6 March 2018 - CoTD Steve Liebeskind

Back in to the Chef of The Year cook-off maelstrom today with Steve Liebeskind and cook-off number 4 being assisted by David Simmons.

Canapés. Two tasty starters today, the first being, beetroot relish topped with half an oven baked cherry tomato and a sprinkling of sumac. It was much liked. The other starter was a mixture of tuna, beans, anchovies, lemon juice and thyme on a toasted bread round. Also flavoursome.

Aperitif wine. Most members today had the opportunity to try two aperitif wines being the Philip Shaw Chardonnay 2010 (Orange district) and the Tyrrells Belford Chardonnay 2012. The Orange wine was a little sloppy with overworked wood, which at 8 years of age had begun to overwhelm the wine. The Tyrrells on the other hand was the wine preferred by most with oak also very evident but with enough acid and fruit to provide a balanced experience. The Belford is not a Vat 47 and needs to be consumed.

Main Course. Steve was recreating the dish that saw him selected to enter the cook-offs, rack of lamb. The lamb had been smoked and marinated for 24 hours and did not lack flavour. It was simply served on mash with asparagus, char grilled cauliflower and zucchini is in a tarragon, honey, marmalade and mustard seeds sauce. There was good contrast colour and texture, in particular the cauliflower which was the highlight of the vegetables. Some comments from members thought that the lamb was not as tender as it could be and with our steak knives hiding themselves somewhere in the building, there was a bit more work involved to cut the meat. The thinly sliced zucchini had a beautiful complementary role with the honey and marmalade, providing additional sweetness.

The Wines.

• Chateau Lanessan 2005 (cork, 13%)
• Taylors Jaraman Cabernet 2005 (screwcap, 14.5%)
• Lowe Block 5 Shiraz 2009 (cork, 14%)
• Lindemans Bin 1003 Shiraz 2010 (screwcap, 13%)

The main course wines pitted a left bank Bordeaux from the great 2005 vintage with the same vintage of a Clare wine from Taylors. Two Cabernets could not be more different. Both wines played to their origin with the Lanessan a good average non-classified wine with a dusty European finish. Some detected Brett, an observation which always has the potential to throw up arguments for how much is too much. The Taylors wine was very fresh under screwcap and was distinctly sweeter in the larger Australian style. The French wine was preferred.

The cheese wines saw quite a large Mudgee wine against elegant Lindeman’s Hunter Valley “Burgundy” style wine. The Lowe wine was well made but lacked the elegance of the Lindemans wine which is drinking particularly well despite it being only 8 years of age. The Lindemans was the favourite of the lunch for a number who spoke to the wines.

Cheese and coffee. For our fromage this week, James Healey provided us with Taleggio. This Lombardi sourced cow’s milk cheese was wonderfully ripe with the external mould showing well in the photograph above. This was a first-class cheese, mild and delicate with its creamy texture melting in the mouth. A wonderful cheese.

Coffee this week selected by Spencer Ferrier was Kenya Karogoto AA from a cooperative in Kenya. We have had this copy coffee before and it has always been well liked and today represented a fresh import batch which had only recently arrived at Forsythe coffee.

Two more Chef of the Year cook-offs left, be sure not to miss them.

27 February 2018 - CoTD - Gary Patterson

Gary Patterson was in the kitchen today for the February wine luncheon celebrating the 97^th anniversary of the foundation of the International Working Union of Socialist Parties. It was really just a front to ensure that we could identify and eliminate any commies in the room. Gary was assisted by Matthew Holmes despite stories Matthew heard about the excitement of cooking with Gary.

Canapés. Gary had promised us a complete seafood menu and he came good on his commitment. The sashimi tuna was very fresh and its intense colour was a stand out. What grabbed the attention of members on the day were the crab cakes which were described as fabulous and for some the highlight of the meal. A great start.

