Paul Irwin presented a high degree of difficulty/risk main course partnered by a time consuming preparation. Preparing individual pie bases by hand for 40 servings is not for the faint hearted but he pulled it off with the assistance of Steve Liebeskind in the kitchen.

Canapés. We started off with a fine duck liver pâté on bread rounds. The pâté was robust with a very pleasant touch of sweetness provided by Cointreau Blood Orange Liqueur. Very moreish. We then moved on to a sweet potato and cashew combination on bread rounds topped off with preserved red capsicums. A striking colour and flavour variance with fuller sweet and nutty flavours.  

Aperitif wine. Paul Ferman selected a La Cana Rias Baixas Albarino 2012 (12.5%). The Rias Baixas DO specialises in Albarino which is becoming more familiar to Australians thanks to chains like Dan Murphys offering a number of labels. The wine sees no wood and in its youth is firm and steely with a nice acid structure well suited to food. At three years of age this wine has a pronounced yellow colour and had softened considerably. It divided the room with opinions. It did stand up to the full flavoured canapés but some may have liked it more in its youth.

Main course.  With a degree of difficulty of about 8 on the sports scale the duck pie was a great success. Paul made the pastry from scratch and then formed each shell by hand. Then of course he used 12 ducks which he hand dismembered/dispatched (although I think they were deceased when received them), then roasted the bones for the stock along with carrots, celery, rosemary and thyme. The resulting ragu had a wonderful depth of flavour and consistency. The shell did not get soft and collapse but remained firm. Paul, in retrospect, said he will ensure that they are a little more malleable next time. A puff pastry hat topped the pie. The pie was served with roasted vegetables in duck fat (hence the plates were well cleared), a sour apple sauce and spinach leaf.

The wines.

• Jamshead garden Gully Syrah 2011 (Great Western) (cork, 14.4%)
• Olivers Taranga HJ Reserve Shiraz 2008 (screwcap, 15%)
• Taturry Mosselini Syrah (Mornington) 2013 (cork, 13.6%)
• Rosemount Balmoral Shiraz 2007 (screwcap, 15%)

All in all these were a bunch of big wines as requested by our chef to match the full flavour of the duck ragu. However, the first pairing was quite different. The Jamshead was a more modern style of GW red. Big but elegant and not showing hotness despite the alcohol. The Olivers was their flagship and it was huge but soft in that McLaren style way. Unashamedly old-fashioned.

With cheese another dichotomy of style. The Taturry had a Pinot-like build with modern Syrah showing. The Rosemount was bigger as befits a Balmoral and drinking very well at 9 years of age. Spicy and soft if not a great year in the Vale.

Cheese and coffee. No one could quite recall the last time we had Australia’s own Heidi Gruyere from Exton, Tasmania. From a 10 kg wheel the cheese was in perfect condition. A sweetness and nuttiness flavour with a firm body. Great choice James Healey. This was served with parsley based salad.

Spencer Ferrier provided a potted history of El Salvador coffee and it’s decline in quality linked to the poor national government and widespread gang violence. He was not overly impressed with the coffee but it did possess a pleasant sweetness.

Spencer foreshadowed that next week he would have Costa Rican coffee entrepreneur to give a brief presentation to the lunch.

VP Peter Kelso addressed the issue of a decline in the number of members volunteering to cook. He asked members to organise a few cooking pairings to contact our Foodmaster re a future lunch.

To Paul Irwin, a huge effort for the lunch. Thank you.