This week I have my boyfriend visiting me. Although we enjoy eating out together, I often feel unsatisfied with his reactions to my home cooking. And I cook for a living! This whole issue came about when I made him the Champurrado Tart, which is comprised of dense dark chocolate and anise set inside a perfectly crumbly shell. This is a tart that everyone devours without shame, and he didn’t like it! I really suffered over that tart experience. I felt like I was Juliette Binoche in the movie “Chocolat”, trying to detect Johnny Depp’s favorite chocolate. The frustration of not being able to satisfy someone with something that you have always felt that you do well is overwhelmingly irritating, especially if it is someone that you care about and want to impress. This week I have decided to focus my blog entries on what I have been cooking for my boyfriend, and tracking what he likes and what he doesn’t. It is pretty easy to tell when he is indifferent about a dish, because he lightly shrugs his shoulders and says, “it’s good”. This week I will track my attempts at having him reach for seconds and getting emphatic praises of my dishes.

The first thing that I made for him when he arrived was the ceviche from our Coconut episode. He had requested a ceviche for his arrival meal, and I decided that the coconut one would be the best option. Coconut milk is soothing and restorative for people who are getting in from a long trip, and the variety of shellfish and fish are fulfilling without being too heavy. I served the dish with some baked tostada shells that I brought back from Mexico. I could tell that he liked it because he had many servings, and did not season it with any salt or pepper. He even gobbled up the tostadas . . . Great success! I can’t tell yet if he was just trying to make me feel good, or if in reality he really enjoyed the ceviche, but that is what I will investigate this next week. Next on my agenda: my famous Amor Prohibido (Forbidden Love) pasta . . . we will see!