Lunches
16 April 2024 Bernard Leung
Food review by Steve Sparkes
Well, what a wonderful lunch presented by our current COTY, Bernard Leung with assistance in the kitchen from Steve Liebeskind.
The President, Treasurer, Wine Master, Food Master, Cheese Master, Membership Recorder, our wonderful Centenarian Peter Manners, Roger Straiton and Ken Woolford along with the COTD hosted a dozen guests who all enjoyed a most excellent lunch which presented much more as a Dinner Party of the highest quality rather than our ‘standard’ lunch.
The food, from the first to last mouthfuls, was simply superb and accompanied by terrific wines that were masterfully matched to each course.
Steve Libeskind started us off with a delicious and innovative selection of canapes including:
- Pork and veal terrine - with the inclusion of pistachios, red capsicum and Dijon mustard. The terrine served on puff pastry, was topped with beetroot chutney.
- Fennel puree on puff pastry round - crowned with raw salmon and a fennel frond.
- Salmon ceviche using Asian flavours - served on spoons featuring diced salmon, coriander, red onion, red capsicum, fish sauce, lime juice and chilli.
They were served in the above order and were absolutely delicious with one flavour profile building beautifully to the next. The ceviche was a perfect palate cleanser before the main.
And what a main it was and a great reminder, to those of us lucky enough to enjoy the dish, as to just why Bernard is the current COTY.
The dish presented was titled ‘Salmon on a Pea Broth’.
The pea Bbroth was based on Heston Blumenthal’s ham and pea soup using ham, onion, and carrots to create a stock. This was then blitzed with raw peas and passed through a fine chinois.
The salmon itself was cooked sous vide at 500C for an hour. The skin had been removed by pouring boiling water over it and peeling off after about 5 to 10 seconds.
The skin was then baked with salt and pepper at 1800C for 30 mins which resulted in a fabulous crispy skin that was used as a garnish.
The salmon was centred on a circle of broth and topped with a garnish of thinly shaved fennel, red onion and orange salad along with the crispy skin. Peas, ham and basil oil were used sparingly to finish the dish.
Not only did it look good, the flavours were superb. The salmon cooked to perfection, silky smooth pea broth and a delightfully fresh salad to balance the richness of the salmon and peas.
Well done Bernard and Steve, I do suspect you may have to do it all again early next year!!
What followed next was both a surprise and delight to all of us. This was in the form of a cheese new to most.
Challerhocker (pronounced ‘Holler Hocker’) is an Artisan Swiss cheese from St Gallen.
Malty and sweet with a spicy finish, Challerhocker is a 21st-century Swiss cheese.
With a change in regulations during the 90s, the Master Appenzeller Cheesemaker, Walter Rass, created a new cheese using rich pure Jersey milk, and a secret blend of wines, herbs and spices.
He aged it for 8 months and named it ‘Challerhocker ‘meaning ‘sitting in a cellar’.
The washed rind produces a robust, tacky rind and contributes to the nutty aroma of the dense white paste.
The cheese was well received by all, I am sure we will see it again and many thanks to our Cheese Master Mark for finding this beauty!
Well done again to all involved, you have set a very high benchmark indeed!
9 April 2024 David Madson
Food review by James Hill and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran
Food
Our Chef of The Day was David Madson with his team James Tinslay and Peter Fitzpatrick assisting with lunch today following our Society AGM.
Canapés
Given that our apéritif window was more than usual the team responded with plentiful canapés.
First up was smoked trout terrine consisting of smoked trout, pitted Sicilian olives, EVOO, lemon zest and basil served on toasts. Great texture and flavour with the lemon zest dominating the finish on the palate.
Then followed pork and prawn patties made with garlic, ginger, fish and soy sauce, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, spring onions and coriander. They were a balanced texture and flavour hit, served warm on spoons topped with mango chutney.
James Tinslay prepared perfectly cooked chicken skewers that were marinated in soy, honey, ginger and garlic.
There are many favourable comments on the canapés today.
Main course
David presented meatballs and pasta. In this case, the pasta is mafalda.
It is a challenge to cook pasta for the multitude and David succeeded with the pasta “al dente” and meatballs moist and flavoursome, the key to keeping it moist was ricotta mixed with the pork and veal. The ricotta is a good binding agent for meatballs. They were cooked in house today and served with passata.
A good hearty comfort meal for autumn and well executed.
Sourdough bread was from Cornucopia Naremburn.
Thank you, David.
Cheese
Mark Bradford presented the cheese today an Italian blue cow's milk cheese that most members correctly guessing its origin.
The most popular form of Gorgonzola in Italy is known as Dolce Gorgonzola, the term used for young or sweet cheese.
The Mauri family make cheese using local milk from the lush pastures around their dairy in Lombardy and mature it in their mountain caves. Typically made from a single milking, the white interior has thick green lines of mould and a soft creamy flavour. The crusty rind bulges as it matures and develops distinct yeasty flavours reminiscent of Taleggio.
Gorgonzola Dolce is soft, sweet, with a subtle creamy texture, and piquant finish.
David accompanied the cheese with a mixed salad of cos, radicchio, endive, finely sliced red onion and herbs. Dressed with red wine vinegar, we needed some greens a good finish to the hearty dishes served beforehand.
Wine
Lunch today followed the AGM for 2024. An orderly meeting, with the members congratulating the Committee on their stewardship of the Society over the last year. Money in the bank and plenty of wine in the cellar, who could ask for more?
My wine report on the lunch today will be a bit of a dog’s breakfast for the following reasons, First, many wines were served before and during lunch meaning that every table had different wines and two, I misplaced my tasting notes. By way of explanation, I was so giddy and discombobulated by the joy of being re-elected to the Committee, I relaxed my usual restraint with the aperitif wines and found that I was congratulating myself by sampling plenty of the 27 or so wines put on the table, a blunder on my part. Our wine master was conducting a clear out of various odds and ends, A good idea. With regard to the red wines each table received something different, so I can only comment on the wines I had, going from memory alone.
The first white wine I had was the Collector Chardonnay 2021, which we had a few weeks ago. I liked it then and liked it again today, despite words of disapproval ringing in my ears from some of our experts who regarded the wine as a model for poor winemaking! So it goes! The second wine I had was from Orlando, a Chardonnay. I recorded the details which are now forever lost with my notes. From recollection, the wine was quite passable for an economy class aperitif wine. I did not record any of the many white wines that followed.
On our table, I recorded three of the wines that were served, although there may have been a fourth, that I did not taste. The first two were Italian, A Massolino Barbera D’Alba 2016. followed by a Podere Poggio Chianti Classico from 2015, a Sangiovese. Both wines were excellent, the Sangiovese being much more full-bodied, with a stronger finish. Together they were a perfect match with the Italian meatballs and pasta.
The third wine I tasted was one of my favourites, the Seppelt St Peters Shiraz from 2010 as I recall. We have been fortunate in the past by having this wine on a few occasions, always a treat. In my view, one of the top half-dozen Shiraz in Australia. Enough said!
That’s all folks, sorry about this report, it was just one of those days. I am away next week, but back the week after. I promise to keep my notes secure next time.
