In a small village in Polynesia, there is an annual festival unlike anything else in the world. Visitors call it the Crazy Tiki Festival — but the locals know it by its true name: Tiki Pupule. The Mardi Gras of Polynesia. For one full week, day and night, the village comes alive with music, laughter, dancing, and the intoxicating aromas of food cooked over open flames.
Fifty years ago, a young US Navy sailor stumbled into that festival — and was never the same again.
I was that sailor.
I still remember it all: the smoke rising from the grills, the cool mist drifting in from the ocean, and then — her. A lovely young woman with a smile that outshone every lantern in the village. In that one magical week, I fell in love — completely and without reservation.
The flavors I tasted that week were unlike anything I had ever experienced — bold, layered, alive — but it was she who made everything taste sweeter.
When the festival ended, so did our time together. The tides of a sailor's life carried me away, back to a world that suddenly felt a little less colorful. But she never left me. For fifty years, she has lived in my dreams and my memories — that smile, that music, that magical week — as vivid and warm as the day I lived it.
Before I left, I made a promise: to share the beauty of her village and the magic of Tiki Pupule with the world.
Crazy Tiki Rubs is the fulfillment of that promise.
For fifty years, I have worked to recreate those flavors — the rubs, the spices, the magic. Some ingredients from that village cannot be imported in the quantities needed without harming the local environment, so I have honored that place by finding other natural ingredients that capture the same spirit. Every blend is crafted with care, with memory, and with love.
If my rubs bring a smile to your face — or to the faces of your loved ones — then I have succeeded, and the love story lives on.
So kick your shoes off, find a dance partner, put on some music, and fire up the grill.
Welcome to the Festival of Tiki Pupule. It and the love affair never really ended.