On Episode 7 of “The Great American Recipe,” Maui home cook Relle Lum served her last meal to the judges, making Hawaiian style beef stew and gandule rice with pastele stew. These last two challenges decided which three contestants would move on to the finale.

From her popular liliko’i bars to the classic Hawaiian plate lunch, Lum always kept her dishes local and true to her mixed-plate background since the first episode. She brought more than just the island flavors to the competition — she showed the world what Hawaiʻi is all about.

Putting pineapple on your pizza doesn’t make it Hawaiian. There’s a difference between local food and Hawaiian food. And yes, lomi salmon is supposed to be salty. For every challenge, Lum served a delicious dish with a side of education.

She said it was a great opportunity to teach people about Hawaiʻi, especially being on a platform that celebrates the different cultures and flavors that make up America. The best part about being on the show?

“Meeting all the other contestants,” said Lum. “It’s working with people and being around and making friends with people that you might not have done in everyday life. You know, it’s people that are different — not that different is bad — it’s just, there’s no reason that our paths may have crossed other than food. And then you find out you have so much in common despite all the differences in life. I think that was one of my favorite things.”

Out of all the challenges throughout the show, Lum said she enjoyed making desserts the most since she feels most comfortable baking.

“And those were the two rounds that I did the best,” said Lum. “I made the manju, and I won that round, and then I made malasadas and won that round… but they were all really fun. It was a learning experience. It was definitely one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but aside from that, it was cool.”

Maui native Relle Lum showcases her manju with adzuki bean and coconut filling in Episode 4 of “The Great American Recipe” on PBS. (Courtesy of PBS)

Looking to the future, Lum wants to figure out how to balance her life. She’s a nurse practitioner raising two kids and also has a cooking website — Keeping It Relle — that she updates regularly for her thousands of followers who eagerly wait for new recipes.

“I absolutely love medicine, but yet I absolutely love this cooking thing I’ve got going on,” said Lum. “I really wish I could do both and do both well and full time, but there’s just not enough hours in the day to do it.”

It’s tough being in the medical field, Lum said, especially during the past few years in rural places like Maui.

“We’re working long hours. It’s hard. And then I come home, and I don’t want to take away time from my kids,” said Lum. “I’ve got a mortgage, you know, I would never just give up my day job. And Maui needs — not necessarily me — but Maui needs medical professionals. So I almost feel a little bit of a an obligation to stay. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love it. And I want to stay anyway. But like, on top of that, I feel like a little bit of that.”

“I’m trying to learn how to balance it all and still be, you know, a good employee and still be a good mom and a good wife and try to do it all,” Lum said.

Relle Lum has hundreds of recipes on her website, KeepingItRelle.com. (Courtesy of Relle Lum)

With Keeping It Relle, Lum hopes to perpetuate Hawaiʻi’s culture through her food and encourage more people to cook. She tells people all the time that she’s just a mom who likes to cook, and if she can do it, so can you.

Her final message:

“Mahalo nui for all the support. It was so hard to go through this whole time knowing the outcome and not being able to tell people and yet have people still be so supportive and show up every single episode and comment on every single video. I just want to say thank you so much, and honestly, without the people, you know, there would be no Instagram; there would be no Keeping It Relle; there would be no website because there’s nobody to share it with. So I just want to say thank you to each and every one of you for all your support. And again, not the outcome I wanted, but I left it all on the table and that’s the best you can do, right? Give it all you got. Put Hawaiʻi on the map and make Hawaiʻi proud.”

Tune in for the finale of “The Great American Recipe” on Monday, Aug. 7, at 9 p.m. Hawaiʻi time.