2 April 2024 Mark Bradford
Food review by James Hill and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran
Food
A small but dedicated group of members were present for our post Easter lunch with Cheesemaster Mark Bradford on the hobs for the fifth “cook off’ for our chef of the year award.
Mark was assisted by Denys Moore.
Canapés
Keeping with the Italian theme we had ‘caprese’ skewers of tomato bocconcini, basil with a balsamic spray. Tomatoes are near the end of their season the skin was a little thick. Denys advised they were on special at Woollies!
Next up sardine pâté on Italian garlic toasts topped with carrot Portuguese sardines, olives, onion, chives and coriander, lime juice, mayo, olive oil, salt and pepper. They were a little runny it could have had something to bolster the texture like butter or white beans.
Main
This was the star of the lunch Mark reprising his brilliant version of Polpettonne.
Great presentation of a “meatloaf slice” with the colours reminding us of the Italian flag colours. It’s usually mixed pork and veal baked in a log, wrapped in pancetta with string and having a filling such as cheese. Mark wanted to try individual portions and was concerned about leakage of cheese during baking, so chose to blind bake impervious shortcrust pastry shells. These were lined with prosciutto (sides and base) and filled with a mix of Feather and Bone pork and veal mince, garlic, oregano, fresh rosemary, panko crumbs, egg and feta and cooked in batches for 40 minutes.
It was topped with taleggio and cooked for a further 20 minutes. The individual meatloaf in its pastry shell was served on rings of mash, white and green. The white was a silky Paris mash of unpeeled washed potatoes put through a potato ricer, lots of cold butter added, as well as warm milk. The green ring was pea (frozen) and mint (fresh from Mark’s garden) puree. Sauteed garlic and French onions, peas brought to a simmer for two minutes then blitzed through a food processor with a small quantity of mint, salt and white pepper. This was then forced through a sieve to remove pulp. Looked great and tasted even better.
The dish needed red, and Mark created a topping of Roma tomatoes reduced slightly in sauteed garlic, treated with a stick blender and forced through a sieve to remove pulp. Warmed on the day with fresh torn basil leaves, and carrot shaves on the pie!
The bread today a sourdough baguette from Baker’s delight. Liked it.
Cheese
Plenty of cheese today with no-one guessing its style or origin. It was a cow's milk cheddar from Victoria.
A cheese we’re familiar with “Maffra red wax” young and creamy with good flavour.
Mark served this with dried apricots, figs and hazelnut nuts.
It was a mature Cheddar with a smooth texture and a distinctive sharp flavour.
The Maffra Cheese Company is in Gippsland where Ferial Zekiman and her team produce a delicious range of farmhouse cheeses using milk from her herd of Holstein-Friesian cows that graze on the lush green pastures surrounding the farm and dairy.
This creamy waxed cheddar has subtle fruity tones and a delicate nuttiness.
Wine
After last week’s party for Peter Manners 100th birthday, we were all fully prepared for a modest function today. At our age you cannot have too much fun too soon! It could be medically dangerous! A little restraint is a good thing. Nonetheless, Mark Bradford put on for the 30 or so attendees, a splendid lunch, see the food report for more detail.
Our first wine was indeed a cracker. A Lindemans Reserve Hunter Sem Bin 150 2011, 12.5% This wine was a most interesting comparison to the Tyrrells Vat 1 from the same year we had last week. The Tyrrells was developed, deep straw colour, gleaming and clean, looking every bit an aged Hunter Sem of high quality. The Lindemans today was a totally different wine, but from the same year. Far lighter in colour and texture, with lots of acid, but well balanced with abundant fruit of lemon zest and citrus overtones. Very hard to accept that they were from the same district, same year, and same grape variety. No doubt the difference was in the wine making. The Tyrrells was easily identifiable as a Tyrrells wine, the Lindemans totally different. Go with the style you prefer. The Tyrrells from last week offered the classic aged Hunter Sem style. Enjoy with cheese or fruit. The Lindemans today offered a firm crisp finish, wonderful vibrant fruit with superb balance and a promise of many years ahead of beautiful drinking Enjoy with oysters. Hope we have more of this wine in our cellar. For a 13 yo Sem it looks more like a 5 yo! Time will tell!
Wine No 2 was a Dolcetto d’Alba from Massolino 2016, 14%. Normally not regarded as a serious wine, “the sweet little one“, as it translates into English, is the perfect wine to be chugged down with a pizza or spaghetti marinara without too much thought into what you were drinking, nothing wrong with that! Particularly if your attention was distracted by an attractive female sitting opposite playing footsies with your feet! Where was I now ?? Oh, yes the wine. This Dolcetto was a terrific wine, deep colour, and loads of ripe fruit but in perfect harmony with the acid/tannin /oak. A delightful food wine, much better than I expected.
Wine No 3 was another Italian, more please, a Podere Poggio Chianti Classico from 2015 13.5%. A Sangiovese. Excellent. Same depth of colour as the previous wine, but a little bit finer in the mouthfeel dept. There was nothing between these two wines at the end of the day, and I think some at my table were sliding towards the Dolcetto as their favourite. A close call, both wines were the perfect match for a quality Italian meal. They would take your thoughts off playing footsies, at least for a while! Both wines were doing their job, complimenting the food, not dominating.
Wine No 4 was the Yalumba Menzies, the “Cigar“, named after the narrow strip of Terra Rossa soil in Coonawarra. The wine was from 2009 at 14%. This wine is now 15 yo and is still looking good. Classic Oz, huge Cabernet fruit, tannin, oak and alcohol, the winning blend for our wines in the past. I really enjoyed the wine, but at the same time I could understand that folk nowadays are seeking a lighter, less alcohol and tannin style with the accent on elegance. I do not blame them. Still, this wine is an Australian Classic, from the Old School, with plenty of time ahead of it.
The final wine was a Viognier 2014, 13% from the great winemaker Gary Farr, who has made some terrific wines in the past from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Why on earth would a top winemaker like Farr devalue the currency of his wines by introducing Viognier? in my view an uncouth grape, cloying and unctuous, although it does claim to be a cousin of Nebbiolo, a claim that would need to be fact-checked! Readers of this regular report would be aware that I do not have a high regard to this grape. But like a stray dog that keeps turning up on your doorstep, in recent times I seem to have to open my door to this unwelcome arrival far more often than is desirable. Witness today. Another one. We must have had 3 or 4 of these in the last few months. Anyhow to be fair, the wine today was to my taste, passable with the cheese. Palates more expert than mine speak highly of the wine, well that’s fine, they can have mine, I’ll have a Chardy thanks!
26 March 2024 Peter's 100th Escoffier CoTD
Food review by Mark Bradford and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran
Food
Today saw the much anticipated 100th birthday of the highly popular World War 2 vet, Mr Peter Manners. Happy Birthday Peter for 30 March! A full house on the day of 60 with members and Peter’s son, Andrew. The lunch was a fusion of Wine and Food Society and Escoffier expertise in the kitchen: Chris North and Bill Alexiou on canapes and Nick Reynolds and Ian Mackenzie on mains. As Peter was born in England, the theme was English fare.
