Photo and pineapple jack o’ lantern by .Modern Tiki.
Worn down by seven months of a global shutdown, we may be done with the Coronavirus, but it’s not done with us. Spikes in cases and deaths around the world attest to its ongoing, menacing grip on our lives. As such, for our physical health, we still need to keep ourselves and others safe by socializing outdoors, wearing a mask, and maintaining our distance.
But what about our mental health? This may seem frivolous in these worrying times, but we also need to find some fun and merriment. Our souls need and crave it.
Just two months ago, during the summer, it was comparatively easy to take part in this kind of social fun, or at least it was for us on the Jersey Shore, where the beach was a safe space. But as the days get cooler, wetter, and shorter, this gets trickier, but not totally impossible or irresponsible.
Speaking of tricks—and souls—we’ve got an idea for some joy before full-on winter descends: an afternoon-time, outdoor tiki party on Halloween, which conveniently falls on a Saturday this year. Just because the warm weather has come to an end in the northeast, doesn’t mean a tiki celebration with its evocation of tropical climes can’t happen. In fact, there’s an established crossover between tiki and the occult.
Just think of the iconography of tiki culture--the tikis themselves warding off evil spirits and curses, the shrunken heads of enemies, sacrificial volcanoes, and the deadly fangs of animals and monsters. Even the names of classic cocktails evoke the otherworldly, such as the Zombie and Mexican El Diablo, and new classics, such at The Dead Reckoning,
From here, it’s easy to come up with suitably spooky drinks, food, music, and decorations (check out that pineapple jack o’lantern!) for a Halloween tiki party, which we’re cleverly calling Freaky Tiki.
As for drinks, my mind went straight to the Italian herbal liqueur, Strega, which means “witch.” How fitting for Halloween, no? Not having used Strega much before, except for the summertime martini, Spellbinder, I Googled, tiki drinks with Strega, as one does for recipe ideas, and discovered this one from Seattle, Bruxa Irmã Seis Batida. I am not entirely sure what its name means, but I know “bruxa,” is Portuguese for “witch.” A tiki drink with a “witch” in its name and in its ingredient list--perfect!
Now for food. In keeping with Halloween’s connection to what and who lies six feet under, I chose this seemingly fitting dish of bite-size baked potatoes--black ones at that!--that guests need to exhume from a half-inch of salt to eat. (The potatoes are buried in kosher salt and baked.)
Next up I should design a campy and creepy costume, but I’ve already expended my creativity capabilities with the cocktail and appetizer, so all I can come up with are a witch’s hat and orange capri pants with pineapples embroidered on them. Got any other ideas?
Thankfully, the spooky surf music playlist has been supplied by the tiki professionals at Hi Tide Recordings and I don’t need to figure it out (Spotify and Apple Music). Thank you!
Stay safe and spooky!