Aperitif wine. Our Winemaster started us off with the New Zealand Framingham Dry Riesling 2006 under screwcap. Framingham is arguably New Zealand’s top producer of Riesling with a range of styles loosely modelled on Germanic styles. I thought a fantastic wine but clearly there were others who found the residual sugar not to their liking and others who just found the wine boring. For many, the 12-year-old dry Riesling was a wonderful way to start the day.

Main Course. To those who have been to meals before cooked by Gary you can see the style. He likes to accompany his main portions with salads or similar to produce light fresh dishes. Today we had a salad with individual seafood terrines. Gary made a point of saying that he had used whole pieces of seafood in each terrine preferring this over pureeing. The resulting texture was excellent. Whole pieces of French sourced scallops provided a beautiful plump centrepoint for the dish which was accompanied by king prawns from the Gulf and salmon supplied by Tassell. He had sourced all the seafood from a local wholesale outlet avoiding retail to ensure quality. The image above is unclear but the salad was lettuce, mushroom and tomato on a yolk-based sauce. A wonderful dish.

The Wines.

• By Farr Char Three Oaks Vineyard 2015 (screwcap, 13%)
• William Fevre Chablis Premier Cru Fourchaume 2010 (cork, 13%)
• Vincent Girardin Meursault 2012 (cork, 13%)
• Hugel Jubilee Riesling 2009 (cork, 12%)
• Lindemans Pyrus 1998 (cork, 13%)
• Lindemans Pyrus 2008 (screwcap, 13.2%)

A great collection of wines which was preceded by the birthday wine from Ross Tzannes, a wonderful Remoissenet Chassagne -Montrachet 2014, a simply delicious wine and a generous gift from Ross. Thank you.

The By Farr 2015 wine was a very well-made wine but was in the shadow of the complexity of the other white Burgundies. It is still young, and some found it a little over oaked although that was not a universal view. The Premier Cru Chablis at 8 years of age still had some lemon complexity and minerality and was ready to drink. Some thought it a wine of the day.

Next came the Girardin Meursault wine which had beautiful stone fruit richness and again the minerality one expects of Burgundy. It was quite a contrast to the Chablis and drinking beautifully. Last of the whites was the Hugel Jubilee Riesling from 2009. This wine was not a match with the other whites but was an excellent Alsace Riesling with less than 4 g/L of residual sugar. The acid and the sweet fruit (thought dry) made for a stunning wine that in isolation with the seafood would have gained a higher rating with many of those at lunch.

We finished with the two Pyrus wines from 1998 and 2008. Surprisingly, the hue and colour of the wines were not dissimilar. On the palate obviously the 1998 was more aged with most thinking it was in excellent condition for a 20-year-old wine whilst others thought it was past its prime. The 2008 was still very fresh at 10 years of age and was definitely showing its regional origin. Fresh, somewhat simple but very drinkable.

Cheese and coffee. The Cheesemaster served us a El Esparto Manchego Artesno (see image of the beautiful looking packaging) from the Will Studd collection. James has been buying from Will Studd for a while. They are a Melbourne-based wholesaler. It would be simplifying Manchego to say that they all tasted the same. This had quite a different coloured rind and was a dryer style of Manchego with some comments I heard suggesting it was too dry.

Spencer Ferrier had selected a Mexican peaberry coffee bean at the behest of Gary Patterson and it was interesting in so far that it was a change from recent coffees. The dosage was apparently the same, but it is a lighter flavoured more acidic coffee which I found to be a little on the bland side.

President Keith Steele closed the lunch noting the numerous stories that existed about those who had cooked over the years with Gary in the kitchen. The good news is that Gary can laugh along with us on these incidences and it doesn’t gloss over the fact that Gary always turns out a good meal despite the path that may have got him and his assistants over the line.

20 February 2018 - CoTD Nigel Burton

Nigel Burton was in the kitchen this week for the second cookoff for the Chef of the Year from those outstanding dishes from 2017. Nigel was assisted on the canapés by his usual cooking partner, Hilton Chapman.

We also had a guest today in the form of Ian Mackie and owner of a coffee plantation in northern Queensland who was donating the coffee but more of that later.

