Trissalicious

Have you ever been pleasantly surprised by a wrong first impression?

Well, when I met my husband there was no instant attraction, no sparks. Even worse – just really a total lack of interest (at least on my part). I thought he was nice but just not my type. If you told me that we would end up married I would have laughed and said “NEVER”. So how did this total apathy to him lead to us walking down the aisle? Crazy world isn’t it?

To be perfectly upfront, our love story has some uh… questionable beginnings. I was working at a large bank in their treasury department selling foreign exchange and derivatives and he was working for a large corporate and part of his job involved dealing with us.

Yes… I married my client.

We had been talking over the phone for a few weeks and then decided to finally meet up for dinner. First impression, I thought he has pretty nerdy. He was constantly talking about foreign exchange and trying to get me to exchange ideas on my views on the market. Not the type of conversation to keep me interested but I had to be polite. After all, he WAS a client.

I can confidently confirm however that he liked me. A lot. How would I know? Well, he told me so – many years later. But also at that time, actions spoke much MUCH louder than words.

Smoked Ocean Trout, Cream Cheese and Lime wrapped in Squid Ink Pasta

Thinking about it now, he was a quite clever. He knew I didn’t like him in that way so he worked on my parents instead. He asked if he could come and visit me at home and immediately won my parents over when he brought them a triple layered chocolate cake.

My Dad was over the moon to find out that he played tennis and they teed up a time to play tennis once or twice a week. I thought that he enjoyed playing tennis so early in the morning (waking up at 4:30 every morning to get to my house at 6:00) but it was only years later that I found out that he struggled to wake up so early but did it to spend time with my Dad.

My Mom was always asking why I didn’t like him when he was such a lovely young boy, of course she was asking this as she wolfed down the latest cake he brought to the house.

At work, it was no different. Everyday at 3:00 pm he would send incredibly delicious Belgian Waffles when I so badly needed a sugar fix. On Valentine’s Day I arrived at my office and there he was, with a dozen red long stemmed roses.

He was persistent and wasn’t shy to show his feelings.

I was uneasy.

I knew I didn’t like him and it was awkward because I didn’t want to upset our working relationship – which was fantastic. So I decided to be honest and admitted that I “didn’t feel the same way”. His response was something along the lines of “that’s okay – I just enjoy your company – I am not looking for anything more”.

One time he invited for dinner. I made up an excuse that I was going to see a movie with my sisters. A few days later he asked “how was the movie” – and I said “what movie?” “the one you were going to watch with your sisters” he said. “Ahh that one… yeah, well it was good!” but I am sure he knew I was lying.

Once, I had invited him to a cocktail party in some swanky hotel but at the last minute I decided I didn’t want him around so I met him at the lobby and told him that I had made a mistake and there were not enough tickets. I am sure he could see right through me but he smiled and it was not a problem. He would just see me the next day.

So we continued along the same routine for a couple of months. I am ashamed to say that I took this all for granted. He was there when I needed him but I was also willing to discard him when something “better” came up. I never took how he must have felt into account. I just thought, if he liked me so much – he would continue to hang on.

And then one day he just stopped calling.

Part 1

These canapes were inspired from Logan Campbell of Lucios Restaurant.

Recipe for Pasta

• 150 grams flour
• 4 egg yolks
• 2 teaspoons squid ink

1. Place flour onto bench top and make a well in the center of the pasta.
2. Place the egg yolks and squid ink into the well and incorporate slowly until the dough forms
3. Knead the pasta for 5 minutes until smooth and rest covered for 1 hour
4. Roll out the pasta as per directions on the pasta maker
5. Cook the pasta for around 3 to4 minutes until al dente and immediately refresh in iced water
6. Remove the pasta and dry on tea towels before using (see below)

Note: I used 4 egg yolks (as this is what I had left over from some macaron making) resulting in a richer pasta, feel free to substitute the recipe with 200 grams flour and 2 eggs if you don’t have the egg yolks on hand

Recipe for filling:

• 300 grams smoked ocean trout (or salmon)
• 250 grams cream cheese
• 4 teaspoons lime juice
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Mix the cream cheese, lime juice, salt and pepper in a food processor until smooth
2. Lay some plastic wrap/cling film on a benchtop
3. Place a sheet of pasta over the plastic wrap and lay some cream cheese over this, leaving around 2 cm free (you will need this later when rolling)
4. Next, layer some smoked ocean trout over the cream cheese
5. Roll the pasta starting from the end that is covered with ocean trout and cream cheese and ending in the section where there is no cream cheese
6. Lastly, roll the pasta in the plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours to set.
7. Serve with ocean trout or salmon roe.

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