Sandy beaches, sunshine and cool breezes are standard fare for the Caribbean traveler. As are exotic tropical drinks. So when tropical heat moves into Chicago, a taste of the tropics might be nice in your own cabana. We can help you with the drinks; the cabana is your problem.
We polled bartenders of several Caribbean resorts to gather drink recipes fresh from the islands.
What`s needed are fruit juices, rum and assorted spirits, plenty of ice and sunshine.
Flavors of the Caribbean are not all unusual. Most people are familiar with drinks made with banana, cream of coconut, lemon, lime, orange and pineapple. Less recognizable to Midwestern palates are essences of other tropical fruits, such as cherimoya, guava, mango, papaya and passion fruit.
The cherimoya is a pale green fruit, sometimes called a ”custard apple” because of its smooth, creamy texture when ripe. The skin is tough, the flesh speckled with seeds. Still, the flavor of its tender pulp is heavenly, according to Elizabeth Schneider, author of ”Uncommon Fruits & Vegetables”
(Harper & Row, $16.95). She terms the cherimoya a blend of ”mango, pineapple, papaya and vanilla custard, in varying proportions.”
Guavas, mangos, papayas and passion fruits no longer are novelties in Chicago groceries. But many consumers are put off by the unattractive appearance of the ripe fruits and eat them too soon, while they are still green and bitter tasting. For instance, the passion fruit must wither into a wrinkled purple-brown ball before its delectable flavor develops fully. It`s worth the wait to let these fruits ripen.
Schneider says that unripe guavas ”smell like a locker room: musky and animal-like.” Withstand the temptation to cloister the guavas in the refrigerator, because the chill will spoil the fruit and prevent ripening. Mature guavas have a pleasant floral bouquet and tutti-fruity taste. To use them in a drink, peel and puree the pink fruit, then press it through a sieve to remove seeds. Add sugar to taste to bring out the full perfume of the fruit.
Some tropical liquors use guava as a flavoring agent. ”When guavaberry liquor is called for in a recipe, you may substitute Chambord,” says Rose Abello, a spokeswoman for La Belle Creole Hotel of St. Martin.
Groceries that offer a good selection of Hispanic foodstuffs will have pureed mango and papaya nectars available in cans. Mangos have the sweetness of cantaloupe, with the slightly stringy texture of pumpkin. Papayas must be completely yellow, or mottled green and yellow, and slightly soft when ripe. Simply peel and remove the center seeds to use the fruit.
Passion fruit and tamarind are common crops throughout the Caribbean. Passion fruits are ugly to behold, but the sweetly perfumed, golden pulp is used in many desserts and drinks. Look for brown wrinkled fruits that rattle when shaken. Open, scoop out the juicy innards, and press through a sieve to remove the bitter seeds. You`ll have a light, honey-colored pulp to use in your drinks or as a dressing for fruit salad.
Tamarinds originated in Africa but were imported for cultivation in the Caribbean. The long, brown pods yield an acidic pulp used as a base in many confections and condiments. (Worcestershire sauce gets its characteristic bite from tamarind.) Look for the packaged pulp in Asian, Hispanic and West Indian food markets. Soak the brown, gluey mass in boiled sugar and water to obtain a tangy syrup.
Alternately, look for exotic fruit flavorings in commercial products. Coconut milk, mango and papaya nectars can be found in cans. A line of dessert sauces, Helen`s Tropical Exotics (available at specialty food stores), offers flavors such as passion fruit, raspberry-tamarind, and guava in ready-to-mix form. Be prepared to forgo the freshness that is a hallmark of Caribbean mixology in favor of easy preparation.
Charles Schumann, author of ”The Tropical Bar Book” (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, $19.95), cautions, ”Most fruit flavorings have such a distinct aroma that they mix well with only a limited number of others.” Be wary of tropical drinks that combine a large number of fruits.
Yet many Caribbean drinks do combine several spirits successfully-that`s just part of the tropical cocktail`s allure. Drink names such as Liquid Sunshine, Manchebo Madness, and Thunder at Eaton Hall offer a clue to the potency of the cocktails. Strong drinks complement the pungent food, and party atmosphere, of traditional Caribbean resorts.
The Eaton Hall Beach Hotel is on the north coast of Jamaica, on Runaway Bay. Jamaican rum has a worldwide reputation for its strong flavor and high proof. This recipe calls for 150-proof (also known as ”overproof”) rum.
THUNDER AT EATON HALL
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Yield: 1 serving
1 ounce Bailey`s Irish Cream
1 ounce Tia Maria
1 ounce overproof rum
1 ounce whole milk
1 ripe banana
Dash simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water boiled together to make a syrup, then cooled)
1. Mix all ingredients in a blender.
2. Serve over crushed ice (to taste).
The Plantation House, Bequia, St. Vincent (the largest of the Grenadine Islands), lays claim to this recipe for an updated rum punch.
PLANTATION HOUSE PUNCH
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Yield: 1 serving
1/8 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1 ounce sugar cane syrup (substitute simple syrup, if unavailable)
2 ounces aged, or anejo, rum
1 1/2 ounces orange juice
1 1/2 ounces pineapple juice
Slices of fresh pineapple for garnish
1. Steep ground nutmeg in Angostura and sugar syrup.
2. Blend in rum and fruit juices.
3. Shake with ice and strain into chilled glass.
4. Garnish with fresh pineapple.
Accommodations on the island of Aruba include an ”out of the ordinary”
Holiday Inn, where the bar menu includes this passion fruit cocktail.
LIQUID SUNSHINE
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Yield: 1 serving
Superfine sugar
2 ounces passion fruit juice
1 1/2 ounces white rum
1 ounce orange juice
1 ounce premium vodka
1/2 ounce blue curacao
Orange slice for garnish
1. Frost the rim of a chilled 13-ounce glass with superfine sugar.
2. Blend ingredients and shake with ice.
3. Strain cocktail into glass.
4. Garnish with fresh orange slice.
Also on Aruba, the Manchebo-Bucuti Beach Resort bar offers this as its house specialty.
MANCHEBO MADNESS
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Yield: 1 serving
2 ounces pineapple juice
1/2 ounce white rum
1/2 ounce Cointreau
1/2 ounce blue curacao
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon superfine sugar
Orange or pineapple slice for garnish
1. Mix ingredients, shaking well.
2. Serve over ice in collins glass.
3. Garnish with orange or pineapple slice.
La Belle Creole is termed ”a resort that`s a French seaside village,”
nestled on a peninsula of St. Martin in the French West Indies. This recipe calls for guavaberry liqueur; if unavailable, substitute Chambord liqueur.
LA BELLE CREOLE GUAVABERRY COLADA
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Yield: 2 servings
2 ounces guavaberry liqueur
1 1/2 ounces coconut cream
1 1/2 ounces pineapple juice
12 ice cubes
Orange or pineapple slices for garnish
1. Mix all ingredients, including ice, at high speed in blender.
2. Serve in a 12-ounce hurricane glass, garnished with fresh pineapple or orange slice.
A nonalcoholic refresher is adapted from a recipe by Dunstan Harris, a native Jamaican and author of ”Island Cooking” (Crossing Press, $10.95).
PAPAYA AND MANGO DRINK
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
3 cups water
1 1/2 cups mango puree
1 1/2 cups papaya puree
1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
2 tablespoons lime or lemon juice
2 tablespoons tamarind syrup
Sugar to taste
1. Combine all ingredients in batches in a blender.
2. Strain and serve chilled over cracked ice. –
