The kitchen at the Royal exchange of Sydney is headed up by Joey Ingram who cooked for us today. Joey has an impressive background in the restaurant industry and agreed to cook for us today after having a couple of weeks to observe and assist the member CoTDs with their meal.

Canapés. Joey offered us two canapés. The pork and fennel sausage rolls looked and tasted fantastic. These were made in the kitchen with slow cooked pork shoulder and the shiny glazed pastry topped them off.  The next was rillettes of smoke our ocean trout on a water cracker with dill and cornichons.

Aperitif wine. The starter wine of the day was one well-known to members, the Denmar Estate Hunter Valley Chardonnay 2010. The wine was now where it needs to be drunk but was still interesting and as somebody described it, “good average” Chardonnay.

Main course. Joey prepared for members today a meal that some described as a ‘safe meal’ but prepared in style. Whole chickens have been brined was salt and sugar and then cut up into pieces and roasted. The brining lead to the flesh being moist and succulent and there was a range of white meat and darker meat on the bone on every plate. Of course, the dark meat won. The protein was served on Paris mash with asparagus and a chicken broth sauce with Madeira jus deglaze. Beautifully presented with well-defined tastes and textures.

The Wines.

• Framingham Select Riesling 2016 (Marlborough) (screwcap, 8.5%)
• Tiefenbrunner Lagrein 2011 Alto Adige, (Trentino-Alto-Adige, Italy) (cork, 14%)
• Wynns White Label Shiraz 2009 (screwcap full, 14.4%)
• Pirathon Barossa Shiraz 2009 (screwcap, 14.5%)

The first of the two wines with the main course caused some discussion. Whilst Framingham is a first-class producer of Riesling (and this one only 8.5%) most felt it was not a good match for the chicken with a rather rich jus. The Langrein grape unknown to many people was a better match. The wine comes from northern Italy near the border and hence the Germanic sounding name. This grape producers a deep red wine with cherry characteristics and medium tannin. It was the preferred match.

Paul selected two Australian 2009 Shiraz wines for the rich cheese. We all know the Wynns White Label Shiraz (usually available on discount at well under $15) and this is compared to a more expensive Barossa-based wine. The Wynns wine was thought to present excellent value for money and for some was probably the wine of the day. The Pirathon was not a typical big Barossa Shiraz but was rather elegant and provided an excellent pairing.

Cheese and coffee. Our acting Cheesemaster Gary Linnane served a Roquefort from the selection of Will Studd. There was some discussion about whether this was Gorgonzola 0r Roquefort as they both have rich textures and a salty sweet finish. This was excellent.

Coffee today was provided by the Royal Exchange from their espresso machine. Quite a task, serving 40 coffees whilst dealing with their regular customers. Well done.

President, Keith Steele, invited Joey to have a bit of a chat about the meal and about his cooking style and background.

A very enjoyable lunch.