Meal review by James Hill and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Mark Bradford was in the kitchen as Chef of the day for our second ‘cook off’ for Chef of The Year award. He was assisted by Denys Moore in reprising a Basque-themed meal.

Canapes

Our canapés were ‘pintxos’, which literally translates as a thorn or spike and these are small snacks typically eaten in bars in Northern Spain.

First up we’re ‘gildas’. These Basque tapas are named for a passionate beauty played by Rita Hayworth. Red and green peppers on pintxo are wrapped with anchovy and capped with green Spanish olive.

Then followed baked dates deseeded and stuffed with basil (homegrown), almond slices and maple syrup wrapped with bacon which were then placed in the oven for five minutes (Datiles Rellenos or devils on horseback!)

The canapés were bountiful with complex flavours and perfectly matched the canapé wine on offer.

There were many favourable comments from the floor on the canapé offering.

Main

Mark presented a meal today that showcased why he was chosen for the \Chef of The Year award cook-off. While some delay in plating and getting the meal to our tables, the meal appealed to all our senses, sight, aroma and lastly taste.

A lot of thought and preparation went into the meal with the presentation a key effort and would be similar to any fine diner in our city.

It was a Basque stew of rolled lamb shoulder trimmed, cubed and marinated overnight in Margan Hunter Semillon, garlic and rosemary. Braised then stewed for three hours with sweet paprika, roasted red capsicum strips, chopped deseeded tomatoes, parsley, bay leaf, chicken stock and Tempranillo. Little drops of yoghurt enhanced the flavour of the dish.

Served beside the lamb was turmeric and onion basmati rice topped with a pea and mint puree. It was garnished with fresh mint from Mark’s garden.

The meat was perfectly cooked moist and tender with a good flavour and texture and the right balance of paprika and seasoning.

Well done Mark.

Cheese

James Healey, in theme, provided a hard cow’s milk cheese from Menorca Spain ‘Merco Mahon Curado’.

Mahon’s rind is rubbed with olive oil and paprika which imparts a rusty-orange colour to the exterior. When mature the cheese maintains a milky flavour and characteristic tangy finish.

Mahon is the capital of the rocky island of Menorca, the most northerly of the Balearic Islands off the coast of Spain. Cheese has been made on the island since 3000 BC. Today, two ancient breeds of dairy cattle, red Menorquin and black/white spotted Frison, graze on dense island grass and are milked on small family ‘fincas’ or farms which total 600 on Menorca.

Traditionally, this cheese was bound in cloth before pressing which is still done on a small scale on the island. A larger proportion of production is now made in a more efficient modern way which uses square moulds instead. The result is a consistent cheese that captures the true essence of the original. The rind is still rubbed with olive oil and paprika which imparts a rusty-orange colour to the exterior.

The wheels are then ripened for a minimum of 6 months on wooden shelves. When mature or ‘curado’, the cheese maintains a milky character and has developed a nutty flavour and characteristic tangy finish.

Mark accompanied the cheese course with Iggy’s bread, crackers and blackberry jam.

Wine

We went from one extreme to the other in our last two lunches, with a packed-out room on the 14^th to a room with plenty of spare seats on the 21^st.

The pre-lunch wine was a Pikes Clare Valley Riesling 2010. I love Clare Rieslings. At first glance, I thought that as a just on 13 yo, it may have seen better days, but to my surprise, the wine was in excellent condition and drinking extremely well. Good acid/fruit balance, 12.5% and no sign of ageing. Overall a delicious aperitif.

Moving onto the next white wine which was served with the main course, we greeted a La Minaia Gavi from Italy. Vintage 2021 @13%. Not having tasted this wine before, I was in totally unfamiliar territory. Before writing this report I was forced to conduct some research via Jancis Robinson on this wine. She advises that the grape used to make Gavi is the Cortese grape grown mainly in the Piemonte region. She describes the wine as a renowned Italian dry white wine produced initially to accompany seafood. At its best, she says the wine is fresh and clean and highly regarded. Well, that is what she said. Personally, I found the wine to be very mouth-filling, fat, a tad unctuous, and a little too sweet for my taste. Perhaps the wine would have been better if served as an aperitif or with a white meat dish, but with the strongly flavoured lamb, it was out of place. So it goes.

Wine three was the ever-reliable Wynns Black Label Coonawarra Cabernet from 2015. This wine is a Society favourite and always presents well. 13.8%, well balanced, not too much assertive oak. Massive black Cabernet hue, but no real nose, at least none I could detect. I found the wine finished with a slightly flat aftertaste, hence my comment at the time, that I thought the wine was unexciting! Perhaps my palate had been knocked around by the Gavi!

Wine four was a Craiglee Sunbury Shiraz from 2013 at 13.5%. This is the second Craiglee wine we have had in recent times. More please. The Craiglee vineyard in Victoria was established over a hundred years ago, but like many Australian vineyards over the last century, fell into disuse for many years, only recommencing winemaking operations during the 1970s. Since then it has developed a solid reputation for top-class Shiraz. This wine was no exception, a delightful full-bodied wine, with well-integrated fruit/tannins and oak. Most enjoyable.

The final wine for the day was the very popular, but sadly very expensive Charlie Melton GSM from 2009, my favourite wine of the day. It had a lifted aroma of spiced fruits and a sophisticated intertwining of all three grapes producing a strongly flavoured wine but balanced with a lingering aftertaste. That’s what I call exciting. I was a bit surprised to hear our WineMaster express some negative comments, and I of course bow to his superior knowledge, with his expert palate possibly detecting some faults that bypassed me, however, that said, it was my pick of the litter.