Canapes
Our birthday man Peter is known as the King of Canapes, having introduced them in a “formal” way many years ago and being very much a part of a Society lunch. First up was a scallop on a spoon with curried cauliflower puree. We enjoyed “not pigs in a blanket”, dates stuffed with English cheddar and wrapped with English bacon. The third canape was somewhat unusual, “River Cam Pie”, twice cooked beef cheek (in French Onion Soup) in a pastry case topped with mushy pea purée. All excellent; a fitting tribute to the KoC.
Main
The main was Beef Wellington. Fillet steak cooked sous vide at 65 C for one and a half hours brushed with Dijon mustard, with a mushroom, shallot, garlic, and thyme duxelle wrapped in prosciutto. These were then wrapped in crêpes and then in Carême all-butter puff pastry with a puff pastry lattice. The Wellingtons were then brushed with an egg wash and baked so that the puff was well-browned. Each serve was accompanied by a Dutch carrot and two baked Kestrel potatoes. The dish was sauced with a heavily reduced, pressure-cooked, homemade beef stock. A delightful main course with the beef cooked to perfection.
Cheese
The Cheese Master selected Colston Basset Stilton for the day, from Nottinghamshire. It was served with honey-glazed walnuts and dates, and was a good match with the sweet sherry selected for the course.
Colston Bassett is one of the smallest producers of Stilton and has been doing so since 1913. Their cheeses are rich, complex, and long-lasting in flavour.
A limited quantity of Stilton is made at the dairy to a traditional recipe exclusively for Neal’s Yard Dairy using animal rennet, which creates a delicate, friable texture and long, complex flavour. Curds are hand ladled into cylindrical moulds; a time-consuming and painstaking process, but one that helps to preserve the structure of the curd and deliver a smooth, rich, textured cheese.
The piercing takes place later in the maturation process in order to strike the right balance between creamy, flavoursome paste and blue mould.
During maturation, the crusty rind forms naturally, encouraged by rubbing and brushing, and after spiking, blueing radiates from the centre. This is a buttery, silky cheese with an elegant sweetness.
Colston Bassett is one of the smallest producers of Stilton and has been doing so since 1913. Their cheeses are rich, complex and long-lasting in flavour.
A limited quantity of Stilton is made at the dairy to a traditional recipe exclusively.
Dessert
What would a birthday celebration of such significance be without a birthday cake? The light fruit cake, topped with 100 candles, was made from a Larousse patisserie and baking recipe with Pedro Ximenez-soaked golden raisins, mixed peel, mixed glacé cherries and dried cranberries. Birthday boy Peter Manners provided Nick Reynolds with the cake pan that Peter used in 2016 to make Wal Edwards' 100th birthday cake.
A most memorable lunch and a great milestone for Peter.
Wine
Wow! What a day, Peter, can you have another birthday lunch again next year? Where to begin? At the beginning I guess, is the best place.
Our WFS team in the kitchen together with the Escoffier crew put together a superb lunch, with great pass-arounds and a magnificent main and cheese. See the food review for details.
About the wines, all eagerly awaited, we commenced with a Bubb + Pooley Chardonnay from the Coal River region of Tas, 2022, 13%. I have enjoyed Pooley Chardonnays before, always outstanding, but I am afraid to say this wine was not in the same class. Quality fruit and well balanced with a crisp finish, but very restrained and tight, like the Brian Croser early Petaluma Chardonnays. The problem for me was that the wine did not have much flavour! There was little to offer on the front palate or back palate. It left the mouth without saying goodbye! No doubt some of our experts will tell me I should have enjoyed the wine more than I did, but I can only assess the wine on how it presented to me. A tad disappointing, perhaps I was expecting too much.
We then moved on to the main attraction three superb red wines, a Bordeaux, a Hunter Shiraz and a Barossa Shiraz. This was an occasion for high excitement, which delivered in spades.
The first wine of this group was the Ch Clos Du Marquis from St Julian, 2010 13.5%, a blend of Cabernet 72%, Merlot 27% and a dash of Cab Franc. The Commune of St Julian boasts of more Classified Growths than any other Commune in Bordeaux. To use a real estate analogy, St Julian is the Point Piper of Bordeaux. The Marquis is the next-door neighbour of the prestigious Ch Leoville-Las-Cases. The wine was to me a very typical quality Bordeaux. The nose, the mouthfeel and the sheer quality of the fruit/oak/tannin mix just stay with you well after the wine has been drunk. In my view, no other wine in the world has that quality. The deep colour and the power of the fruit, but perfectly balanced, finishing with an elegant silky finish is a joy forever. That Bordeaux aroma leaves me in a trance-like state. To try to describe that aroma is a good occasion to fall back on the French expression, “je ne sais quoi“ says it all for those of us who run out of adjectives. I have always thought a Bordeaux like this never leaves the memory, the French have a perfume from the House of Worth “Je Reviens“, which translates into “I will return“. That aroma always does for me.
The second wine in this group was the Tyrrells Johnno’s Shiraz 2014, 14%. The problem with this wine is that it was “batting after Bradman“ as the old saying goes. A hard tag to shake off. But casting that hex aside the wine was beautiful. Medium body, noticeably lighter in colour than the previous wine, but excellent spicy fruit, firm tannic finish with great aftertaste, A lovely wine, with years ahead of enjoyable drinking. Yet another testimony to the fantastic vintage of 2014 in the Hunter.
The third wine of the bracket was the 2010 Penfolds St Henri. More praise to our wine masters past and present for delivering to us today, in perfect condition, a wine I would regard as one of the best Australian red wines made in the last 30 years. This wine is exceptional. I had the good fortune to share a bottle with friends 12 months ago and we all agreed it was outstanding, a quantum leap from St Henri’s of the past which had suffered a decline in quality for a decade or so. The vintage year 2010 was an exceptional vintage for the Barossa which this wine demonstrates. The wine had an alcohol level of 14.5%, but the quality of the fruit and outstanding wine-making ensured that a balance between fruit/acid, tannin and oak produced a superb wine with a chewy, almost sweet fruit aftertaste. It lingered. A glorious wine. I can see it still giving a thrill to those lucky enough to sample it in 20 years. What impresses me about the wine, is that despite its hugeness, it is almost elegant and supple, what higher praise could one afford for a wine?
The final bracket for the cheese was a magnificent old Hunter Sem, the Tyrrells Vat 1 2011, coupled with a Pedro Ximenez Sherry from Spain.
The Tyrrells was graceful and fully developed wine, which now at 13 yo would be classified as a Trophy standard aged Semillon. There is no other wine in the world like it. Golden deep straw colour, gleaming and clear with a faint aroma of honey and toast overtones. Plenty of acid so the future looks as bright as this wine is at present. Powerful fruit flavours, still fresh and clean, a great match with the Stilton.
The final wine was the Sherry, a Pedro Ximenez. Deep brown, with an aroma of mixed stewed fruits, nuts and raisins. Very sweet and opulent, cuts through the strong flavoured Stilton, leaving a very enjoyable aftertaste.
And so we reached the end of the afternoon, a memorable occasion. My pick for the wine of the day was the Marquis, I just cannot get past that French connection.
