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Wednesday, June 13, 2001
Tapping into tiki
Fruity pork kabobs, fizzy blue drinks revive tropical party trend of '50s, '60s
By Joyce Rosencrans
Scripps Howard News Service

Scripps Howard News Service

Tropical pork kabobs are served with separately grilled pineapple-banana skewers. Pork is the perfect menu headliner to follow a tiki drink.

   Get that relaxed, tropical feeling by tapping into the tiki trend just for fun. Fire up the grill and find a flowered shirt or muu-muu to dress for the part of chief pork-and-pineapple cooker.
   This tropical fever hit nationwide as the old Trader Vic-type Polynesian restaurants have begun to disappear from the dining landscape. These make-believe tropic-nightspots were always pure camp, not taken seriously even in their heyday in the 1950s and '60s. But the food was good and the drinks were plenty weird - pink or gold concoctions, maybe even blue and foamy with blenderized fruit, sweet liqueurs and ice chips. Some of the drinks were served flaming or in real coconuts or pineapple shells.
   Now the old Polynesian artstyle (tiki is a term for carved wood amulets, figures as posts, etc.) is meeting retail pop culture. New Yorkers can shop in a "Patio Luau" department at Macy's East. Kmart, Savon Drugs and Home Depot sell tiki torches and figures for the yard. Some Ralph Lauren T-shirts have a tiki idol/Polo insignia. Thatched canopies for outdoor bars will be next for do-it-yourselfers.
   Perfect menPork is the perfect menu headliner to follow a tiki drink. It's lean enough to grill with a variety of fruits and vegetables, adding up to a nutritious meal so the muu-muu won't be filling out any further. These two recipes for quick-to-fix, glazed and grilled pork are adapted from Smithfield Lean Generation Pork, the leanest commercially produced pork in the country.
   MUSTARD GRILLED PORK CHOPS
   4 boneless pork chops, ¾-inch thick
   1-1/2 cups diced plum tomatoes
   8 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained, chopped
   ¼ cup chopped fresh basil
   ¼ teaspoon cayenne
   2 tablespoons Dijon-style mustard
   1 tablespoon honey
   1 teaspoon minced garlic
   Yield: Four servings
   Grilling: Eight minutes
   Have a gas grill heating or prepare a bed of ash-covered coals. Meanwhile, combine the diced plum tomatoes in a medium bowl with the sun-dried tomatoes, chopped basil and cayenne. Set aside.
   In a small bowl, combine mustard, honey and garlic. Place chops on a medium-hot grill grid and cook three minutes. Brush the mustard mix on the top, turn chops and brush on more mustard mixture. Grill three minutes, turn chops and brush with more mustard mix. Cook a couple of minutes more, turning and brushing until chops are done, but still moist. Serve with the two-tomato mixture.
   Recipe from Smithfield
   TROPICAL PORK KABOBS
   1 pound boneless pork loin, cut in ¾-inch cubes
   1/3 cup orange marmalade
   2 tablespoons honey
   2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
   ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
   8 skewers (water-soaked if wooden)
   2 green bananas
   Fresh pineapple chunks
   1 red bell pepper
   Yield: Four servings
   Grilling: 10 minutes
   Prepare pork cubes and divide into four piles. Thread on four skewers without crowding. Wash hands, knife and cutting board with hot, soapy water. Have grill heating or coals burning long enough to be ash-covered.
   In a small saucepan over low heat, stir together the marmalade, honey, lemon juice and cinnamon. Cook until it bubbles. Meanwhile, slice off and discard banana tips. Without peeling, cut remaining bananas into 1-1/2-inch chunks. Use a knife tip to slit peel lengthwise several places for steam to escape. Trim bell pepper and cut into squares. Alternately thread pineapple, banana and pepper pieces onto remaining skewers. Coat with glaze and place on grill, about 4 inches from heat source, along with pork kabobs. Cook pork for four minutes, then slather with marmalade mixture and continue turning and grilling, brushing with glaze, for a total of 10 minutes or until pork cubes are done. Turn the fruit kabobs as well. Slide off skewers to serve. Good with mashed sweet potatoes and rice pilaf.
   Recipe adapted from Smithfield
   DEEP PACIFIC
   1-1/2 ounces vodka
   1-1/2 ounces light rum
   1 ounce blue Curacao
   1 tablespoon green Chartreuse
   7-Up and ice
   Yield: a collins-glass cocktail
   Fill a collins glass with ice, add all ingredients except the 7-Up. Stir and fill with 7-Up. In a less serious mode, fill a small pineapple shell, add two straws and a paper parasol.
   Recipe from "Tiki Drinks" by Adam Rocke (Surrey Books, $12.95)



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