Cooking Lesson #360: Caribbean Pain Killer

…from the Happy Hour Bar

How you doin’?  It’s that wonderful day of the week—Friday. And it’s Happy Hour at the Perspectives’ Bar. Have you ever wondered where Happy Hours originated? Although the exact origin of the happy hour is unknown, it may be traced back to the United States Navy back in the early 20th century—1913 to be exact. It was then that a weekly entertainment and semi-weekly smokers program called “Happy Hours” was created aboard the USS Arkansas to help relieve the boredom of being at sea. There were a variety of activities during this time, including boxing and wrestling matches, music and dancing—but not alcohol-based libation.
 
These programs grew more and more popular and by the end of World War I, “Happy Hours” were being held throughout the entire Navy. Over the next several years, the term became more about drinking than entertaining, according to a 1959 Saturday Evening Post article about bringing Happy Hours landside and detailed the lives and loves of government contractors and military personnel in the Caribbean.
 
Al Capone starting cashing on Happy Hours in the illegal gin mills of Chicago. For those law-breakers who wanted to imbibe rot-gut hooch in secrecy, a kind of a 20th century pre-dinner tradition became popular. Friends would meet at speakeasies or even in someone's home before going out for supper, thus creating the cocktail hour. Eventually, civilians adopted "Happy Hour" as a euphemism for that secret and festive, lawbreaking behavior.
 
Happy Hours became synonyms for a term used in my restaurants for discounted afternoon drinks in our bars—1 buck well drinks, $1.25 call drinks, $1.50 premium drinks and 99¢ draft beers were served every weekday from 4pm to 6pm. We also served free appetizers along with some modest entertainment.
 
Our fancier mixed drinks included cocktails like this Caribbean Pain Killer. Create your own Happy Hour for friends and family with this great tasting, pain-killing beverage.
 
Prep Time:  5 minutes
Yield:  1 cocktail
 
Ingredients
1/2 ounce gold tequila
1/2 ounce vodka
1/2 ounce light rum
1 ounce canned pineapple juice
1/2 ounce orange juice
2 tablespoons cream of coconut, “Coco Lopez”
 
Directions

1. In a blender pour the ingredients over crushed ice.
2. Blend until smooth
3. Pour into a Collins glass
4. Garnish with a small pineapple wedge and a maraschino cherry flag.

 
ChefSecret:  You do not need to use top drawer liquors when making this cocktail. Well-quality liquor is certainly in order.
 
Quip of the Day: “Cash, check or charge? the salesclerk asked after folding items the woman wished to purchase. As she fumbled for her wallet, the clerk noticed a remote control for a television set in her purse. She asked, do you always carry your TV remote with you? No, she replied, but my husband refused to come shopping with me, and I figured this was the evilest thing I could do to him legally.”
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Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. 
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To you and everyone dear to you, be strong and positive, stay well and safe and be kind to others. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. Thanks for reading.

#Cocktail #CaribbeanPainKiller #Rum #Vodka #Tequila #Coconut #Cheers# QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup 

                                           ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2021

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