Out second cook-off for Chef of the Year with Steve Liebeskind attracted a solid response from members. And I mean solid, well over 50. Assisted by Peter Manners and Martin MacMurray the show ran smoothly despite the load on the food supply.                                                     

Canapés. Steve gave us three canapés. In the order of the images above the first was innovative witlof “boats” with smoked chicken breast and cranberry sauce. This was topped off with chives et al. The smoked chicken was beautifully moist and the presentation was pleasing to the eye. Then came duck pate on a baguette with gherkin and herbs. Good pate texture and flavour. Not simple. Finally, gravlax with white sauce and fennel topping. All three excellent starters.

Aperitif wine. Paul gave us a William Fevre Chablis 2012 to start. Entry level but an excellent wine. Given there were well over 50 there it was topped up with DenMar Chardonnay 2010 and whilst a serviceable wine in that role it lost out to the Chablis.

Main course. Steve had sourced wild barramundi for the main. Barramundi is not always some members’ favourite but this had structure and texture it was soft and succulent.

Fish is difficult to cook for large numbers and given this was a loaves and fishes meal the roasted fish skin finish was impressive.

The protein was served in coconut broth with bok choy, sugar snaps, chilli and various mushrooms including enoki and oyster. As it was a cook-off the look of the dish scores points and this one did indeed.

The wines.

• Orlando Steingarten Riesling 1998 (cork, 13.0%)
• Gunther Steinmetz Riesling 2011 (cork, 11.5%)
• Ocean Eight Aylward Pinot Noir 2010 (screwcap, 13.0%)
• Yannick Amirault St Nicolas De Bourgueil La Source 2010 (cork, 13.0%)

Some nice contrast across the range. A 1998 Riesling under cork is always going to get a little controversy and this did. A few thought it past its best but for many it was aged to perfection with the acid and aged fruit balance superb notwithstanding some expected bottle variation. With a toasty colour, there was some kerosene character which we take as part of the style of an Australian Riesling approaching 20 years of age.

The Steinmetz Mosel in comparison had some residual sugar with adequate acid and a nice degree of minerality to add to the complexity. Most of the chat was that the Steingarten was the better wine but the Mosel was a better match with the fish.

Moving to reds, the Ocean Eight was the least of the two with a decidedly sweet character but with enough oomph and tannin to match the cheese. The La Source from Loire was 100% Cabernet Franc and had a tight palate with fruity and floral characters. An excellent food wine profile.

Cheese and coffee. James Healey provided one of our favourite cheeses, Holy Goat pasteurised organic goat cheese from Sutton Grange Organic Farm in Castlemaine. On this occasion we had both the La Luna (circular with a hole in the middle) and Brigid’s Well, both the same cheese (except the latter being ashed) but just different shapes. Full bodied and creamy and even at $170/kilo retail it is difficult to source.

Steve served a lightly flavoured lettuce based salad with toasted pine nuts and apple which was a good foil to the cheese.

Spencer in absentia provided Tanzanian peaberry coffee. A well-balanced coffee from the medium roast if a little lacking strength on the day.

With a birthday just past James provided each of the six tables with a half of his birthday wine, Cockburns Special Reserve Port. Beautifully drying Portuguese tawny style. Thank you James

Well done Steve and we now roll on to cook-off 3.