It being the week after Greek Easter we had an enthusiastic Bill Alexiou-Hucker in the kitchen for a Greek feast shortly after he was elected the Society’s Foodmaster for the coming year. Bill’s sturdy assistants Peter Manners and Peter Squires (otherwise known as the Canapé Masters) were assisting Bill with this complex feast.

Canapés. Of canapés, there were two. First off, cucumber with taramasalata (home-made of course) with brown olives topping. A pleasant and sharp start to the day well matched with the aperitif wine. The second canapé is one of my favourites, meatballs, or keftedes, which were made with pork and beef with bread crumbs then dusted in flour and deep fried. These are always stunning and there was certainly none left for sale.

Aperitif wine. Given that the AGM was held there was a quite a bit of wine with the main aperitif wine being the Coldstream Hills Chardonnay 2013. Most bottles were drinking well, and many drinkers were highly complimentary. However, there was some bottle variation showing with a range of lighter to dark hues despite the screwcap.

Main Course. When we sat down for the meal we were each presented with a red chicken’s egg. The challenge was to hit the egg with your neighbours and not crack the shell. There was some concern expressed that Bill had not hard-boiled these eggs, but that rumour proved to be false. The immediate past President, Keith Steele, seem so happy with his new role that he managed to defeat everybody else on the table by some method that probably broke the rules of engagement.

The main course itself was of course based on lamb. A picture speaks a thousand words, so I will leave most of it to the picture above. However, the lamb shoulder had been cut into circles and was accompanied by spanakopita liberally lathered with butter before and during baking. It was stuffed with pine nuts and sultanas and was a meal in itself. The lamb was topped with aubergine which had been chargrilled. There were various vegetables on the plate as well. There were some comments made that the lamb could have been a little more moist and Bill agreed with this when discussing the dish later in the day. A great hearty meal with some feeling the quantity was probably a little much. We know however that complaints are more frequent at the other end of the scale.

The Wines.

• Heidi Schrock Klum Blaufrankisch (Austria) 2012 (cork, 13.5%)
• Devil’s Lair Cab blend 2007 (cork)
• Duval Plexus 2015 (screwcap, 14.5%)
• Alvaro Castro Dao Tinto 2011 (Portugal) (cork, 13%)

The first pairing of the Devil’s Lair and the Blaufrankisch was interesting. A number of those present picked up on the “Cabernetish” nature of the latter wine which despite the ribbing it often gets from members can be an excellent Austrian wine. The Austrian wine was somewhat softer, even at its younger age, than the Devil’s Lair, which was a very good entry-level style Bordeaux type blend from Margaret River. Both were suitable matches for the lamb.

John Duvall is rightly somewhat of an icon in Australia after being Penfolds chief winemaker. Some Barossa blends such as Shiraz, Grenache and Mourvèdre are about was enjoyable to me as drinking sump well, on a good day. The Plexus wine still had luscious fruit, but the gentle tannins and touch of oak make it very approachable at its young age under the guise of a Barossa wine. Only 250 cases made.

The Portuguese wine was educational and a very good drink. Alvaro Castro is an acknowledged superior winemaker from the Dao region and the grapes used are pretty much unknown in Australia except for Touriga Nacional which is the base wine of Port but is also grown from some of the enterprising winemakers in McLaren Vale and Adelaide Hills. The wine had excellent lighter but ripe fruit with great elegance.

Cheese and coffee.  Cheese this week from James Healey was easily identifiable from its looks, which has Barolo leaves encapsulating the cheese. It was Ocelli Testun di Barolo, the cheese we have enjoyed on a number of occasions. It is a mixture of goat and cow milks and has a winey flavour due to the leaves. It has a unique and amazing flavour profile

Spencer served Mexican peaberry beans today and they attracted favourable comment. A month or so ago he served the same beans, but whatever reason they seemed a bit acid and light. Today they shone.

With the coffee and cheese Bill had made Greek biscuits and serve these with dates and walnuts stuffed dates. A great finish.

May Greek food prosper.