A final thank you to all who put their shoulder to the wheel to make it happen. Our Food Master, our Wine Master, our Cheese Master, the Escoffier team and the REX kitchen.
19 March 2024 James Hill
Food review by James Hill and wine review by Stephen O’Halloran
Food
Canapes
Fourth cook-off for our coveted ‘Chef of the Year’ award today with yours truly in the kitchen with Jonathan Casson, Gary Linnane and Chilly Hargrave assisting with canapés.
Johnathan kicked off canapés with some rice crackers topped with ricotta, fig and Serrano Jamón. Jonathan had soaked dried figs in Pedro Ximénez for three days.
Loved the flavours and texture in this canapé a great idea to marinate the figs. The crackers were a little softened by the cheese.
Gary reprised his signature canapé a white bean anchoïade topped with parsley and served in pastry cases and crackers.
Gary used the Tarbais beans that Society member Scott Witt provided and added some tinned haricot white beans. The beans were puréed with some Parmigiano-Reggiano, cream cheese capers, anchovy, lemon zest and EVOO.
Full of flavour, lemony, salty and creamy with a satisfying lingering aftertaste.
Chilly Hargrave up last with a salmorejo, sometimes known as ardoria or ardorío, it is a traditional soup originating from Andalusia, southern Spain, made of tomato, bread, extra virgin olive oil and garlic. The tomatoes are just roughly chopped and then blended very thoroughly with garlic. The seeds and remains of the skins are then filtered out. The sourdough bread (250 gms to 1kg tomatoes) is then torn into small pieces and added to the tomato mix with the addition of olive oil. The bread is squeezed by hand to ensure complete saturation and softening. After an hour, this is thoroughly blended again, with water added to create the desired texture.
The salmorejo was served cold and garnished with diced Spanish Jamon and hard-boiled eggs. Great balance of flavours in the soup and very moorish.
Many favourable comments about the canapés today.
Main
Our main course today was a chicken, smoked cheese and bacon rotolo. Served with chicken fat potato gratin, shaved brussels sprouts sautéed in butter and water and topped with a cream sauce. The cream sauce is made with chicken thighs and sherry, chicken stock, cream and caramelised button mushrooms.
The rotolo main ingredients are chicken breast mince, diced salami, onions, garlic, mustard, parmesan, parsley and bread crumbs. It’s then patted out to an even rectangle with mint leaves pressed over the surface. Thin slices of ham are layered and then sprinkled with grated smoked Dutch cheese. It’s then rolled up and covered with bacon rashers and baked for an hour, finally rested for twenty minutes then sliced and served. Decorated with tarragon and chives.
Lots of flavour in the rotolo complemented by the rich cream and sherry mushroom sauce.
Many comments today on the excellent wine/food pairing.
Big bread love by Iggys today.
Cheese
Holy Goat La Luna wheels, a white mould cheese made from goats' milk in Castlemaine Victoria.
This award-winning, surface-ripened goat’s milk cheese is handmade at Sutton Grange Organic Farm near Castlemaine using ancient cheese-making techniques that were refined in the Loire Valley over a millennium.
Lactic acid fermentation slowly sets the curd over 24 hours before it is gently hand-ladled into moulds, as to preserve its delicate structure. After draining, the young cheeses are moved to the maturation room where they are turned daily for seven days and then matured for another two weeks to allow the wrinkly Geotrichum candidum rind to fully develop. As it ripens, the chalky centre softens to a soft, fudgy texture. Delicate citrus notes accentuate lactic sweetness and herbaceous flavours from the goat’s milk.
Simply served with some crispy green grapes to highlight the flavour and texture of the cheese, it was perfect and may be the last time we see it at our Society as the producers have announced their retirement.
Paul Ferman provided the coffee and Peter Kelso a warming Armagnac to celebrate his recent birthday.
Wine
A good roll up of members was treated to some great food by James Hill. The entrees and main were terrific and the Holy Goat cheese was wonderful. Sadly we will see it no more, with the owners closing up shop.
To start proceedings we were served a great Hunter Sem, a Tyrrells Stevens from 2018, 10.5% with 2018 rated an 8/10 year. The wine was a delight, crisp with high acid, well-balanced, pale straw colour and beautiful fruit. A great future ahead. Would love to see this wine again in 5 years. A crowd favourite. A great match for the entrees.
The next wine was the Hentley Farm Villian and Vixen Grenache 2022, 14.5%. This wine from the Barossa was a lot of fun, remember that feeling? The perfect wine to get the party started then let the fun begin! The wine was a riot of sweet-smelling fruit, velvety mouthfeel, high acidity mixed with spice and minimal oak evident. This wine is the elixir for youth, certainly made me feel very happy remembering the days of wine and roses in my youth! Not a wine to be mulled over, just drink it for the pure joy a delicious Grenache can deliver. A breath of fresh air from our cellar which can at times can be too focused on heavy older style reds. Let’s have more Grenache to lift our spirits and have fun.
The following wine was the distinguished Curly Flat PN from 2013 at 13.5%. This wine from the Macedon Ranges in Vic has a huge cult following, as it deserves. A lovely PN, elegant and polished, but beginning to show some signs of ageing with the acid starting to fall off a tad, but tannins still firm. Still a delight to drink, beautiful quality fruit, but not a keeper for sure.
We then marched onto our 4th Wine, the Collector Tiger Tiger Chardonnay 2021, from the Tumbarumba district, 12.9%. Collector wines are based near the township of Collector close to Lake George, but some of their wines are sourced from different regions, such as this wine. Tumbarumba is a great place for cool climate Chardonnay to such extent it is the preferred area for high quality Chardonnay by companies such as Penfolds for their top shelf white wine. My initial impression was of a delicious Chardonnay, great fruit and just about the right balance notwithstanding the obvious high acidity. I was enjoying the wine with the scrumptious cheese, Chardy + quality cheese = a near-perfect match! The wine had an abundance of citrus fruit flavour, and I was happy, that condition again! Dear readers, it did not last long. I began to hear voices from around the room, telling me why I should not be enjoying this wine! Palates far more sophisticated than mine, assured me that the wine had serious winemaking faults and marked it down accordingly. It would seem that being happy with a wine is just not enough. You might think you are enjoying the wine but, with a full understanding of its technical shortcomings, your joy should be restrained and moderated. Pray for forgiveness for being happy with a wine of inferior quality. Mea Culpa Lord, it just tasted so good!
The final wine for the day was a Shaw and Smith Shiraz from the Adelaide Hills 2014 vintage 14%. Highly respected winemakers who rarely get it wrong. This wine was a classic cool climate Shiraz with lots of spicy flavours and firm tannins, high acid, elegant yet powerful at the apex of its development at 10 yo. A very enjoyable wine, well balanced, with time ahead for another 5 years or so.
12 March 2024 Matthew Holmes
Food review by James Hill and wine review by Stephen O'Hallaron
Food
Matt was in the kitchen for our third ‘cook off’ for Chef of the Year 2023
The theme was ‘surf and turf’, perfect for this warm autumn day. Matt was assisted by Mark Bradford who was assisted by Denys Moore.
Canapés
First up were Narooma oysters freshly shucked by our team in the kitchen. Beautiful and salty up front with a long sweet finish. What a treat!
