– Punahou Carnival 2025 Food Division Heads: Ka‘ala Blaisdell-Higa, Cooper Konishi, Kayla Koyanagi, Jayden Leung, Maya Sugihara, and Tyler White
Portuguese Bean Soup is one of the several staples served among the many world-famous menu items offered at Punahou Carnival. For decades, thousands of carnival-goers have gone to the Portuguese Bean Soup booth in order to get their yearly fix of soup.
Where did it come from? Well, in 1977, esteemed food services director Minnie Marciel retired, and in honor of her dedication to Punahou, the Carnival Committee created the Portuguese Bean Soup booth. This booth, which used Marciel’s recipe, was the start of a long-standing tradition. She also lent the school her recipe for malasadas in 1958, creating one of the most iconic and memorable food items at Carnival.
Over the years, the booth has had some minor changes. As demand for Portuguese Bean Soup increased, Carnival expanded its operations to produce more product. The booth was managed by an increasing number of student and parent chairs, where they also implemented small recipe changes to accommodate the growing demands; in 1999, the recipe was modified to include more potatoes and use canned kidney beans instead of dried beans. That same year, the Carnival kitchen workers doubled the output from 1,200 gallons of soup to 2,400 gallons. In addition, the booth has been moved a few times, originally occupying different spaces in front of the Mamiya Science Center. Afterwards, it was moved in front of the Sullivan Administration Building during the early 2000s. For the upcoming Carnival in 2025, the Portuguese Bean Soup booth will be moving to Dole Hall in hopes of reducing wait times and improving traffic flow.
Today, the Portuguese Bean Soup booth is one of the most popular booths at Carnival, with countless gallons of soup being sold each Carnival. The thick, savory soup is a favorite of many, with the booth’s lines consistently stretching from the Sullivan Administration Building, where the booth was previously located, all the way to the Luke Lecture Hall in the Wo International Center.
Thank you to Kumu Kylee at the Punahou Archives for helping us put together this article. All of the photos, as well as much of our research was found courtesy of the Archives. It would not have been possible without her help!