
To understand the story of Rumaki we need to look to Don the Beachcomber where it first appeared on their menu in 1941. To understand Don the Beachcomber we need to go all the way back to a time shortly after prohibition. A small town schoolteacher (with big ambitions) from Minnesota spent her life savings to relocate herself to California. Her name was Cora Irene Sund.
Once she arrived in sunny L.A. she got herself a job as a waitress at the Tick Tock Tea Room, another classic restaurant of old Hollywood. But Cora was party girl, and Tea Rooms just did not suit her! She became a part of the cocktail circuit in Hollywood and one of her favorite bars was a tacky little Tiki Bar located by the pool of one of the more downscale hotels in Hollywood. There she met a bartender who used the fictional moniker of Don the Beachcomber to ply exotic rum drinks on tourists.
Well, Cora was a party girl, sure, but she was an astute businesswoman too. She soon left her waitress gig, changed her name to Sunny Sund and borrowed enough money to make improvements to “Don” little poolside bar. She and “Don” went into business together and she named herself president of the small business venture they formed. A wedding between to the two soon followed!
By 1937 Sunny Sund and Don the Beachcomber grew the Tiki Bar concept into a full-blown restaurant. The moved it across the street into a vacant building that had enough room for their over-the- top, wildly exotic vision of a “tropical paradise” themed restaurant. This restaurant became Don the Beachcomber.
From the very beginning they attracted a Hollywood crowd. From the street the place was hidden in a thicket of bamboo and difficult to find. Difficult to find soon came to mean, if you didn’t know where it was you didn’t belong. To add to the allure they enshrined the chopsticks used by notable diners such as Groucho Marx, Bing Crosby, Marlene Dietrich and Greer Garson in glass case!
They hired Chinese cooks and asked them to create imaginative hybrids of Cantonese/Tropical dishes. One of the most popular menu items was Rumaki! Rumaki was described as an appetizer made with water chestnuts and chicken livers wrapped in sarong of bacon. Just the thing to accompany Don’s creative but intoxicating slew of colorful rum drinks.
Their business was a huge success; their marriage however failed miserably. They were divorced by 1940. But they remained partners in business as they opened Don the Beachcomber restaurants in Palm Springs, Chicago, Marina del Rey, Newport Beach, and at last, finally Mecca–Waikiki Beach. When it came time to retire J. Ronald Getty, son of J. Paul Getty bought the chain about 1968. Eventually the concept felt dated and the restaurants fell out of favor. But Rumaki lives on and remains the ultimate party food!

Ingredients
- ½ pound chicken livers, rinsed, with dark spots and veins removed
- 1 teaspoon anise seeds
- 3 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon kitchen bouquet
- 2 bay leaves
- 1½ teaspoon salt
- 1 pound sliced bacon
- 12 whole canned water chestnuts
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Combine chicken livers, anise seeds, brown sugar, Kitchen Bouquet, bay leaves, and salt. Cook gently over medium low heat until barely cooked through, about 8 minutes.
Remove pan from the heat and move the chicken livers to a plate and let them cool. Keep the sauce in the pan and set it aside. Once cool enough to handle cut the livers into chunks about the same size as the water chestnuts.
Lay one slice of bacon on a work surface in front of you. Place a water chestnut and a piece of liver at the end of the piece of bacon. Carefully roll the bundle until encased in the bacon. You will probably only use a half piece of bacon. Trim the bacon at that point. Use a tooth pick to secure the opening making sure to pass it through both the water chestnut and the liver and back through the other side of the bacon. Use the other half of the bacon for the next rumaki. Repeat with the rest of the pieces.
One at a time return the rumaki to the pan holding the sauce. Carefully roll each rumaki in the sauce until it is well coated. Lay the rumaki bundles as you finish each one on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake in oven for 20 minutes until well browned and crisp. Serve warm.
I am a lucky girl! Not only do I get to drop by your house on short notice and have you cook me a delicious meal, but I get to enjoy a fabulous serving of this wonderful lasagna and spend some time checking out the Eat Ate cookbook. I want to prepare ALL of the recipes. They look terrific and while I only had a few moments to flip through the pages, the photos and creative format were fun, and the stories were touching, personal and engaging. I think it would make a great Christmas gift (hint, hint), and I think I will need to send it to some friends.
Thanks again for a terrific evening!
I love new cookbooks and you make this one sound like a winner! This lasagne is amazing! And if you say it’s one of the best things you ever brought to your table then it must be superb! And worth trying!
Ohh I love checking out new cookbooks, great and honest review! I will be on the look out for a copy of this book
I love how you considered the physical aspect of the book as well as the contents as part of a whole experience. It’s something that may not have come to my mind — a shame, since food is a full sensory experience. Why shouldn’t I use more than just one sense (sight) when reading about it?
Speaking of which, your photograph of the lasagna is simply beautiful. While I’m not a pumpkin fan, I won’t let a less-than-enthused attitude about one ingredient keep me from trying such a recipe!
Sounds like a terrific cookbook, I love this pumpkin & asparagus lasagne recipe, very elegant!
Good timing for the pumpkin. I’m going to roll my sleeves up and get going with squash pretty soon.
My brother’s favorite tempura is actually pumpkin tempura, which we’ve only seen in Japan. May need to give it an attempt.
Yeah! A new cookbook. Thank you for the recommendation. I needed a new one to feed my addiction. BTW I love your blog!
Thanks again friend.
Cookbooks are one of the few things I collect… Passionately! I will have to seek this one out, thanks for the review.
I love the write up of this cookbook, I will definitely have to check it out now! Thanks Greg!
Eric