Last year, Ladurée opened a shop in Brussels. It was very French not only because of the macaroons, but because it was a huge, gilded, baroque room, with only a small counter in one corner. Now, they have come to their senses and converted most of the room into a cafe. I visited recently and it was lovely and expensive, as expected.

What was unexpected, however, was that the high point of mu brunch wasn’t the macaroons or the cakes – it was a tarama and rose sandwich. This had my name written all over it, as I have an obsession with both ingredients, but I had never thought of using them together. So I immediately made up my mind to try to recreate this at home.

Tarama, or more correctly, taramasalata is a Greek/Turkish dip, made of salted cod roe, olive oil and bread crumbs. It’s wonderfully creamy and salty and fishy and slightly pink in colour – if it’s too pink, be wary, as it most likely contains lots of food colouring. I bought some good quality tarama, added a tiny bit of rose water, a little lemon juice and chopped rose petals. The resulting sandwiches taste mostly of tarama with a light added nuance from the rose water, the bits of rose petals make the texture more interesting and add colour.

Then, I thought that if one can make savoury rose sandwiches, sweet ones should be possible, too. After some googling and experimenting, I had the idea for the filling: cream cheese mixed with sugar and rose water plus a layer of rose petals. If you like the taste of rose water, these are quite lovely. The most difficult part is sourcing petals that are meant to be eaten, as the flower roses ones are certainly sprayed with unpleasant stuff.

Both of these sandwiches would be great with Palais des Thés Hammam tea or a strongly flavoured Earl Grey. Or, for a different rose experience, a cup or rose and cardamom coffee.