Post #558595 by bigbrotiki on Fri, Oct 8, 2010 9:48 AM

A general observation:

The food served in Polynesian restaurants around the heyday of Tiki has always been the weakest link in the chain that holds together the make believe world of Tiki. It was the first thing that was targeted by critics of the style, and probably one of the main elements that led to its demise. But it is not the only "imperfect" element in Tiki culture, there are many. (I have always said that The Book of Tiki has created a perfect past that never was, by my selection of only the best examples of the style, and by putting them into context to each other.):

We now know that most of the Tiki restaurant customers wore suit and tie, NOT loud Aloha shirts when frequenting these establishments.

We now know that most Tiki temples did NOT play Martin Denny or Arthur Lyman or the many other Exotica artists, thought they would have been perfect.

We can assume that many Tiki Bartenders did NOT always use the freshest ingredients and spices in their concoctions, like the new wave of mixologists do nowadays.

But WE, the Tikiphiles do these things today because they help to create a better, more perfect Tiki world. Yes, we are Tikier than Tiki ever was in all of these aspects, and are naively unrealistic when going out to existing Tiki temples, expecting perfect cocktails, served in cool Tiki mugs, accompanied by moody Exotica sounds. I have often laughed about that. It has been called snobby and hoity toity to act that way. But what if we begin to settle for less? Accept Reggae in Tiki Bars? Wear muted monochrome Tommy Bahama shirts? Put Captain Morgan into our cocktails?

Yes, I as a historian agree that Polynesian food was basically a mixture of Surf'n'Turf and Chinese dishes back in the day, but that does not mean that today's informed, educated Tikiphile cannot improve on that, for example by being selective in making choices that better fit and build on the theme.