Canapés. Hilton provided us with two canapés to start the lunch. I no particular order we’ll start with hummus topped with scotch bonnet chilli slices. This was followed by baba ghanoush topped with with lemon thyme. I believe that Hilton hand made every ingredient and that the toppings were all from his home garden. So many positive comments were made about these two canapés that for a moment you could be forgiven into thinking that Hilton was cooking for Chef of the Year! The images are above, and the presentation excelled.

Aperitif wine. The chef of the day requested a Semillon and that was what he received. In this case it was a Keith Tulloch Semillon 2010 under screwcap. This wine at 8 years of age had a becoming balance of fruit and acid. There was a touch of residual sugar, but quite low, and the wine was probably drinking at its peak. It is a wine to enjoy now and in the short term, not of the style to go another 10 years.

Main course. Most dishes can be divided into components so let’s start with the duck breast. These had been sous vide and then rendered. The duck meat was just cooked, with a touch of pink near the skin and juicy and tender as duck should be. The accompanying vegetable mix included, shiitake mushrooms, snow peas and bok choy. This vegetable mix caused consternation for some and there were comments about to salty or too sweet. The oyster sauce may have been responsible for either/or those characteristics. Mango was served as a side piece, the sweetness working well. The pièce de résistance were the duck fat potatoes (skilfully cut by Hilton we were told) which were cooked in the produce of the rendering. To die for, was heard a few times.

The Wines.

• Cloudy Bay Pinot Noir 2007 (screwcap, 14%)
• Clerget Bourgogne 2014 (cork, 12.5%)
• Soumah Chardonnay (Yarra) 2013 (screwcap, 12.7%)
• Burton Reserve McLaren Shiraz 2002 (cork, 14%)
• Burton McLaren Shiraz 2002 (cork, 14%)

Being duck, there was Pinot Noir. Contrast is good and that is what our Winemaster managed to do today. Seven years apart and certainly a contrast in style. The New Zealand wine was well made in the larger New World style and comments were made about the sweetness and higher alcohol. The Burgundy (1.5% less then the NZ wine) was, as expected, lighter but had a certain elegance and dryness that stamped its origin. Despite its relative low level on the food chain it needed time to settle down and will improve over the short term.

Once again, we had a white wine and red wine with the cheese. The Yarra Chardonnay was a real hit with many in matching the cheese. Some could argue that it was a bit overpowering with its use of oak but on warming up and some oxygen exposure it became more balanced. The Burton wines were of course liked as it is a style that members know and like. At 16 years of age both the reserve and the standard version were holding up well and there was not much between them. Both in excellent condition

Cheese and coffee. The cheese presented by James Healey today was Marquis Brie de Rambouillet from Île-de-France, a region that includes Paris. This pasteurised cows’ milk cheese is soft with a surface mould and breaks down to become quite gooey with a wonderful fungal aroma and barnyard tastes. Stunning fromage.

Spencer Ferrier introduced Ian Mackie the owner of the Dimbulah brand coffee grown in northern Queensland. The coffee is designed for espresso and is sold only in Singapore through a chain of outlets owned by the company. Ian is a friend of Matthew Holmes and James Hill and hence his presence at the lunch. Ian gave an interesting commentary on the company which through 11 shops in Singapore sells approximately 5000 cups a day. The company is 100% vertically integrated and the fruit comes from 33 ha of trees.

Whilst we enjoyed the coffee that day via plunger, Spencer was darting around the room letting us try the coffee made by the REX espresso machine to give us an idea of the difference. An interesting lesson on coffee and thank you Ian for the donation.

The VP, Peter Kelso, in the chair today closed the lunch and thanked Nigel and Hilton for a great lunch.

13 February 2018 - CoTD Bill Alexiou-Hucker

It’s that time of year again when we get to review the best efforts of Chefs of the Day from 2017. Kicking off the cook-offs this year was Bill Alexiou-Hucker, a member not unfamiliar with this territory. Members responded heartily by presenting themselves in good numbers. He was again assisted by the canape masters, Peter Squires and Peter Manners.

