Happy 2022 friends! The holiday season has wrapped up. I’m slowly taking the tree down and my kitchen is beginning to look like its normal self — goodbye holiday food mess, hello normal everyday food mess. Although I'm happy to put holiday decorations back in the dusty abyss of my closets, I am sad to have the "spirits bright” and “holiday cheer” vibe leave with it. The holidays were a bit stressful (oh hey, Omicron) and it was the second Christmas I didn’t spend with my family. Not even a single sister could make it (oh hey, rigorous demand on the work force in the midst of a pandemic), which means I missed two key attributes of Filipino holiday traditions: Filipino food and Filipino Family.  (To me, “Filipino family” means your actual family, any and all other FIlipinos you happen to know, plus a few friendly White people who enjoy how we party.)

Enter Salamat, a mother & son-run small-batch Filipino cookie company based in Indiana, and Kasama Rum, a small batch rum that honors the founder’s Filipino-Polish heritage. Together they collaborated on two delicious cookies with the recipes to be exclusively shared right here on The Riza. 

• "Lolo’s Fruitcake" – this five-fruit cookie is made with Kasama Rum-soaked walnuts and white chocolate, topped with a Kasama Rum glaze. The name honors Michael's Lolo (grandfather in Tagalog) who, even at 90 years old, still bakes a holiday fruitcake every year. Full recipe here.

  We got walnut allergies in my family so I subbed in pecans. It was also difficult to come by dried kiwis, so I went for another dried tropical fruit, Philippine mangoes.

• "The Coquito" – this cookie is made with toasted coconut, Kasama Rum-soaked cashews and white chocolate, topped with a pinch of cinnamon and is a nod to the Puerto Rican holiday drink that's a staple on holiday tables across the islands. Full recipe here.

In addition to re-creating the recipes at home (or if you’re not the baking type, but are the cookie eating type), you can also order cookies directly from Salamat here. Salamat is based in Indiana and ships their yummy Filipino-inspired cookies nationwide or, if you’re local, you can pick them up (lucky!). If you try these cookies, let me know which one is your favorite. 

With my holiday celebration not being the big loud family gathering that would typically carry me through the long winter, these cookies are the right pick me up. They’re sweet, tropical, and nutty. I got these cookie doughs stashed in my freezer, ready to bake whenever I need a cookie. And I’m asking myself why I’ve never done that before. That’s my new year’s resolution – to always have cookie dough in the freezer so I have cookies ready to bake. Enjoy friends! 

Scroll to the bottom to learn more about Salamat and Kasama Rum.

ABOUT KASAMA

Named after the Filipino term for "together," Kasama pays homage to founder Alexandra Dorda’s Filipino-Polish heritage with a rum that defies the category. Kasama is produced & distilled in the heart of the Philippines, blended & bottled in Poland, and enjoyed in the United States. The brand envelops a sunny spirit inside & out – the convivial bottle holds a golden rum that’s aged 7 years in ex-bourbon American oak barrels with dominant notes of sweet pineapple, a hint of vanilla, and a pinch of sea salt. Leaving behind the typical tropes associated with old-school rum brands like sailors & pirates and absence of heavily spiced flavor profiles – Kasama brings a refreshing approach in both branding & palate to a category in need of a breath of fresh air.

ABOUT SALAMAT

Salamat, which means "thank you," started out to show appreciation for family & friends who were helping out during the COVID-19 pandemic. Founded by Michael Williams II and his Mama Odie, Salamat is an Indianapolis-based, small-batch, family-operated cookie company that celebrates truly authentic Philippine flavors, language, and culture within their cookies, with a modern twist. Learn more and place orders at www.salamatcookies.com.