It’s that time of year again when we get to review the best efforts of Chefs of the Day from 2017. Kicking off the cook-offs this year was Bill Alexiou-Hucker, a member not unfamiliar with this territory. Members responded heartily by presenting themselves in good numbers. He was again assisted by the canape masters, Peter Squires and Peter Manners.

Canapés. Bill provided us with two canapés to start the day. First off was cucumber served with fetta, sun-dried tomatoes and olives. Very refreshing. Next up was what could be described as lamb rolls which were simply (delicious) filo pastry enclosed with lamb and hummus. These were given a good dunking of real butter, and then baked in the oven until golden brown. Butter, lamb and filo pastry, what’s not to like?

Aperitif wine. With Bill in the kitchen, what better opportunity to show off some good quality Greek white wine. The Gaia Assyrtiko 2012 may not be a grape everybody is overly familiar with, but it is a well-known and widely grown white grape in Greece. This grape is a native of the island of Santorini but is grown elsewhere. This particular example from Santorini was wild fermented and was bone dry with a minerality that made it perfect for the exercise today.

Main course. Bill recreated his beef cheek dish from 2017. It was simply served on mashed potato with beans and carrots with a deeply reduced beef cheek jus. Beef cheeks can be cooked in any number of ways, all slow cooked. These beef cheeks were of the sturdier style. Not exactly falling apart but very tender. Some comments thought that they were a little too gelatinous and that further cooking may have broken down the fat content further to make them less fatty. Nevertheless, beef cheeks are fatty. And that’s why they are so much loved by all meat eaters.

The Wines.

• Rosemount (clean skin) Balmoral Shiraz 2007 (cork)
• Alvaro Castro Dão 2009 (cork)
• Lindemans Bin 1100 Reserve Shiraz 2011 (screwcap)
• Terre a Terre Cabernet Franc 2014 (Piccadilly Valley) (screwcap)

Paul Ferman served us three Australian wines and one Portuguese. To go with the rich main course, Paul had the 10-year-old Rosemount against the Portuguese Dão wine (Dão being a region) largely made from Touriga Nacional. It was spicy with black cherry and herbal overtones. The Touriga grape is being used in Australia by number of growers, notably SC Pannell. The Australian wine was very typically so, soft and approachable at that age. It was at its peak but could sit there for many years to come.

The cheese wines pitted the classic Lindeman’s Hunter Valley Shiraz against the young and fresh Cabernet Franc from Piccadilly. The Lindemans fitted the mold. The Terre a Terre wine was floral and soft and tasted like an elegant interpretation of a Bordeaux.

Cheese and coffee. Cheese today was Perenzin di Capra al Foglia di Noce, a goats’ milk cheese from Veneto. A semi-hard cheese that comes wrapped in walnut leaves it is wonderfully savory with definite walnut influences.

Coffee from Spencer Ferrier, was New Guinea Pearl/Blue Mountain. Soft with abundant fruity character it was a good foil for the cheese and Bill’s finishing touches. These were sweet figs in syrup, Greek Delights with ouzo infusion and Mastika gum flavoured liqueur.

Another excellent lunch from Bill and his team with sideline support from his table of mates.