Pink trout roe crowns a cracker with fresh cheese or peeks out of white sour cream, just as a trout leaps from a foaming pool to snatch a fly hovering over the water. With this Croatian caviar from the Gacka river and richer sour cream, thin crêpes are filled – prepared with as little salt and sugar as possible so as not to mask the delicate flavours of the filling. And every bite is chased with a sip of Champagne or sparkling wine, fresh and clear as the stream in which the trout lives. That is the appetiser or, better said, the pre-appetiser of an imagined Valentine’s dinner.
A true appetiser, brimming with richness, passion and fine aromas and flavours, is goose liver seared in goose fat. The right wine for such a refined dish will be an aged riesling or moslavac (furmint), for whoever can find one, with light petrol notes on the nose, and even a gentle touch of residual sugar will not be out of place. Then, soup? Absolutely. And a thick one at that. It can be made from wild mushrooms, dried at this time of year, from frozen pieces of pumpkin, or from puréed spinach or chard. Any of these three soups will be better if nicely peppered and “enriched” with cream during cooking, then garnished before serving with thin white swirls on the surface. Even with a written message. And wine is not essential.
The main course can be a juicy steak, which before searing should be dusted with a little cocoa or, better still, rolled in cocoa nibs if you can find them. The bitterness of the cocoa will be a fine counterpoint to the succulent meat, and a sip of good cabernet franc will make it better still. For dessert you can play with a Valentine’s fondue. Instead of cheese, chocolate is melted, and instead of pieces of bread you dip banana, or some other fruit. The penalty for anyone who drops their fruit, lovers will easily devise. With a dessert like this, wine will hardly be needed. Besides, by this point there has been just enough of it. However lavishly one indulges in the dearest company at the Valentine’s table, take care not to overdo it. A little wine will always heighten desire, but a glass too many can diminish prowess. It would be a shame for a romantic evening to end too soon in heavy sleep.
Photographs: Unsplash
14 February 2026
