Tiki Spirited Dinner

Posted on July 18, 2008
Filed Under Rick Stutz |

Rick Stutz is a cocktail connoisseur and tiki aficionado, and publisher of Kaiser Penguin.

A momentous thanks to Chef Chris DeBarr, Jeff “Beachbum” Berry and his lovely wife, and Wayne Curtis for making a magical evening for all of us. I greatly enjoyed the spirited dinner at the Delachaise last year, but this blew it out of the water.

For your salivating pleasure, here is the full menu (taken from Chef Chris’s blog) and some pictures:

A Cocktail to Begin

Ginger Grant
Lime, Orange, Honey, Domaine de Canton, 10-Cane Rum, Bittermen’s Tiki Bitters

Swanky Canapes

Tonga Zombie
Lime, Pineapple, Funkin Passion Fruit Puree, Cruzan Estate Light, Bacardi 151, Old New Orleans Rum

• Tiki Ceviche– hake, with cloudy sake & rambutan puree, coconut vinegar, lime juice, and tropical fruit
• The Green Hornet– cucumber rounds with marinated mackerel and Hendrick’s Gin-cucumber-red chile granita
• Lafcadio’s Sushi– rose petal rice with furikake and Lake Pontchartrain flounder

Bongo Appetizers

Pamplemousee Punch
Grapefruit, Rhum Clément Creole Shrubb, Old New Orleans Cajun Rum, Angostora Bitters and Herbsaint

I only included this picture to make fun of Seamus for not enjoying the delightfully crisp shrimp heads.

• Grilled Endive “Outrigger Canoes” with crab and jackfruit, umeboshi plum sauce
• Phnom Penh Pork Belly featuring Kurobuta pork braised in star anise caramel sauce, with “forbidden” black sticky rice and bamboo shoots
• Wahine Shrimp– jumbo LA. shrimp roasted “in a grass skirt” of ketaifi (shredded phyllo) with grilled pineapple and a lemony New Orleans barbecue sauce
• Black Bean & Banana Blossom Pupusa, with salsa verde, Salvadoran slaw

Big Kahuna Plates

Luau Coconut
Lime, Pineapple, Coconut Water and Coconut Milk, Cruzan Estate Light and Dark Rums

• The Green Zebra goes to Oz: a tomato trilogy - macademia-crusted green tomato in a bush tomato profiterole with tomato chutney, blue cheese, durian ice cream, and wattle seed mole
• Cochon de Lait Wearing Hawiian Sunglasses: Kahlua pork wrapped in banana leaves with roasted sweet potatoes and Hawaiian sea salt
• Buddha’s Jade Serenity Scallops: togarishi seared sea scallops on a bed of green tea jasmine rice with home made dashi and crisp kombu seaweed in eel sauce and fried lotus root chips.
• “The Old-Fashioned” Gulf Fish Menuiere: based on the classic cocktail, with a brown butter of bourbon, tangerine/satsuma juice, Luxardo Marischino Cherry Liqueur and Fee Bros Whisky Barrel Bitters, over parsnip mash, with sea beans and edamame

Tropical Dessert

Bandicoot
Macademia Nut Liqueur, Kahlua, Coconut Milk

• Baked Hawaii– Tiki-carved meringues hiding macadamia nut and Hawaiian honey semifreddo and a cake layer of roasted pineapple and crystallized baby ginger. Based on the famous Baked Alaska, but in a tribute to our 50th and most tropical state! Doused with spiced rum and sent to the table on fire