Keeping It Relle: Maui home cook is featured in new season of ‘The Great American Recipe’

Maui’s Relle Lum is among nine talented home cooks from across the nation who are featured in the new season of PBS’s The Great American Recipe.

Lum was born and raised on Maui and is of Native Hawaiian descent. She tells producers that traditional Hawaiian food is a staple in her everyday recipes and the foundation for her inventive fusion dishes.

Season 2 celebrates the multicultural influences that make American food so vibrant and unique. According to PBS, contestants will showcase their varied backgrounds that range from “Guyanese to Greek, Libyan to Lithuanian, Caribbean to Native American, and Midwestern to traditional Hawaiian.”

Lum utilizes her knowledge of the many different cuisines that influence Hawaiian food and creates dishes with local, fresh island produce.

Many of her recipes and cooking demonstrations pull inspiration from the flavors of home. Her popular Keeping It Relle website and keeping.it.relle Instagram account features recipes like Instant Pot Squid Lū’au to Kaki Mochi Crusted Pork Tonkatsu and Ube Cheesecake.

Fans enjoy her quick and easy dinners and InstaPot recipes. She also introduces farmers market finds, comfort foods, and inspired favorites like Pastele stew, crock pot Hawaiian style beef stew, and Chinese style steamed ʻōpakapaka.

“Lum says that food is life in Hawaiʻi and hopes to preserve Hawaiian culture and cuisine for future generations. Her signature recipe is Loco Moco, a hamburger patty on a bed of white rice smothered with brown gravy and topped with an over-easy egg, which can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, or dinner,” according to PBS.

Fellow contestants share their inspiration from all over the US including Kansas to New York and Georgia, as they compete to win over the judges in search of “The Great American Recipe.”

Hosted by Alejandra Ramos, each episode challenges the cooks to showcase two of their signature dishes. Judges Leah Cohen, Tiffany Derry and Graham Elliot bring their professional insights and culinary knowledge to encourage contestants along the way. 

The eight part cooking competition series premieres on Mondays from June 19 to Aug. 7, 2023, 9-10 p.m. ET (check local listings) on PBS, PBS.org and the PBS App.