Mark made some chicken liver pâte with VSOP brandy, thyme, orange zest, nutmeg, shallots, butter and cream topped with pomegranate seeds served on top crostini from Italy.
Loved the pâte a good texture, moist flavourful and brandy and you could taste the brandy.
Main
Our main was oven-baked pancetta (Barossa Fine Foods) wrapped Norwegian Atlantic salmon. It sat on a bed of fried brussels sprouts and potato pennies, with asparagus in dill sauce garnished with fried capers.
The sauce was made with lemon, chicken stock, cream, butter, garlic and cayenne pepper, very tasty.
Great robust flavours and perfectly presented. The sprouts were rendered in fat from the pancetta and served under the penny potatoes garnished with lemon zest. Matt pointed out that the pancetta was cured with black pepper, garlic, bay leaf and pink salt.
The asparagus was perfectly cooked, blanched then charred.
The salmon was pink and moist in the middle, where it counts.
A great combination of flavours and texture, perfectly executed as fitting a coty nomination.
Many comments on the quality of food presented today.
Bread Bourke Street bakery bread today, soy and linseed served with the main and semi-sourdough baguette with cheese.
Cheese
Mark Bradford, our Cheesemaster, presented Comté La Couronne a hard cheese from France.
Made from unpasteurised milk, this hard-cooked raw milk cheese is made at small dairies or fruitieres using the milk from several herds of Montbeliard cows. This cheese was matured in the damp underground cellars of Marcel Petite at Fort Saint Antoine high in the mountains that border France and Switzerland in the Franche-Comte. It’s specially selected for Will to wear the prestigious red ‘crown’ of quality based on its rich concentrated nutty texture, elegant caramel sweetness, and lingering kaleidoscope of flavours rather than on how long it was aged.
Mark thought last week’s cheese the Jaarlsberg was a better offering, the Comte was nutty and sweet, showing a little calcium lactate crystal.
Matt served the cheese with seasonal green pears nice and crispy, walnuts and dates.
Wine
The prolonged spell of warm sunny conditions in Sydney over the past few weeks continued with a very warm, indeed hot day for our lunch, the 3rd in the series of our Chef of The Year for 2024. Today the spotlight was on Matt Holmes. Matt produced a fine lunch with fresh oysters and a delicious pate topped with Pomegranate. The main was Norwegian Salmon baked in Pancetta. See the food review for more details. In short, a first-rate effort.
The first wine of the day was a most agreeable Pinot Gris from Scorpo in the Mornington P 2023 13.5% The crispness of the wine, showing excellent quality fruit, balanced by firm acid produced an enjoyable wine, blending so well with the two entrees. Picking up comments from around the room, it did seem to me that the wine won universal approval, a rare accolade indeed! Not the world’s greatest wine for a pre-dinner drink, but a solid, if not spectacular wine to kick things along. Well done, Winemaster!
The next two offerings were both Chardonnays, a logical selection for a salmon main. First was the 2018 Bannockburn, a Geelong Chardy at 13.5%. Deep yellow, a big wine with very developed flavours, plenty of oak evident. Lots of citrus flavours are evident with high-quality fruit. A very impressive wine.
The second Chardonnay was a Fraser Gallop, the Parterre from Margaret River 2014 vintage at 12.5%. A good comparison to the previous wine. Much lighter in colour and texture. A delicate wine I really enjoyed. Lovely enduring finish. Superb fruit/acid balance. A great wine, drinking perfectly, at the apex of its development. I hope we have some more in the cellar.
The last two wines did for me present a challenge, two extremes, one a huge Australian red wine, the other a thin, acidic dry white from Italy, with no lingering fruit flavour on the palate at the finish. I was perplexed that these two totally different wines were in the same room, let alone competing for our attention with the cheese.
The red wine would need no introduction, a Hardy’s Clare and Mc Laren Vale Shiraz|HRB D646 2008 at 14%. This is the wine you bring along to an International wine show and in true Bazza McKenzie style demand that all you “purse carrying, Nancy boys, clear the table of your limp-wristed delicate Pinots and get a taste of what a real red wine tastes like”! Stewed fruit compote, they may reply.
I am not saying the wine was unpleasant, but that it was a throwback to that style of wine popular in the ’60s and '70s where massive fruit, tannin and oak were the drivers of a style of red wine that many still love and good luck to them. Who am I to cast a censorious glance in their direction? But for me, something a little lighter please Garcon. Do you have a Mt Langhi Shiraz back there?
The final wine of the day was a Vernaccia di San Gimignano 2021 at 13%. I am really puzzled as to why this wine was served with the cheese. Very dry, acidic and has a sharp aftertaste. The Vernaccia grape comes from a complicated and obscure background dating back to the 1200s. The wine is from the town of San Gimignano in Tuscany. My research indicates that the good folk in Italy regard this wine as a simple everyday drink and I can understand why. Unlike Roussanne, a Rhone white we had with the cheese last week which was a great match. Sadly, this wine with its thinness and puckering acidity was not in my view a wine to enjoy with the Compte cheese served.
Irrespective of my comments about some of the wines, I thought Matt Holmes put on a great lunch today for which we should all be grateful.
5 March 2024 Paul Irwin
Food review by Frank Liebeskind and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran
Food
A fantastic lunch, full of taste and of generous portions. No one went home hungry, I for one didn’t have dinner.
Paul Irwin (with Steve Liebeskind doing a canape and assisting Paul in the kitchen and plating) recreated his Hainanese chicken dish.
We started with three excellent canapes.
First, we had ceviche snapper with a vinaigrette of orange and lemon juice served on spoons, a beautiful white fish with a delightful kick and challenge to the taste buds. Loved it.
This was followed by Steve’s gravlax of ocean trout with sour cream and dill sauce, served on bread rounds, Steve has done his gravlax often, and certainly, this one didn’t let us down.
The third canape was the chicken tenderloins from the breast that Paul cooked for the main. Paul crumbed the chicken tenders in panko crumbs and served them with a dipping sauce of siracha mayo, finger-licking good.
The main was a huge success again. Paul’s Hainanese Chicken was outstanding, one member claimed it was the best they have ever had, and I would agree.
Paul’s attention to detail was highlighted in this dish. Big succulent chicken breasts were marinated in Paul’s own master stock (for 48 hours I believe), the breasts then sous vide at 63 degrees.
Beautifully sliced and presented and topped with Kecap Manis. Paul cooked the rice “risotto style” again using Paul’s Master stock and giving the rice a complex but delicate taste and beautiful colour.
To complement the chicken, Paul served some finely grated/ground ginger and a magnificent, fermented capsicum puree. The heat from the ginger gave the dish a kick to the taste buds.
Having said that, some members wanted chopped chilli too, next time Paul said he would put chopped chilli (in soy?) on the table for members to enjoy as they might.
The plating was completed with braised bok choy in oyster sauce, garnished with sliced cucumber and tomato.
Paul’s master stock was also served in a cup, for each member to pour over the rice, or chicken or drink, as they saw fit. Beautiful master stock with a coriander leaf.
The bread was sourdough from Harris Farm, tasty, fresh, and generous.
