Paradise found - the tropical terrine

I have long been fascinated by the tropics, a cross I bear from my mother's side of the family, despite her side descending from good Northern Hemisphere, cold-clime, hardy Ukrainan-Finnish-Scottish-Welsh stock. Perhaps somewhere crossed with my Middle-Eastern paternal side and my own Australian lifestyle, my mind has been snagged somewhere on the equator. More likely, it was all those episodes of Magnum PI.


Fulfilling this tropical dream led to a stint living in Honolulu and chasing the life aquatic last year, an idyllic  time filled with daily swims on Waikiki, living two blocks from the beach, regular mai tais, and runs around a volcanic headland instead of on a treadmill. It was a slice of heavenly life in the Hawaiian Isles, and has probably tainted me for life.


And so I have been promising to make a tropical terrine for some time now, probably something far too sophisticated to ever appear on a Hawaiian plate itself. French cooking really hasn't penetrated the Hawaiian Islands. Not much sophistication has.


Utilising the last of the tropical fruits for the summer season led to a quest for the last mango, last pineapple and a rather paltry-looking kiwifruit. Choose your own selection of summer fruits:

The binding gelatine concoction needs to have at least three leaves of gelatine (I used four and it still didn't set), and a flavoured schnapps. Luckily we had some apple schnapps on hand from last year's Tour de France watch-a-thon in which we attempted to match food and wine to the regions of each tour stage (yes, it was a little ambitious). It's quite possible that I put too much schnapps in, but a multitude of reasons could have explained why the final terrine didn't set:
1) the recipe called for four hours set aside to set - I had it in the fridge for exactly four and it probably needed more;
2) we had incredibly humid and wet weather - perhaps there is some scientific reason as to why it didn't set? Scientific friends, feel free to post reasons why...;
3) I possibly used too much schnapps.


I went to a lovely dinner with food prepared by friends who are excellent cooks and I was a little destroyed that I didn't have the terrine to whip out (and it had been especially requested! What a blow.). What I served was thus:

It was fancy fruit salad and ice cream, sadly. Still, there is time to re-try this terrine later in the year when I have probably mastered the art of terrine-making.

And yes, my friends' kitchen in their Surry Hills terrace is this gorgeous. And they live right near Bourke St Bakery, too. I have had the pleasure of house-sitting this lovely pad, and their precious little bundle, Zoe:

Zoe is a delight, and far and away better-behaved than Hank.