Memories were racked and opinions divided, but the consensus was that Gareth Evans and Ted Davis had turned on the first tapas lunch at the Society in living memory.

We entered the ring with a superb bacalao (salted cod) fried ball with aeoli dressing; crunchy on top, melted salt fish mash with potato inside. Equally authentic, a baked baby mushroom stuffed with tomato spice and chopped chorizo. Both well matched by a 2011 Red Robin Clare riesling with quality fruit and plenty of floral nose, ending with good acid but a bit lacking on the finish; one for current drinking.

And so to the main event of a series of tapas dishes, featuring:

Casseroled rabbit in a white wine and grape sauce, a bit dry but great flavour and who can criticise the depletion of this species which this dish helped along;

A crunchy peasant toasted bread dish featuring a terrific black pudding of soft texture and rich but mild flavour;

More beans in a tomato ( fresh) sauce with sautéed tripe, soft and elastic but with surprising flavour;

White beans in a cream sauce with chunks of full but mild pork and garlic sausage and braised fennel to add more flavour; and

Pan fried okra, soft but chewy with loads of soft gummy flavour.

It was a no bull meal (ouch!) but a total win for the toreadors. The food was matched with a 2007 Rioja (tempranillo) from Valdespino, nice nose and dry tannins with fruit to balance the spread of flavours; and a Valdespino Deliciosa manzanilla sherry from (where else?), a brilliant example of the style with a nose that went on forever with iodine sea characters and a fine dry palate which went well with the rabbit and the white beans.

A pasa doble with the cheese, an aged manchego sheep's milk cheese with typical slightly oily texture but a great nutty flavour and a clean cutting finish; well matched by a simple green salad of iceberg lettuce and a tart but not intrusive vinaigrette. We went OTT with the wines from the Barossa: a huge, sweet ripe and unsubtle 2004 Elderton Ashmead shiraz (14.5%) and a big but more balanced and elegant Saltram Mamre Brook shiraz, also Barossa and also 2004.

To finish, we enjoyed a repeat of last week's coffee; a medium roast bean from Panama, full in the mouth but long and pleasantly citrus on the finish. Top coffee, sadly out of stock for the time being.