Paul also provided a salad (with the cheese) of mixed leaf greens, sliced pear on the side, and a dressing of EVOO, mustard and balsamic vinegar.
An outstanding lunch, with every element well executed. My only regret, no leftovers, for $10 a container.
Mark Bradford our Cheese Master presented us with an excellent and tasty cheese, and Josef C stood up and identified it immediately as a Swiss Gruyere (well he is Swiss).
This 45% fat unpasteurised cow’s milk Gruyere AOP cheese was well received.
The supplier’s description is:
The methods used to make this cooked cheese are strictly controlled by the Swiss authorities. Once made only from alpine milk high in the mountain pastures in the summer, but now made throughout the year. The production of cheese in the region can be traced back to 1115. It continues nowadays according to a well-tried recipe in the village cheese dairies of its native land – the district of La Gruyère in the Canton of Fribourg (Switzerland) – but also in the cantons of Vaud, Neuchâtel, and Jura, as well as in a few municipalities of Bern. The brown natural pebbled rind encases a dense smooth interior with the occasional small pea sized hole formed by propionic bacteria and small horizontal fissures known as ‘lenures’.
It has a slightly condensed sweet, nutty flavour that lingers on the palate.
Wine
The pre-lunch wine was very enjoyable, Muscadet Sevre et Main Sur Lie 2021 12%. This wine was a good partner for the delicious raw snapper and ocean trout entrée that was provided.
There were some grumbles around the room about the wine not being up to standard for a good Muscadet, too sweet and so on. I did not detect any undue sweetness and thought that the wine finished with a nice clean acidic finish, perfect with the fish. Picking up on comments around the room, it seemed to me that most there were quite happy. I have had good quality Muscadet in France on a few occasions with some Bay of Biscay oysters, a superb combo. The exact same wine here weeks later tastes quite different. Must be the holiday effect!
We were then treated to three excellent reds with our chicken main. First was the Freycinet Tasmanian Pinot 2020 14%. Very nice indeed, in fact, I preferred it to the following wine, a Burgundy. The Freycinet was a wine in great balance, with plenty of flavour, nice velvety smoothness with a firm finish. An excellent Australian Pinot. The second wine was the Christian Clerget Bourgogne Rouge from 2015 12.5%, an acclaimed vintage in Burgundy. Perhaps it was a poor bottle or perhaps it was just me in a fickle mood, but I just did not connect with this wine. To me, it simply lacked flavour. Perhaps a second bottle might cause me to review my assessment more generously.
We then moved on to the cheese wines. First was a Society favourite and also one of my go-to wines, the Seppelt St Peters Shiraz 2010 14%. This wine from the Grampians in Vic comes from a vineyard at Seppelt where the main business is making sparkling wine. The vineyard adjacent to the winery is where St Peters comes from, formerly known as Seppelt Great Western Shiraz, a wonderful wine, full or ripe fruit, spicy with gentle tannins and a subtle oak finish. Wine of the day.
The final wine of the day was a 2018 Yves Cuilleron Rousanne Les Vignes d’a Cote. Readers of my articles from previous occasions will be aware that I do not have high regard for Rhone whites, Roussanne, Viognier or Marsanne. I find them unctuous and fat with a blowsy finish. Today, however, much against my anticipated reaction, this Roussanne grew upon me as the day wore on. A very good cheese wine, mouth-filling, but well-balanced. I think the trick was to serve it with a strongly flavoured cheese, not with a delicate entrée.
27 February 2024 Peter Kelso
Food review by James Hill and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran
Food
A full house today for our first wine tasting lunch of the year. Peter Kelso Past President of our society and Chef of the Year on a number of occasions was in the kitchen for today’s lunch. Peter’s known for economy and keeping it simple. In dollar terms our lunch today the value of wines alone at lunch was $130 per person.
Canapes
‘Less is more’ said Mies van de Rohe and there was more.
First up, two types of fried fritters one pumpkin and the other ‘tromboncini’ served with Ajvar condiment.
The ingredients for the fritters came from Peter’s community garden. Tromboncino also known as zucchetta.
Long zucchini-like fruit with a bulbous end. A climbing vine that produces long pale green zucchini-like fruit with a bulbous end. Fruit is used like a zucchini and has a comparable flavour and is tender.
Ajvar is a condiment made principally from capsicum and eggplants.
Good robust flavours in the fritters and condiments.
Peter served some herring sour cream on garlic-roasted bruschetta garnished with paprika. The sauce was made with dill, red onion, garlic, and vodka.
This herring canapé had good texture, integrated flavours, very moreish.
Main
Peter presented ‘turkey tonnato’, a twist on the Italian dish normally made with veal.
Peter had brined ‘skin on’ turkey breast for 48 hours and then roasted and served with a traditional tonnâto sauce on top. It was decorated with parsley, pickled cucumbers, olives, and pickled beetroot.
Served at room temperature the turkey flavour stood through.
It looked simple but a lot of thought and effort was evident in our lunch today.
Accompanying the dish was a salad of endive, radicchio and cos lettuce dressed with a light vinaigrette. A good match for our brace of burgundies on taste today.
Good comments on the food today many thought ‘chef of the year’ worthy.
Thank you, Peter.
Bread a very good sourdough.
Cheese
Cheese master Mark Bradford selected cheese from Gippsland Victoria, Berry’s Creek Riverine Buffalo Blue. It had everyone guessing, no one correctly. Many thought it was a French cheese.
Made with high quality, Gippsland sourced buffalo milk, this innovative cheese is super smooth and creamy. It has a delicate texture and highlights the great understanding of milk and mould types by award winning Berrys Creek Cheese.
I believe it is the first time it’s been presented to a lunch.
A complication with the cheese today, it hadn’t arrived by noon! MB was on the case ensuring it was delivered in time for service.
Peter accompanied the cheese with sliced fresh figs, dried figs and dry roasted walnuts.
We welcomed two new members to our Society today, John McKenzie and Dr Geoff Riiesfeld.
Our new member Society ties are in the post gents.
Wine
Our Wine Master turned it on for us today a veritable cornucopia of excellent Burgundies and some not so well known entrée whites.
We kicked off with an Aligote 2021 from Bichot. 12%. This grape popular in France is a first cousin of Chardonnay, being part of the Pinot family. Very dry with high acidity.
I found the wine somewhat lacking in flavour. A little thin to my taste. My research indicates that this wine is extremely popular in Bulgaria and Romania. They must like this style.
The second entrée wine was a Pinot Bianco 13% 2020. An Italian wine from Erste & Neue. Again, very dry but with a bit more fruit on show compared to the first wine. Clean and fresh with crisp acid. Enjoyable.
First of the lunch wines was the Bichot 2020 Meursault at 13.5%. I really liked this wine. Smooth with buttery overtones and a long satisfying finish. Well balanced. Excellent.
Next was the Colin Morey 2018 Cotes due Beaune Au Bout du Monde at 13% . Delicate with some obvious citrus flavours of peach, pear and lemon. Restrained acid.
