We had Leigh Hall in the kitchen today ably assisted by Denis Redfern. Leigh had just come back from three weeks in Iran where he obviously sampled an extensive amount of Iranian and Middle Eastern delights. Wine was clearly not one of these. Leigh provided me with detailed notes re the dishes served today which are included below under the appropriate heading.

We also had wines or spirits from two members for their birthdays. Starting with the big one, Wal Edwards, who bought out his usual rum in preparation for his 101st birthday on the following day. More of that later. Also celebrating a birthday this week and donating wine was Roger McGuinness.

Canapés.

• Kashk-e bademjan - eggplant, kashk [Persian yoghurt], onion, turmeric, garlic, mint, walnuts
• Baba ghanouj - eggplant, tahini, lemon, garlic, paprika
• Hummus and beetroot - chickpeas, beetroot, tahini, garlic, cumin, lemon

This was a beaut range of starters. The beetroot hummus stood out for its stunning colour, whilst the eggplant dishes were tasty and demonstrated what a versatile vegetable it really is.

Aperitif wine. Thanks to the generosity of Roger McGuinness we enjoyed six bottles of Piper Heidsieck Brut to celebrate his birthday. The still wine supplied by the Society was the Denmar Estate Chardonnay 2010, a wine that has been served many times before. The Chardonnay is a rich Hunter Valley style and one that is drinking at its peak

Main course.

Ghormeh Sabzi was the main served with two types of rice as detailed below.

            Lamb, onion, dried limes, turmeric, tomato, red kidney beans, turmeric

            Fenugreek, Leighks, spinach [Main flavours from fenugreek and desiccated limes]

            Chelo - aged Persian rice with saffron

            Pelou - aged Persian rice with almond, currents, barberries, mint

For most in the room, this was the first time we had eaten this meal or the first time that we realised what it was. There was obviously a labour of love put into its preparation. Having said that, there were a number of people around the room who felt that the dish was very dominated by the dessicated limes, an ingredient, that many had not used themselves. Leigh subsequently explained that he had used some 30 limes and acknowledged the flavour was very strong. Notwithstanding this, a very interesting dish.

Leigh also explained some details about his time in Iran and its food. Of particular interest was that he explained that at homes you are normally served stews whilst as a tourist, eating out, you invariably had kebabs which he found to become quite boring after a while compared to the diversity of stews. 

The Wines.

• Combier Crozes-Hermitage 2012 (cork, 12.5%)
• Clonakilla Hilltops Shiraz 2010 (screwcap, 14%)
• Duval Plexus Marsanne Viognier Roussanne 2015 (screwcap, 12.5%)
• Coriole Sangiovese 2012 (screwcap, 14%)

Leigh had requested some Shiraz to go with the lamb and we had one from northern Rhône and one from the Hilltops district in New South Wales. The Rhône wine was an interesting reminder of how robust Crozes-Hermitage can be. Whilst lacking the finesse of Cote Rotie or Hermitage, it has a robust Shiraz character with drying tannins. The Clonakilla Hilltops wine was excellent. Whilst a long way short in price of the now $120 Shiraz Viognier it always comes up strongly. It was dry, savoury and luscious. Drinking well but will go on.

With the cheese, we enjoyed a red and a white. The Duval mix of white Rhône varieties was rich as would be expected but it was also showing youth and needs some time to develop. Not a wine for everybody as comments indicated. The Australian Sangiovese from Coriole was a lighter style as befits this grape and had some savoury characteristics but at the end the day was an Australian take on Chianti. Coriole has now made over 20 vintages of this wine and whilst some in the room cheered the fact that this was the last of this vintage in the cellar I thought it a good match with the excellent cheese.

Cheese and coffee.

James selected for us today a cheese that is a favourite of many, Taleggio. You can see in the photograph above the wonderful layer of mould that has spread across the large square shape of this fromage. This cheese from Mauri is guaranteed by the unique maturation process that benefits from a gift of the territory, the natural caves. These caves provide the perfect microclimate for maturing cheese and hence the mould. It was a first-class cheese, mild, delicate and melting in the mouth.

Coffee by Spencer Ferrier was from Cuba. Whilst not having visited Cuba I understand that the Cubans are crazy about the coffee although we don’t get to see much of their beans in Australia. It was a relatively robust coffee but the dosing by Spencer poured as a big but aromatic coffee.

Leigh had provided as afters, fresh dates, figs soaked in rose water and Persian delight. This put a smile on all faces in conjunction with his gift for lunch of the Bailey’s Classic Muscat to go with these delights.

101 and not out.

The elephant in the room today was the impending 101st birthday of one Walter Edwards. Wal was in fine form and gave one of his rousing presentations for which he received warm applause and congratulations.

In a fine deed, Paul Ferman had located and purchased a bottle of Chateau Mouton Baron Phillippe 1916. Paul removed a very black cork and each table was offered a glass to share for the toast. Great to try but Wal is in far better condition than this grand label of the 1916 vintage. See the photo below.

Wal then tried to do some harm by serving his Inner Circle Pot Distilled Premium Rum at an eye-watering 75.9% alcohol. It creeps up on you! Thank you, Wal.

Closure.

President Keith Steele closed the lunch today noting the jovial atmosphere of this wonderful occasion. He congratulated Leigh Hall for doing something genuinely different for us.