Food review by James Tinslay

James Hill, one of the Society’s favourite chefs, was in the kitchen once again. He was assisted by Paul Thorne and of course the wonderful crew in the REX kitchen.

We once again treated to the deeply flavoured duck consomme from Paul Thorne. This is been enjoyed at many lunches, but on this occasion, there was a twist. In the past, Paul had used orange zest to top the consommé but this but on this occasion, he transformed the zest into a liquid and when placed in an atomiser sprayed the orange zest liquid into the consomme cup. It was wonderfully luscious.

Next up from James were three types of sashimi, kingfish, tuna and Mount Cook salmon from NZ. All three were served on spoons with a dressing of pickled ginger and tamari. Comments were around freshness and zing.

Finally for starters was a stunning looking rice paper roll, which contained an amazing number of ingredients including pickled carrot, betel leaf, mint, coriander,  garlic chives, rice vermicelli, prawn, BBQ pork and Peking duck sauce. With rice paper being so see-through, it provides the opportunity to gaze at all the ingredients, especially the stunning view of the prawn against the rice paper. Speaking of rolling rice paper with its fragile nature, James was grateful for the assistance of the new REX manager, Kylie, who had spent ten years in Vietnam and was able to use her experience with Vietnamese food to assist prepare the rolls.

The rice paper rolls were delightful with a mixture of textures and flavours.

The main came to table and was exquisite to the eye. The protein on the plate was duck breast which had been seared and had developed a wonderful char on the skin. Accompanying the duck was a mould of rice, pickled red cabbage with ginger and chilli (topped with toasted sesame seeds) and Chinese broccoli (gai lan) with oyster sauce. The range of textures and colours received many favourable comments from the floor. An excellent dish.

James Healey was on cheese and provided us with Capitoul Tomme De Chevre Caprinelle. This goat cheese is typical of the cooked mountain cheeses of the Pyrenees that have been made for centuries. It is made only in small batches from fresh goats’ milk during Spring and Autumn when the goats can graze on the rich mountain pastures. It is quite rare and to ensure supply our provider places orders at least a year in advance. It showed a smooth nutty texture that had developed a slightly sweet caramel flavour. Some commentators picked it for Ossau Iraty.

The cheese was served with cut pears with an orange-based dressing.

Another wonderful lunch from James Hill.