Post #357315 by Carmine Verandah on Sat, Jan 26, 2008 12:24 PM

How-do, Chef Frank!

La Verandah has also been collecting items and recipes for a tiki dinner party to be held at some indefinite time this summer. She has the added challenge of making sure there will be plenty of food that her consort can eat without triggering major digestive upsets -- sans wheat, barley, rye, fiery spiciness, corn syrups and cow's milk. Oh yes, and he won't eat pork or beef.

That doesn't mean La Verandah can't serve items of this sort, only that there will have to be quite a variety to cover the dietary needs of different guests. Coconut milk turns out to be a very satisfactory substitute for the bovine variety, better than rice or almond milk which tend to be much sweeter and thinner. Rice anything, sweet potatoes (yams), tofu and tamari sauce (wheat-free soy sauce) have also become staples in her cucina when exotica is called for.

Some recipes will be posted at a more convenient hour. However, I can recommend a trip to an ethnic-specialty grocery store (usually modest little mom-and-pop places) where one can find all sorts of things not available in one's standard Safeway. Greek, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Indian -- honestly, they are treasure troves of inexpensive exotic goodies!

As for tiki-style serving ware, we're probably all familiar with thrift shops and the less chi chi antiques stores as excellent caches. Also recommended are less-expensive import stores such as Cost Plus World Market, especially as the weather grows warmer. One can find a good variety of wooden, bamboo and ceramic plates, serving pieces and decorative items that recall tiki style quite splendidly.

And I'm sure le chef knows that if one has a restaurant-supply store within reasonable distance it is well worth a trip because they often supply cheap basic goods that allow one to splurge on more expensive tiki collectibles.

[ Edited by: Carmine Verandah 2008-01-26 12:54 ]