Food review by James Hill and wine review by James Tinslay

Food

Greg Sproule former Food Master was in the kitchen today allegedly preparing a meal of (allegedly) Persian Lamb.

Greg told us his inspiration came from some young Persian people who he had met recently. He was interested in their food and culture.

They help source the ingredients and recipe for today’s lunch.

Canapés

First up some Dolmas – vine-wrapped rice, beef spiced with cinnamon, cloves and lemon juice (note Persian/ Iranian variation of this dish is square wraps with beef added) all the flavour was there, the vine leaves needed some steaming to make it easier to bite into as they were quite chewy and very moist.

Then some chicken kababs – Greek yogurt, saffron, lime, lemon and onion chicken skewers again flavoursome however a tad dry.

Main

Greg arrived for prep at 12:35 pm which made things a little hectic in the kitchen. All the ingredients were but there they just needed to be put together.

President Bill Alexiou rolled his sleeves up and directed the proceedings. It was Amosh’s first lunch as Head Chef and they did a great job getting the food out albeit later than usual. This dish should have come with a content warning as small sour cherries were used unfortunately, as some found out, still seeded.

Persian jewelled rice – cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, apricots, pistachio, onion, saffron

Khoresht e Ghormeh Sabzi – (King of Persian cuisine) – Beef, onion, leek, parsley, cilantro, fenugreek, lime turmeric

Fesenjam – (Queen of Persian cuisine) – Duck, walnuts ground, pomegranate molasses, cinnamon, onion, pomegranate seeds.

The flavours and aroma were authentic it came together with a blending of fresh and dried ingredients to create the dish.

Cheese

Our cheese master Mark Bradford sourced some Persian feta from the Yarra Valley.

Fetta cheese made with pasteurised cow’s milk, salt, canola oil, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, thyme, peppercorns and bay Leaves.

Greg accompanied the cheese with almonds, dates, apricots, pistachio mixture and a

Shirazi Salad – Cucumber, Lettuce, Tomato

Bread today was sourdough from a humble bakery Circular Quay.

Wine

Having written well over 200 wine and food reviews for Society lunches I am somewhat reticent to get back on the treadmill. However, our friend Stephen O’Halloran was unavailable for lunch, so you have my review.

You will see that my review misses the entertaining comments, his research and ‘taking the piss’ approach that Stephen does so well and is much appreciated by members. His entertaining style of writing is a bit weird for a lawyer but then again, I’m a boring engineer! Thank you, Stephen.

As has been happening most weeks Nick our Winemaster is clearing the wine fridge at REX of orphan wines of which we have many. So, only those wines that all tables had will be mentioned.

We had two main wines with canapés. We started with the Günther Steinmetz Kestener Herrenberg Riesling 2011. This German Mosel wine of 13 years of age was more than interesting with solid Riesling fruit on the palate with a slight touch of residual sugar despite being predominantly dry in style. Very German. It had developed a degree of complexity over the years and was most enjoyable.

The second wine was Tyrrell’s HVD Semillon 2014. This wine was enjoyed around the room with the canapés, and it ticked all the boxes for a 10-year-old Semillon from Tyrrell’s. It has a future, and we hope to see it again.

The first of two wines shared by all at table (as I recall) was Curly Flat Pinot Noir 2016 from the Macedon ranges. Their wines have a very good reputation and are not priced for the bargain bin. The meniscus was quite brown, and the nose was mature. Surprisingly, I found this wine past its best. Unbalanced with some sweetness the major component. It improved marginally in the glass. Others like that old over-mature style.

The second was the Seppelt Drumborg Riesling also 2016. This wine had everything you wanted in a Riesling, dry, with good acid balance and obvious Riesling character.