Food review by James Hill and wine review by Charles 'Chilly' Hargrave

Food

Our President Nick Reynolds was in the kitchen presenting a Mexican themed menu. We know when Nick is in the kitchen there’s a lot of research and preparation done beforehand and it was evident in today’s meal.

Entrees

Members took their seats and we enjoyed the first of our two entrees.

A buttery flaky empanada filled with Rick Bayless’ Picadillo Oaxaqueño. (Pork, tomato, onion, garlic, black pepper, slivered almonds, salt, cider vinegar, raisins and sweet spices (cloves, cinnamon). Full of flavour and texture it was served warm, had a great mouthfeel with the many ingredients all adding up to a perfect example of empanada.

Then followed a Green Fish Soup with Tomatillos Salt, garlic, tomatillos, jalapeño, coriander epazote, tarragon, prawn stock, schnapper, prawns.

Served warm it was delicious.

Our entrees were a good match for our two aperitif wines. One of which was the Framingham Riesling, not a society favourite however we were assured there’s none left in our cellar.

Main

Nick is a master of sous vide and we enjoyed a beef short rib cooked sous vide for 30 hours at 64 C then flame scorched served with Mole Poblano of 24 Ingredients. Mole is a traditional marinade and sauce originally used in Mexican cuisine. We had a variety of accompaniments to our beef,

• Arroz Verda (Green Rice) with long-grained rice, flat-leaf parsley, cilantro (coriander leaf), Cos lettuce leaves, poblano chillis, onion, garlic, and chicken stock.
• Pico di Gallo. Tomato, onion, lime, coriander, seasoning.
• Guacamole. Mashed avocados with Pico di Gallo (less coriander) plus jalapeño chilli.
• Homemade Corn Tortillas fried in lard.

The meal looked good on the plate and better on the palate, perfectly executed with great flavours of spice with some heat none overwhelming the meal.

Members commented favourably on the originality of the dish and the tenderness of the beef.

Cheese

Our cheese-masterly James Healey aware of the theme of today selected a ‘Esparto Manchego. Manchego is the most well-known of all Spanish artisan cheeses and its origins lie in the arid plateau of La Mancha – derived from the Arabic word al-Marsha meaning dryland. Most examples are now produced on a large industrial scale using milk collected from hundreds of small dairy farms across the defined PDO region. El Esparto ‘Artesano’ cheese is a rare exception.

Taking its name from the plated esparto grass belts traditionally used to bind young cheese as it is drained and the heavy stones, each wheel is handmade using milk collected from a single flock of Manchego ewes.

The cheese is matured for six or nine months and humid cellars and the natural brown rind is really white with olive oil to reduce mould. It contains no artificial colours or mould inhibitor. Like all farmstead cheeses, batches tend to vary with the seasons. The best have a slightly sweet, nutty finish and just a hint of the grasses and wild shrubs that grow in the past is surrounding the farm.

Coffee

Nick provided the coffee it is Kenya Thagieni, Natural. This mixed natural process a lot from Kenya is sweet and packed full of fruit. With notes of cherry blackcurrant and toffee with a ruby grapefruit-like acidity on the finish.

Wine

Today’s entrée wines (no longer aperitif !!) were both international cool/cold climate whites. The 2016 Framingham Marlborough was another sweet Riesling. Last weeks was overly sweet and unbalanced. The same can be said of this wine. With some funky wild ferment notes, it perhaps didn’t have the structure or flavour to carry the sugar. On the other hand, the 2015 Timo Mayer Baden Riesling had many layers of flavour and texture. With attractive botrytis aromas to complement the lemon curd fruit it had an attractive dry finish. A good match for both entrées.

Four reds on the table again showed the diversity of Shiraz. The 2009 Guigal Crozes-Hermitage was fully ripe, yet not jammy. It showed the regional black pepper and spice aromas with mouthfeel, length and grippy tannins. The 2008 Seppelt Chalambar still carried a lot of oak which suppressed the fruit. High fruit and oak tannin took the wine out of balance.

Then followed a pair of 2002 McLaren Vale Shiraz. The Burton, while showing generous, ripe black fruits, was still impacted by a lot of oak. On the other hand, the Eileen Hardy was a wine of great poise. Perhaps past it’s best, it had a lovely roundness and elegance.