We then moved on to what I was thinking would be the star of the show, the Les Clos Grand Cru Chablis 2018. 13%. I was expecting some of that classic steely flinty, taste, but it was not there, at least for me. Perhaps the very rich sauce accompanying the main drowned it out. I always think of a Chablis with delicate seafood dishes, not with a heavy main course, which incidentally was terrific, but for me the coupling was just not right. The wine itself was fine, but perhaps the acid was beginning to fall away a little.
The first red was Leroux Gevrey Chambertin, 2013 at 13%. Deep ruby colour with some strawberry aroma. The acid was falling off a bit, but still a nice finish with faint tannins. Excellent.
The second red was the Domaine de Bellene Beaune Les Greves 1st Cru 2012 at 13%. This wine to my taste was a bit flat, with low acidity, starting to show some premature ageing at 12 yo. Still very drinkable with mellow tannin. Not one for keeping.
Our final wine was a beauty, the Grand Cru Echezeaux En Orveaux 2015, 13.5% An excellent year for red Burgundy. and the wine soon showed its class. Medium to firm mouthfeel, great balance with hints of cherry and strawberry. Great finish suggesting that this wine still has many years ahead. An excellent long term proposition for those special occasions.
20 February 2024 Bill Alexiou
Food review by James Hill and wine review by Richard Gibson
Food
Our president Bill Alexiou-Hucker was in the kitchen today cooking for our first mixed lunch of the year. You never go hungry when Bill in the kitchen and today was no exception.
Canapés
Guacamole topped with tomato and a slice of chilli on mission corn chips. Bill loves this recipe, I agree it’s fresh and flavourful.
Tuna marinated in orange juice and dill topped with dill served on spoons, balanced and luscious.
Baked Greek-style meatballs (Keftedes) served cold with a dipping sauce of yoghurt, lemon salt and mint (Tzatziki). The meatballs were a combination of pork and beef however 90% beef for fat to add to the flavour as well also some grated tomatoes, salt and egg for binding.
Main
A seafood and tomato-based orzo dish. Orzo is a rice-shaped pasta also known as risoni. It was baked with chorizo, tomato and onion.
Great presentation with the seafood sitting on top of the orzo with the chorizo imparting a smoky taste to the dish.
The seafood was perfectly cooked with scallops and prawns seared on the hibachi and served with baby octopus and mussels in their shells.
It’s no easy feat to serve different types of seafood and have them come to the table with the integrity of the flesh preserved. Bill achieved that today. A great dish with fulsome flavours although most agreed it did need a little seasoning.
Thanks Bill.
Cheese
Our cheese master Mark Bradford organised a 3.6kg tub of barrel-aged feta as requested by our chef. It was baked with truffle-infused evoo and served with sprigs of thyme then drizzled with Greek thyme-infused honey over the cheese before serving with warmed olives.
Perfect with lunch today the baking enhanced the flavour and texture of the cheese with olives rounding off a great dish.
Surely a worthy contender for the Ross MacDonald cheese trophy.
Aphrodite Greek Barrel-Aged Feta is a rare example of a traditional feta. The authentic milky flavours, crumbly and slightly open texture, and yeasty finish are a revelation.
Greek feta is one of the oldest and most popular of all European PDO cheeses with origins that date back to a time when nomadic shepherds roamed the hills of northern Greece. Today, most examples are produced on a commodity scale and are predictable in texture and flavour, but Aphrodite Feta is remarkably different and deliciously superior. It is authentic, ‘real’ feta at its finest and most authentic.
Cheesemaking for Aphrodite Greek Barrel-Aged Feta begins with only the best-quality mountain ewe’s milk and a small amount of goat’s milk, depending on the season. This milk is beautifully and naturally infused with the aromatic flavours of wild herbs, flowers, and grasses ingested by free-ranging flocks.
The fresh curds are drained in special triangular wedges and sprinkled with sea salt from Missolonghi before being left to drain overnight. They are then hand-salted again and layered in beechwood barrels.
The inside of these barrels contains a unique microflora, introduced by smearing the staves with ourda, a mizithra whey cheese. After topping up with whey, the barrels are left at ambient temperature to encourage secondary fermentation, while wooden staves allow the cheese to breathe. Finally, the barrels are transferred to cooler, humid cellars to mature for at least three months, resulting in a different and far superior texture and flavour compared to industrial feta, which is matured in tins or plastic.
Bill generously provided a half bottle of dessert wine for each table. It was "Samos Vin Doux" a white muscat from Samos, Greece. A good match for the cheese presented today.
Jennifer Darin proposed a toast to our recently departed member Roger Prior who was well known to Dennis Cooper and Jennifer. He introduced Dennis to our Society.
Bread today a good sourdough from Fiore at McMahons Point.
Wine
Nick served a diverse range of wines well suited to an equally diverse number of appetizers and Bill’s Mediterranean mixed seafood risoni main. We started with a fresh and fruity Jansz rose and a quintessential Hunter Semillon, Gundog Estate’s The Chase Semillon.
The rose is a Pinot Noir/Chardonnay blend (Pinot dominant)) which showed fresh floral and strawberry notes on the nose, a textural and balanced palate displaying some complexity and a fairly dry and long finish – an excellent match with the Guacamole and tuna tartare. The Chase Semillon is made from grapes grown on the historic Somerset Vineyard, now a grower's vineyard committed to sustainable farming and organic principles. It showed lovely floral and apple characters on the nose with a citrus and lemongrass palate (with some classic hunter hay/straw notes). The wine was balanced and elegant with a fine acid line and length which well matched the appetizers and the meatballs in particular.
The main course was served with a modern Adelaide Hills Orlando Lynvale Chardonnay and a Trott Vineyard McLaren Vale Grenache. Both wines complemented the main very well (both displaying high acid lines) and the room was evenly split as to which wine was the better match. Personally, I thought the leanness and acidity of the Grenache was the better fit.
The Chardonnay displayed a citrus/peachy nose and a real depth of flavoursome ripe stone fruit on the palate (together with some flinty-struck match characters) balanced with a light touch of oak. This is a wine showing considerable elegance and balance – finishing with a fine minerally acid line. A very fine example of a modern cool climate Chardonnay.
The Grenache, produced by Willunga 100, is grown from old vines in Blewitt Springs, McLaren Vale. The wine shows a very pretty cherry/red berry and spicy nose followed by a depth of savoury red fruit and spice on the palate with well-integrated (fruit) tannins and a long acid-driven finish. A very good example of a modern South Australian Grenache style – highlighted by its fruit purity, freshness and fine tannin structure.
The cheese was also served with a white and a red wine - a Soave made from 100% Garganega grapes produced by Monte Tondo in the hills near Verona and a Barbera from Paolo Scavini in Alba, Piemonte.
The Soave was intensely floral perfumed (one member described it as a candy “bubblegum” character). It displayed a bone-dry peachy palate with citrus tinges and was medium-bodied. The finish was a little short and dominated by high acidity. Our table did not have the best example of this wine, but it was better received on other tables.
The Barbera showed a spicy rich blackberry and cherry nose. The palate displayed rich, savoury, tart black fruit with a medium body with some herbaceous characters and spice. The finish was long and accentuated by high acidity. To my palate, the tannins were perhaps a little aggressive (reflecting a very difficult 2017 vintage) and the wine was not completely in balance.
