the cow, swim in the ocean, take a shower, work at school from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., then go fishing for the rest of the afternoon."

Party hosts are responsible for additional food and drink to round out the Backyard Luau feasts. Charges average about $16 a person for groups of 40 to 60, plus travel expenses and a set-up fee. Foukimoana does about 30 of these a year, mostly between June and September.

He returned to his island in October for the first time in 17 years, and now he has a new goal. He wants to develop a 10-unit hotel on his property there, only 50 yards from the ocean, with a restaurant serving local foods and a small cultural activity room where visitors can learn more about these islands northeast of New Zealand.

He wants it to be the kind of place where visitors he meets at luaus here in the summer months can share some of their skills and talents with Tongans during winter vacations in exchange for hearty portions of island hospitality.