The excitement of the 1st week back must have proved too much for some members. For a disappointing attendance of only 30 was on hand to experience a taste of Portugal from chef Peter Kelso, capably assisted by Martin McMurray.

Seafood started things off, with baccalao, or reconstituted dried salted cod, made into a paste similar to the French brandade, and served on toasted bread squares topped with a few tiny balls of citrus from finger limes, a native Australian fruit. Also on hand were toast strips topped with a simple sweet pepper paste and a white anchovy, tangy and salty. Washing these down was a 2010 chardonnay from Pemberton in WA, which won unanimous applause for its intense tropical fruit flavours, balanced by fresh acid and a touch of spritz. The lucky few also saw a very dry manzanilla sherry from Lustau, perfect with the salt of the canapes.

For mains, the kitchen produced a healthy helping of chicken. Superior thigh fillets were quickly seared then baked in a bed of red onion, tomato, mustard and wine, naturally with a hit of port for sweetness and a splash of brandy for the hell of it. Plain pasta accompanied it, together with some halved and baked zucchini, in top condition at the moment. Accompanying were a brace of European reds, a 2010 La Giola Veronese from Italy, and a 2009 Dao Alvaro Castro from Portugal itself. Both with modest alcohol levels, the Italian showed as more Australian in style, soft with forward sweet fruit; whilst the Portuguese was a more savoury and complex wine with drying tannins which complemented the food rather better than the other.

We stayed on the Iberian Peninsula for the cheese, an Ossau Iraty semi-hard sheep's milk number from the Basque area of SW France with a history going back more than 4000 years. At least 90 day's old, it showed a supple oily texture with a nutty flavour reminiscent of olive oil, and was in terrific condition. A simple green salad on iceberg lettuce and torn nasturtium leaves was dressed with a dressing made on balsamic vinegar infused with figs and, to accord, some pieces of fresh fig, now nearing the end of its season. In the wine department, it was back home with a 2004 Bethany Barossa shiraz (13.5%), dark and fruity with good clean tannins and plenty of life left; and a Zema Coonawarra cabernet from the same year (14%), showing strong minty Coonawarra fruit and a long way to go, if lacking in the complexity of top wines from this region.

The lunch concluded with a BunCoffee organic blend, made in Byron Bay but from beans grown in South America. It was a dark roast with mouth-filling flavour of bitter chocolate, but a bit short on the finish.