With potentially the first food based on Mauritius cuisine (in recent memory) we had first time chef of the day, Merv Peacock in the kitchen. For the past 10 to 12 years, Merv has travelled to Mauritius a couple of times a year for business and has and has enjoyed the cuisine of the island. He was assisted in the kitchen today by his son Brett and our Foodmaster Bill Alexiou-Hucker.

Canapés. A range, and a must be said a diverse range, of canapés kicked off proceedings. The beef-based curry puffs were a massive hit with members today. When Merv cooks again the curry puffs with crisp and flaky pastry will be the go to starter. We also had yogurt and mint on sliced cucumber and very tasty poppadum (that’s one spelling anyway) scoops with mango, onion, chilli and lime juice. The starters were in the groove for what was to follow.

Aperitif wine. As the room last week enjoyed the range of aperitif wines on offer the Winemaster of the day, Chilly Hargraves, gave us Three choices. They were the St Huberts Chardonnay 2013, Tyrrells Belford Semillon 2014 and the Brokenwood Semillon 2014. The two Semillons were both drinking remarkably well at such a tender age for Hunters with developed fruit but still good acid. The Chardonnay was a little flabby but was hanging in there.

Main Course. Merv delivered on his promise to cook a Mauritius curry. The chicken and prawn curry was served with rice and a slightly pickled salad of onion, garlic, beans, cabbage and some mustard seeds. The curry was wonderful, turmeric based, with a light to medium heat with delightful spiciness. Some would have preferred a bit more heat but given the challenges of matching wine with such food to suit the varied palates, that may have exacerbated the problem and ruined the spice for those who wanted spice without own undue heat.

To top off the main Merv had cooked large poppadums which were perfectly cooked, sometimes no easy thing.

The Wines.

• Pressing Matters R9 Riesling (Tasmania) 2015 (screwcap, 11.9%)
• Seppelts Jaluka Chardonnay (screwcap, 12.5%)
• Kalleske Pirathon Shiraz 2009 (screwcap, 14.5%)
• Charles Melton Grains of Paradise Shiraz 2009 (screwcap, 14%)

Once again, the slight off-dry characteristic of the Tasmanian Riesling attracted adverse comment, although a number thought it went very well with the spice in the curry. The Seppelts Chardonnay accompanying the Riesling with the curry was selected by Chilly because of its prominent acid and the wine had not undergone malolactic fermentation. It a had enough acid and fruit to work well with the curry.

The cheese wines were two 2009 Barossa Shiraz. There were no surprises with these wines with the Pirathon being the lighter (relative) of the two with a nice touch of spice presumably from good handling. The Charles Melton whilst not huge was a little over extracted and over oaked with a furry finish.

Cheese and coffee. Our Cheesemaster, James Healey, took us to France today for our cow’s milk Cantel Entre Deux. Whilst the term entre-deux means between two and six months of age, James suggested it may have been older. Whatever, it was still moist with a semi-hard texture and a milder flavour with buttery overtones. A wonderful cheese for any event.

The cheese was served with a salad of rocket, walnut and pear.

Spencer Ferrier spoke to the coffee today which was a blend and he expressed some disappointment as it was stronger than planned with a finish that was a little bitter and tarry. For some of us it was certainly stronger but that is sometimes no bad thing.

For the second time in a year or so all the wines served today were under screwcap. This was a reflection of the fact that we had an all Australian cast today, but it is something that is a positive trend given the weekly issues that occur with cork.

The President presented Merv Peacock with his Society apron and we look forward to seeing him back in the kitchen in the future.