Food review by Nick Reynolds and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

Nigel Burton was the first contender for Chef of the Year to present his dish for consideration. Ambitiously, he presented this dish to an almost full house of 47 attendees.

As usual, Nigel encouraged members who do not normally cook to each present an appetiser. Today we had dishes from Greg Brunner, Frank Liebeskind, and Greg Chugg.
Greg Brunner served smoked Mackerel on toasted sourdough. This was made up of cold-smoked mackerel with yuzu kosho, mirin, light soy, sesame oil and chopped chives served on toasted sourdough with Kewpie mayonnaise, Nori, and Yarra Valley salmon caviar. As can be seen from the picture, it was a panoply of colour, texture, and flavour.

Frank Liebeskind’s canapé was Eggplant roasted with S&B Japanese Curry. He blended this into a paté, folded in finely chopped shallots and served this on organic brown rice crackers. This was topped with Japanese pickled radish, pickled ginger and a sliver of nori.

Greg Chugg served a Bloody Mary inspired canapé with the traditional celery swizzle stick replaced with pickled daikon, and Worcestershire sauce largely replaced with ponzu citrus sauce. Rather than standard black pepper he used native bush pepper as well as 6 limes off his own tree.

Greg asked me to assist in adding Tabasco to the mixture and an appropriate level was achieved. Some members thought it was too hot but, as you will find out in the next paragraph, the chilli heat was augmented by something of an alcohol burn.

Economics, maths, and mixology combined to give the following calculation (provided by Greg). 37.5% of the liquid was made up of alcoholic beverage. Of this, roughly 40% was Japanese Shochu (which is made from sweet potato and is 25% alcohol), 10% 42 Below Feijoa Vodka (42%), 25% Suntory Plum Liqueur Whisky Blend (20%) and 25% San Baltazar Alipus Mezcal (47.5%). All together an average 31% alcohol by volume mixed spirit. Together with the tomato juice, Greg calculated, this yielded an 11.65% beverage. The perfect level for a wine lunch!

Now onto Nigel’s main course.

He gave us a reprise of his version of Nobu Matsuhisa’s miso-marinated cod.

Marinating in saké lees has been an age-old tradition in Japan, but it was top Japanese-Peruvian chef Nobu who added Mirin and Miso to the sake for the marinade.

The fish used this time was Arctic cod, also known as sablefish, from Alaskan waters.

The cod was marinated in the fridge for two days with the above ingredients and a little additional sugar.

The fish was fried on the skin side and finished off in the oven. It was served sprinkled with dried seaweed and accompanied by black rice, pickled ginger, bok choi, edamame and drizzled with Indonesian sweet soy sauce (Kecap Manis). The dish was topped with a sauce around the side of the fish made up from the same ingredients used for the marinade but without the sugar.

Japanese cooking is as much about presentation as anything else. The dish showed an array of colours and was well presented.

Cooking fish for 47 people is a difficult task compounded by the number of elements that needed to be carefully plated. Nigel and the kitchen team achieved this very well, although there was some variance in thickness of the fish which led to a few individuals not having as flaky and oily fish as others in the room. As a whole, the dish was very well received by members with the dish showing a good mixture of different textures and flavours.

Nigel showed great skill in taking what is typically a shared appetiser and converting it into a satisfying and well-presented main course.

Today’s bread was cut from the large ring from Raffaels’ Bakery in Haberfield.

Our cheese today was sourced by Mark Bradford. It was a Le Conquérant Artisan Grand Camembert cheese from Normandy imported by Will Studd.
Regional milk and the natural ripening process ensure the distinctive flavour and aroma development of real Camembert.
This traditional surface ripened cheese is handmade to an authentic Camembert recipe in Normandy, France. The unique milk of the Normande cows of the Pays d’Auge region and the natural ripening process of the surface moulds ensure the distinctive flavour and aroma development of real Camembert.
The popular box and wax paper wrap create a microclimate that encourages the chalky heart of a young cheese to slowly break down over three to four weeks to a soft and fudgy texture. As the cheese matures, it develops the distinct rounded grassy flavours and famous brassica aroma that make this original cheese so distinct.
While today’s cheese was soft and fudgy, it unfortunately also had the ammoniated smell that we’ve seen several times over the past few years in imported camemberts. As with all strong aromas, including on wine, there was variability in response to the cheese.
Nigel served the cheese with a plate of blanched spinach dressed in a savoury nutty sesame sauce (Gomaae), in line with the Japanese theme of today’s lunch.

Wine

I walked through the door at 12.45 pm and paid the price of not being on the starting grid at 12.30 pm. As a consequence, I was not able to taste any of the Fraser Gallop wine and had to contend myself with a small glass of the Montgomery Hill Chardonnay 2010 12%. I enjoyed the wine very much even though my sample was small. For a 14yo Chardy, the wine was drinking very well. No sign of ageing, well balanced, great fruit and just enough acid left to carry it through. An excellent choice, hope we have some left.

The first wine for the luncheon was a Yalumba Viognier, the “Virgilius” from 2021 at 13%. I noticed on the label that Yalumba had now promoted this wine to the rank of their Premier White Wine, a position I would have thought, had been occupied by their Pewsey Vale Contours Riesling. Louise Rose is an outstanding winemaker and one must respect her judgement, but still, I am a little surprised as for me, I would much prefer a glass of the Contours to a glass of the Virgilius. The Viognier was a big, mouth-filling wine with lashings of stone fruit taste. A grape that hails from the Northern Rhone district along with Roussanne and Marsanne. These wines have a distinctly similar mouthfeel, rich and voluptuous, indeed a little too full-bodied and viscous. You have a glass and that’s enough thank you, please pass the Riesling! As you may infer I am not a fan of Viognier, either locally grown or from the Rhone.

The next wine was a Sake, the Junmai Daiginjo 15% which we enjoyed last year also with a fish dish by Nigel Burton. This wine again proved to be an excellent match with the cod we enjoyed. Clean with a crisp finish. It is a wine so removed from what we are used to drink I find it hard to describe. Whatever wine tasting terminology one may use, the sake was a winner with the strongly flavoured fish we had. A good choice, inspired.

The third luncheon wine was a Dolcetto d’Alba 13% from vintage 2020. The “Sweet little one“ as it is known in Italy. Made from the Dolcetto grape, the wine is light in texture, quite tannic, yet unobtrusive, a good food wine. Nothing too serious, a wine just made for consumption with a Pizza with extra anchovy. Enjoyable, without demanding attention.

The final wine was a wine which in my view did demand attention, the Hewitson l’Oizeau Shiraz from 1998 14%. Note that this wine is now 26 yo and naturally showing some signs of age, but that said drinking beautifully. Made from some very old vines around Tanunda SA, The winemaker Dean Hewitson has crafted together a great example of Barossa Shiraz which has stood the test of time. Spicy and peppery, great fruit with some residual tannin, and a little browning around the rim, but still the wine was in great shape. I hope we have a few left.