Words and image Fiona Hugues
This is my version of a dish that Vicki and I ate on the last day of our recent trip to Adelaide. Super simple and tasty on a hot summer’s day, cool cucumbers nestled on creamy glamorised store-bought taramasalata, sprinkled with a little spicy shichimi togarashi on top (or sometimes known as 7 flavoured chilli powder, it has tasty notes of citrus and sesame with added heat), found at good supermarkets and Asian stores. Ridiculously easy and insanely delicious, all cool, creamy, and spicy on a hot summer’s day.
Lebanese cucumbers sliced lengthways
Store bought smoked fish pâté or taramaslata
Lemon juice
Shichimi togarashi to sprinkle
Extra virgin olive oil
Place the fish pâté in a bowl and loosen with a little lemon juice. Taste and season if necessary. Spread onto your serving plate. Slice the cucumbers lengthways and place on the top of the pate. Drizzle decadently with lots of olive oil and sprinkle over the shichimi togarashi powder. Serve immediately.
SETTING NOTES – For this setting I stuck with a monocromatic theme, aligning my collection of black and white pattered cermaics with an antique pewter salt shaker, small jug, and Parisian ebony handled knives from Jo’s store, Linen & Stone in Cambridge. I go to fabric stores and choose whatever pattern takes my fancy and buy a couple of metres to use as a tablecloth. This is a great way to get non-traditional patterns and prints into your tabletop décor, so let your imagination run wild.
