{"id":40658,"date":"2021-10-18T08:00:44","date_gmt":"2021-10-18T12:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/?p=40658"},"modified":"2024-09-18T10:44:43","modified_gmt":"2024-09-18T14:44:43","slug":"tiki-drinks-with-cheese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/tiki-drinks-with-cheese\/","title":{"rendered":"Drinks with Cheese: Reconsidering Tiki"},"content":{"rendered":"

O<\/span>ne of the first words that comes to mind regarding tiki is \u201cescapist.\u201d A cocktail bursting with flavors of pineapple, coconut, and orange flower has the ability to transport the drinker immediately to some jewel of a tropical island, where things like work emails and calories don\u2019t exist. But as American consumers have grown more and more aware of where the things they enjoy come from, the truth behind tiki has been getting more attention.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe [tiki] genre itself is rooted in colonialism and imperialism,\u201d says Samuel Jimenez, a hospitality professional and co-founder of Pasifika Project<\/a>, an organization that provides a platform for people of Oceanic descent in the hospitality industry. \u201cTo me, non-appropriative tiki doesn\u2019t exist.\u201d<\/p>\n

A quick history: In 1934, Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt (later self-styled as Donn Beach) opened a bar in Los Angeles and festooned it with souvenirs he had collected during his travels throughout the South Pacific. By 1937, Don the Beachcomber\u2014as the bar was eventually named\u2014was a kind of fantastical, experiential watering hole that served rum-soaked concoctions by the gallon, the contents of which were a closely guarded secret. Tiki is the name of the first man in Mori mythology, and it seemed to Gantt like a fitting\u2014and fittingly out-of-touch\u2014label for the world he had concocted.<\/p>\n

Gantt is credited with inventing iconic tropical-flavored drinks like the Zombie and Planter\u2019s Punch, which have no real origins in Oceanic cultures but are still widely categorized as \u201ctiki\u201d on cocktail menus the world over. Gantt\u2019s appropriated ideas of the South Seas aesthetic were soon co-opted by others who brought tiki drinks, barware, decor, and food\u2014really, re-tooled traditional Cantonese dishes\u2014all the way to the East Coast and beyond.<\/p>\n

Tiki enjoyed its heyday during America\u2019s post-World War II prosperity, which is when more-is-more drinks like the Mai Tai and Fog Cutter became cocktail party staples alongside cheese balls and pineapple upside-down cake. Like all fads, tiki faded out of fashion sometime during the Cold War, but has enjoyed several revivals over the ensuing decades. Thanks to die-hard fans and cocktail historians like Jeff \u201cBeachbum\u201d Berry, tiki survives amid an ongoing cultural reckoning.<\/p>\n

In his work with Pasifika Project, Jimenez emphasizes the fact that the cultures that inspired the tiki genre still exist\u2014very much so\u2014and many face profound threats to their homelands, economies, and cultures. Environmental concerns like rising sea levels and overfishing threaten the beautiful, millennia-old island nations of the South Pacific\u2014a far cry from the carefree tropical getaways that tiki culture fetishizes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it is appreciation that you have for our people, for our islands, for our cultures, for this aesthetic, for our words, then pay attention to the issues that we have going on right now,\u201d says Jimenez. \u201cI care more about that than whether tiki exists or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jimenez does not see tiki disappearing anytime soon but hopes its fans will acknowledge its origins. \u201cAt the end of the day, I try not to get too down on it and just continue to focus on the process of educating people about why these things are problematic,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd then from there, either creating something new out of the ashes or evolving.\u201d For the tiki consumer, that evolution can include supporting outlets such as Pasifika Project<\/a> or Oceania-based climate change fighters like 350 Pacific<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As we\u2019ve discussed before in these pages, the environmental and ethical impacts of dairy production are nothing to shrug at either. Methane buildup, exorbitant water usage, overgrazing, and milk waste are just a few of the concerns today\u2019s cheesemakers are trying to address\u2014with, it must be noted, a measure of success. (Just see the Crave Brothers\u2019 anaerobic methane digester<\/a>, or the carbon neutrality efforts at Rogue Creamery<\/a> and Shelburne Farms<\/a>, among many others.) And while commercial dairy operations reckon with their futures, other cheesemakers are fighting tooth and nail to keep their traditions alive.<\/p>\n

In bringing cheese and tiki together here, we hope to bring awareness to the people, the work, and the stories behind the food.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve compiled four tropical cocktail recipes created by advocates of the \u201cnew tiki\u201d era, in which bar owners, mixologists, and imbibers are asked to acknowledge the origins of the liquid fantasies they enjoy. If you don\u2019t have access to some of these ingredients, do not fear; similar substitutions will play just as nicely with the recommended cheese pairings. All drinks can be prepared by shaking all ingredients (except garnishes) with ice, then straining over crushed ice, a big cube, or straight up into a vessel of your choosing. As for the cheese, purchasing any of these selections will either help to sustain an age-old tradition or support an ethical maker.<\/p>\n

COWGIRL CREAMERY DEVIL\u2019S GULCH<\/a> + COLD, DEAD MAI TAI<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Organic, sustainable, and here to party, Devil\u2019s Gulch makes a memorable impression on the eyes and the tongue. It\u2019s a bloomy-rind double-cream encrusted with red heirloom peppers, the ingredients of which are only harvested or procured in winter. Cowgirl Creamery\u2019s water conservation efforts are well-known and respected in the cheesemaking community, and especially crucial in drought-prone California. Pair with this earthy Mai Tai for a devilishly good time.<\/p>\n

COLD, DEAD, MAI TAI<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

by Gerg\u0151 Mur\u00e1th for Doom Tiki<\/em><\/p>\n