Our Foodmaster Bill Alexiou-Hucker, was back in the kitchen today and once again numbers were over 40.

Canapés. Bill single-handedly provided us with three starters today. We started with two canapés on pastry cups, the first being a white bean mixture topped with olive tapenade and the other was hummus topped with dehydrated chickpeas that had been flash-fried. The crispness of the chickpeas was different and very satisfying. The final canapé was lamb mince and cumin ‘fingers’, a filo pastry wrapped delight. Many members were seen following the trays around the room trying to get more of this delicious piece of heaven.

Aperitif wine. The starter today was a New Zealand Riesling from Giesen, and the year was 2012. It was only 10% alcohol. To say that the average Society member is wedded to South Australian Riesling would be an understatement. This Giesen was roughly Germanic in style and hence some degree of residual sugar. The room was not particularly fond of the style and though it was Germanic in style it could have done with a strong acid boost to balance the sweetness. The Equipo Navazos ‘I Think’ Manzanilla Sherry was served again and enjoyed. However, there were some comments that this Sherry had lost the freshness that made it so good when it first arrived on our shores and REX.

Main Course. We are talking Bill here so today seafood was the go. And how wonderful was the braised octopus that was served. The octopus had been braised for about three hours and was served in a tomato sauce. The beauty of the dish was that instead of using rice, potato, et cetera, Bill had fried a couple of pieces of bread for each plate and placed them on the base of the serving plate to absorb the tomato sauce. This ensured that we were able to enjoy every last drop of the sauce. Whilst Bill, in his usual style, played down the work involved in this dish we didn’t really care as it was so damn tasty.

The Wines.

• Domaine Sebastien Brunet Arpent Vouvray 2014 (cork, 12.4%)
• Laurent Gauthier Grand Cras Morgon 2013 (cork, 12.3%)
• Burton Reserve Shiraz 2002 (cork, 14.5%)
• Balnaves Shiraz 2008 (screwcap, 14.5%)

The main course was rich, possibly richer than our Winemaster expected, and we had two very different wines to go with it. The Chenin Blanc 2014 vintage was a very good Chenin with some minerality and depth that was a perfect match for the richness of the octopus and its sauce. The Cru Beaujolais was also a very good wine with berry character, typical of Gamay but it was not a great match for the rich main. A shame, Morgon is a wonderful Cru.

For cheese today. Paul Ferman presented us with two Coonawarra Shiraz wines. Although very different wines the Balnaves 2008 was fruity, leaning to the jammy side, and I think would have been better a couple of years ago. The Burton from 2002 garnered a strong following from the room, and there was no doubt that whilst it was the better of the wines the fruit was beginning to fade. It was still drinking very well for a 17 year-old wine under cork.

Cheese and coffee. James Healey was back on deck today with cheese and served an Australian cloth-aged Maffra cheddar, which comes in a stunning and intriguing black wax. See the picture. Our cheese experts had difficulty picking this cow’s milk cheese which was wonderfully smooth and firm not yet reaching the crumbly stage. A fabulous Australian cheese.

Spencer Ferrier in absentia provided us with a new coffee called Blue Bianca which was produced in Indonesia in the north-west of Sumatra. The beans have a bluish tinge and hence the reference to blue in the name for this single origin coffee. A medium bodied and quite fruity finish.

Bill had provided us as an accompaniment, mixed nuts, fruit and chocolate pieces with some “Greek Delight”, which is always a favourite. And of course, it had been ouzo marinated. To finish the meal, we were treated to Greek Mastika, a Bill standard, which at 21% is an enjoyable palate cleansing finish as an alternative to higher alcohol spirits.

A good vibe in the room topped off by Bill’s smile and “let’s have fun” attitude.