Both wines matched the cheese and again the room was divided on the better match – again both wines displayed high acidity which well matched the cheese.
13 February 2024 Nigel Burton
Food review by Nick Reynolds and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran
Food
Nigel Burton was the first contender for Chef of the Year to present his dish for consideration. Ambitiously, he presented this dish to an almost full house of 47 attendees.
As usual, Nigel encouraged members who do not normally cook to each present an appetiser. Today we had dishes from Greg Brunner, Frank Liebeskind, and Greg Chugg.
Greg Brunner served smoked Mackerel on toasted sourdough. This was made up of cold-smoked mackerel with yuzu kosho, mirin, light soy, sesame oil and chopped chives served on toasted sourdough with Kewpie mayonnaise, Nori, and Yarra Valley salmon caviar. As can be seen from the picture, it was a panoply of colour, texture, and flavour.
Frank Liebeskind’s canapé was Eggplant roasted with S&B Japanese Curry. He blended this into a paté, folded in finely chopped shallots and served this on organic brown rice crackers. This was topped with Japanese pickled radish, pickled ginger and a sliver of nori.
Greg Chugg served a Bloody Mary inspired canapé with the traditional celery swizzle stick replaced with pickled daikon, and Worcestershire sauce largely replaced with ponzu citrus sauce. Rather than standard black pepper he used native bush pepper as well as 6 limes off his own tree.
Greg asked me to assist in adding Tabasco to the mixture and an appropriate level was achieved. Some members thought it was too hot but, as you will find out in the next paragraph, the chilli heat was augmented by something of an alcohol burn.
Economics, maths, and mixology combined to give the following calculation (provided by Greg). 37.5% of the liquid was made up of alcoholic beverage. Of this, roughly 40% was Japanese Shochu (which is made from sweet potato and is 25% alcohol), 10% 42 Below Feijoa Vodka (42%), 25% Suntory Plum Liqueur Whisky Blend (20%) and 25% San Baltazar Alipus Mezcal (47.5%). All together an average 31% alcohol by volume mixed spirit. Together with the tomato juice, Greg calculated, this yielded an 11.65% beverage. The perfect level for a wine lunch!
Now onto Nigel’s main course.
He gave us a reprise of his version of Nobu Matsuhisa’s miso-marinated cod.
Marinating in saké lees has been an age-old tradition in Japan, but it was top Japanese-Peruvian chef Nobu who added Mirin and Miso to the sake for the marinade.
The fish used this time was Arctic cod, also known as sablefish, from Alaskan waters.
The cod was marinated in the fridge for two days with the above ingredients and a little additional sugar.
The fish was fried on the skin side and finished off in the oven. It was served sprinkled with dried seaweed and accompanied by black rice, pickled ginger, bok choi, edamame and drizzled with Indonesian sweet soy sauce (Kecap Manis). The dish was topped with a sauce around the side of the fish made up from the same ingredients used for the marinade but without the sugar.
Japanese cooking is as much about presentation as anything else. The dish showed an array of colours and was well presented.
Cooking fish for 47 people is a difficult task compounded by the number of elements that needed to be carefully plated. Nigel and the kitchen team achieved this very well, although there was some variance in thickness of the fish which led to a few individuals not having as flaky and oily fish as others in the room. As a whole, the dish was very well received by members with the dish showing a good mixture of different textures and flavours.
Nigel showed great skill in taking what is typically a shared appetiser and converting it into a satisfying and well-presented main course.
Today’s bread was cut from the large ring from Raffaels’ Bakery in Haberfield.
Our cheese today was sourced by Mark Bradford. It was a Le Conquérant Artisan Grand Camembert cheese from Normandy imported by Will Studd.
Regional milk and the natural ripening process ensure the distinctive flavour and aroma development of real Camembert.
This traditional surface ripened cheese is handmade to an authentic Camembert recipe in Normandy, France. The unique milk of the Normande cows of the Pays d’Auge region and the natural ripening process of the surface moulds ensure the distinctive flavour and aroma development of real Camembert.
The popular box and wax paper wrap create a microclimate that encourages the chalky heart of a young cheese to slowly break down over three to four weeks to a soft and fudgy texture. As the cheese matures, it develops the distinct rounded grassy flavours and famous brassica aroma that make this original cheese so distinct.
While today’s cheese was soft and fudgy, it unfortunately also had the ammoniated smell that we’ve seen several times over the past few years in imported camemberts. As with all strong aromas, including on wine, there was variability in response to the cheese.
Nigel served the cheese with a plate of blanched spinach dressed in a savoury nutty sesame sauce (Gomaae), in line with the Japanese theme of today’s lunch.
Wine
I walked through the door at 12.45 pm and paid the price of not being on the starting grid at 12.30 pm. As a consequence, I was not able to taste any of the Fraser Gallop wine and had to contend myself with a small glass of the Montgomery Hill Chardonnay 2010 12%. I enjoyed the wine very much even though my sample was small. For a 14yo Chardy, the wine was drinking very well. No sign of ageing, well balanced, great fruit and just enough acid left to carry it through. An excellent choice, hope we have some left.
The first wine for the luncheon was a Yalumba Viognier, the “Virgilius” from 2021 at 13%. I noticed on the label that Yalumba had now promoted this wine to the rank of their Premier White Wine, a position I would have thought, had been occupied by their Pewsey Vale Contours Riesling. Louise Rose is an outstanding winemaker and one must respect her judgement, but still, I am a little surprised as for me, I would much prefer a glass of the Contours to a glass of the Virgilius. The Viognier was a big, mouth-filling wine with lashings of stone fruit taste. A grape that hails from the Northern Rhone district along with Roussanne and Marsanne. These wines have a distinctly similar mouthfeel, rich and voluptuous, indeed a little too full-bodied and viscous. You have a glass and that’s enough thank you, please pass the Riesling! As you may infer I am not a fan of Viognier, either locally grown or from the Rhone.
The next wine was a Sake, the Junmai Daiginjo 15% which we enjoyed last year also with a fish dish by Nigel Burton. This wine again proved to be an excellent match with the cod we enjoyed. Clean with a crisp finish. It is a wine so removed from what we are used to drink I find it hard to describe. Whatever wine tasting terminology one may use, the sake was a winner with the strongly flavoured fish we had. A good choice, inspired.
The third luncheon wine was a Dolcetto d’Alba 13% from vintage 2020. The “Sweet little one“ as it is known in Italy. Made from the Dolcetto grape, the wine is light in texture, quite tannic, yet unobtrusive, a good food wine. Nothing too serious, a wine just made for consumption with a Pizza with extra anchovy. Enjoyable, without demanding attention.
The final wine was a wine which in my view did demand attention, the Hewitson l’Oizeau Shiraz from 1998 14%. Note that this wine is now 26 yo and naturally showing some signs of age, but that said drinking beautifully. Made from some very old vines around Tanunda SA, The winemaker Dean Hewitson has crafted together a great example of Barossa Shiraz which has stood the test of time. Spicy and peppery, great fruit with some residual tannin, and a little browning around the rim, but still the wine was in great shape. I hope we have a few left.