PERFECT SERVE
Taste the Tropics “IF YOU LIKE PIÑA COLADA, AND GETTING CAUGHT IN THE RAIN ...” AND JUST LIKE THAT, AN EARWORM IS PLANTED! FIONA MCDONALD LOOKS AT THE ORIGIN OF THE DRINK – BUT ALSO ABOUT THE MUSICIAN WHO PENNED THE CATCHY TUNE.
I
f you’re not much into health food, but are into Champagne – then the Piña Colada is probably not your kind of drink since it is sweet, creamy and overtly pineapple flavoured. It’s also the national drink of Puerto Rico, the unincorporated territory of the United States, located 1 600 km southeast of Miami. With the name meaning “strained pineapple” in Spanish, there are two schools of thought about the drinks origin. Piña Colada is a sweet cocktail made with rum, cream of coconut or
26 w w w .t o p s a t s p a r. c o . z a
coconut milk and pineapple juice, served either blended with ice or shaken. The final touch is a garnish of either a pineapple wedge or a maraschino cherry – or even both. There’s a legend, Wikipedia informs, that Puerto Rican pirate, Roberto Cofresi used to give his crew a drink of coconut, pineapple juice and white rum to keep up their morale while doing pirately things. There’s no mention of peg legs, parrots or anyone saying “Arrr!”. Cofresi died in 1825 – and the recipe was lost – although historians dispute this version of the story. In terms of appearing in print, the New York Times reported as far back as 1950 that popular drinks in the West Indies ranged from Martinique’s
famous rum punch to Cuba’s piña colada (rum, pineapple juice and coconut milk). And that black-andwhite fact belies the claim of the Caribe Hilton Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, that its bartender Ramon Marrero created the drink in 1954 ... Something which is disputed by fellow Puerto Rican restaurant Barrachina that claims that it’s bartender, Spaniard Dom Ramon Portas Mingot created it in 1963! Regardless of who or even when, Puerto Rico has happily adopted the drink as its national tipple – something it did officially in 1978. (In fact, the USA loves this creation so much it even set aside 10 July as official Piña Colada Day.)
