James Hill is a prolific and persistent contributor to the Society in all areas, but particularly in cooking. As had been his custom, he kicked off this year’s lunches as our first Chef of the Day.

And what a lunch it was!

A Government-mandated restriction reduced the number of members attending. The lucky ones started with a trio of appetisers with ingredients chosen for their seasonality. First, there was a perfectly ripe peach wrapped simply in bresaola. When the fruit is this perfect, there is no need to embellish. Sweetcorn was also in season so James treated us to a sweetcorn and basil soup created using a recipe from the former top Sydney restaurant, Banc. The third appetiser was a delicious chicken and pistachio terrine served in the conventional manner with cornichons.

While the appetisers were delicious, it was the main course that proved to be the pièce de la résistance. James served us a modern Greek deconstructed version of moussaka from a recipe by Peter Conistis. Seared sea scallops and fried red capsicum were stacked within fried slices of eggplant on a bed of creamy taramasalata. The latter was made by James’ assistant for the day, our Foodmaster Bill Alexiou-Hucker. The moussaka was ringed by two different types of fish roe, resulting in a treat for the eyes as well as the palate.

James Healey sourced a Red Jensen Cheese, which had a very strong umami note. James Hill presented this with a simple salad and some seasonal baby pears that he spied at his fruiterer.

The food was enthusiastically received and praised.

The coffee was Calibrate Coffee White Blend. This is a mix of Brazil Fazenda Imperio, Ethiopia Yirgacheffe, and Java Jampit 1X. The coffee was well received and is being adopted as our house blend for the time being.

Our latest octogenarian, Mike Staniland, augmented the wine selection with a delicious Rutherglen Muscat, one of Australia’s great wine treasures. Happy birthday Mike.

In our first meal of the year, James has set a very high standard to which our Chefs of the Day can aspire. It was an ideal way to kick off the year.