Pre-Thanksgiving Cinnamon Bread Bake

The Kona Historical Society will once again make its famous Portuguese cinnamon bread at Kona Historical Society’s stone oven, or forno, located in the pasture below its main office and its historic general store museum in Kealakekua on Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2018, the day before Thanksgiving. Kona Historical Society will be closed on Thursday, Nov. 22, in recognition of the holiday.

Kona Historical Society will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 22.

From 10 a.m. to noon, the public is able to watch Kona Historical Society staff and volunteers create these sticky, sweet loaves of cinnamon bread at the outdoor stone oven, a reproduction of the “forno,” the oven used by the Portuguese immigrants who came to Kona in the 1880s. Attendees will also learn about the traditional art of Portuguese bread making and the contributions of the Portuguese.

The loaves are sold for $8 each on a first-come, first-serve basis from 12:45 p.m. until sold out. Proceeds benefit the Kona Historical Society, a community-based, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to collecting, preserving and sharing the history of the Kona Districts and their larger context in the history of Hawai‘i. These Special Bakes are part of the Society’s free Portuguese Bread Baking Program, which celebrates Portuguese contributions to Kona’s ranching heritage and perpetuates the art of baking of Portuguese bread in the traditional way. Portuguese families typically shared their ovens communally and worked together to produce the weekly bread for everyone.

For more information, call the Kona Historical Society at (808) 323-3222 or go online.