Food review by Mark Bradford and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

With the expectation of another great meal from the Food Master and Chef of the Day, today’s attendance was high for the “er, what’s up doc” lunch, well guessed by most members as being rabbit.  Steve was assisted with canapes by Gary Linnane and James Healey.

Canapés

Three canapés were served today.  Gary and James started us off with tuna and anchovy butter on a RITZ cracker. So simple yet so tasty.

 For the second, Steve assembled a rabbit rillette on the day upon a simple cracker with caramelised onion jam.  This was made a few days prior by the COTD using the trimmings from the rabbit carcass including ribs, front legs etc. It was cooked for several hours at a low temperature with pork belly and various secret herbs and spices. Thanks Colonel Sparkes.  After cooling, it was all finely shredded by hand, thoroughly mixed, and left in the fridge to mature for a couple of days.

The final canapé was smoked oysters and mussels on a cream cheese cracker.  It was a long time for most members since smoked oysters and mussels from a tin were consumed.  Gary showed us why that trend should end.  Delightful.

Comments were encouraging on the canapés, and they were a good match with the aperitif wines.

Main

Steve served us a ballotine of wild Australian rabbit sourced from Australian Meats in Adelaide.  This is a protein seldom seen by the members on Tuesdays, and there should be more of it.  Just to while away the hours, our CODY deboned no less than 14 rabbits!

The main portions of leg and saddle were laid out on a bed of prosciutto, painted with peppered Dijon mustard, and topped with spinach leaves.  A stuffing of ricotta, shallots, garlic and assorted fresh herbs was piped onto the base and then sprinkled with an Australian dukkha mix.  This was all rolled up very tightly into a roll with cling wrap and then vacuum sealed.  The rabbit had been brined for about 6 hours prior.  The ballotine were left to set overnight in the fridge.  On the morning of the lunch, the rabbit was cooked sous vide at 60 C for a couple of hours, transported and then held at 60 C in the kitchen.

Garnishes included a potato pave, roasted carrots and caulilini, along with some nuts and grapes for texture.  The gravy was made from the rest of the rabbit scraps and bones which were roasted with carrots, onion and celery and then simmered very slowly in good chicken stock for many hours to reduce and intensify.  It was finished with butter and some Kuzu flour to thicken.

All comments attested to the quality of the course and especially the very considerable work that went into preparing it, although some members thought it to be a little too salty. When it comes to seasoning, it is impossible to please everyone.

Bread was a sourdough from Bourke Street Bakery.

Cheese

The Cheese Master selected Riverine Blue from Berry’s Creek Gourmet Cheese, located in southern Gippsland.  This is a blue buffalo milk artisan cheese, the only one in Australia and claimed to be one of only such cheeses in the world.  The strikingly white, creamy milk comes from a modest herd of Riverine Buffalo that graze nearby. After the curds are set, they are placed in moulds to drain before spending two month’s ripening in specially built maturation rooms overlooking Wilson’s Promontory.  It has a complex savoury flavour, and the smooth, firm texture and blue-green ribbons provide pockets of delicious salty blue flavour within the porcelain paste.  Today’s chef accompanied the cheese with a mixed leaf salad dressed with olive oil and raspberry vinegar along with an apple and raisin relish (originally made for the rillette!).  Comments from the floor on the cheese course were very encouraging.

Wine

With Steve Sparkes cooking, the mob will always turn up. 41 for today, a very good number for a non-wine tasting lunch. Our high expectations were rewarded by a first-rate lunch in all respects from pass-arounds to the cheese. Well done Steve, you are a class act. See the food report for more detail.

We started off with a pair of Society favourites, the Tyrrells HVD Sem from 2014, followed by another HVD from 2006. Now at 10 yo the first wine was at 10.5%, pristine clean, gleaming pale straw. Terrific fruit on the palate, with hints of citrus. My only adverse comment was that I found the wine noticeably acidic on the finish, but otherwise a lovely wine, bravo vintage 2014!

The second wine was all of the above but without the high acid. This 18 yo Sem is a fitting monument to Tyrrells winemaking skills with this grape variety and to the Hunter Valley being able to produce such a magnificent white wine. I think the general feeling around the room was how fortunate we were in sharing these great wines, with the 2006 finishing just ahead in quality terms.

Poor old wine 3 came in, the Drumborg Chardy “batting after Bradman“ as the old saying goes. Here we had the proverbial Plain Jane following straight after the dazzling twins from the Hunter. Hard to readjust one’s tastebuds. I think the wine was quite sound, a drinkable commercial Chardy, very mouth filling, 12%, but possibly a bit fat and flabby. Not in the same league as the Drumborg Riesling. I have no problem with our Society putting on wines like this, it helps in the broad understanding of what are acceptable wines in comparison to high-quality wines.

Wine 4 was the NZ Pinot Greywacke 2015 13.5% from Marlborough. I really liked this wine. Medium weight, great Pinot flavours of cherry and raspberry. Clean finish. Most enjoyable.

Wine 5 was the 2013 Yabby Lake Chardy from Mornington 12%. Rich, opulent, seductive. In my view getting close to the great Giaconda. Subtle and exquisite fruit with a lingering finish. Cannot believe my glass went so quickly. I must have been short-shared! A wine to be consumed beside a stream on a warm day with a ripe peach with a friend.

The final wine for the day was another Society favourite the Tyrrells 2014 Stevens Shiraz.  Bruce Tyrrell considered Neil Stevens vineyard to be the best in the Hunter, and it was with great joy that Tyrrells acquired the vineyard some years ago. This vineyard contained some of the Hunter’s oldest vines. This particular wine came from the fabulous 2014 vintage and drank superbly. 13.8%, great balance between fruit, oak and tannin. Wonderful finish.  No hint of ageing, love to see it again in 5 years.

We also had two Italian wines spread around the room, which I have not reviewed, ours was a delightful 2016 Dolcetto which we have seen before, and the other was I think, a Barbera d’Alba 2017 which we also have had before.

We are fortunate to have enjoyed such a quality afternoon. The WFS is the place to be!