Canapés. Bill provided us with two canapés to start the day. First off was cucumber served with fetta, sun-dried tomatoes and olives. Very refreshing. Next up was what could be described as lamb rolls which were simply (delicious) filo pastry enclosed with lamb and hummus. These were given a good dunking of real butter, and then baked in the oven until golden brown. Butter, lamb and filo pastry, what’s not to like?

Aperitif wine. With Bill in the kitchen, what better opportunity to show off some good quality Greek white wine. The Gaia Assyrtiko 2012 may not be a grape everybody is overly familiar with, but it is a well-known and widely grown white grape in Greece. This grape is a native of the island of Santorini but is grown elsewhere. This particular example from Santorini was wild fermented and was bone dry with a minerality that made it perfect for the exercise today.

Main course. Bill recreated his beef cheek dish from 2017. It was simply served on mashed potato with beans and carrots with a deeply reduced beef cheek jus. Beef cheeks can be cooked in any number of ways, all slow cooked. These beef cheeks were of the sturdier style. Not exactly falling apart but very tender. Some comments thought that they were a little too gelatinous and that further cooking may have broken down the fat content further to make them less fatty. Nevertheless, beef cheeks are fatty. And that’s why they are so much loved by all meat eaters.

The Wines.

• Rosemount (clean skin) Balmoral Shiraz 2007 (cork)
• Alvaro Castro Dão 2009 (cork)
• Lindemans Bin 1100 Reserve Shiraz 2011 (screwcap)
• Terre a Terre Cabernet Franc 2014 (Piccadilly Valley) (screwcap)

Paul Ferman served us three Australian wines and one Portuguese. To go with the rich main course, Paul had the 10-year-old Rosemount against the Portuguese Dão wine (Dão being a region) largely made from Touriga Nacional. It was spicy with black cherry and herbal overtones. The Touriga grape is being used in Australia by number of growers, notably SC Pannell. The Australian wine was very typically so, soft and approachable at that age. It was at its peak but could sit there for many years to come.

The cheese wines pitted the classic Lindeman’s Hunter Valley Shiraz against the young and fresh Cabernet Franc from Piccadilly. The Lindemans fitted the mold. The Terre a Terre wine was floral and soft and tasted like an elegant interpretation of a Bordeaux.

Cheese and coffee. Cheese today was Perenzin di Capra al Foglia di Noce, a goats’ milk cheese from Veneto. A semi-hard cheese that comes wrapped in walnut leaves it is wonderfully savory with definite walnut influences.

Coffee from Spencer Ferrier, was New Guinea Pearl/Blue Mountain. Soft with abundant fruity character it was a good foil for the cheese and Bill’s finishing touches. These were sweet figs in syrup, Greek Delights with ouzo infusion and Mastika gum flavoured liqueur.

Another excellent lunch from Bill and his team with sideline support from his table of mates.

6 February 2018 - CoTD James Hill

James Hill used his lunch to remind us of our deceased friend and member Graham Fear shown here as joint-winner with Steve Liebeskind at the 2017 Chef of the Year dinner

Today was the kick-off lunch for what we hope is going to be a very successful 2018 for your Society. James Hill, was in the kitchen and he was assisted by member Gary Linnane and a friend from Melbourne, Michael Morris. I fact Michael did a sterling job spending two hours separating the coriander and basil leaves from the stems for service. We need more guests like Michael. 

James had more recently planned this lunch in acknowledgement of our recently deceased member Graham Fear AM. James had sourced muntries from Graham's nephew who grows them in Victoria. Known as emu apples, beach berries or native cranberries, muntries are a low growing shrub found on the south coast of Australia. They popped up in the canapes and the main. Michael Morris bought them to Sydney for the lunch.

Canapés. Two canapés started the day. In no particular order, we had smoked trout meticulously stripped from the bones before lunch and added to muntries and served on a wafer. The other was a duck and lychee salad served on a spoon which also had the beach berries as well as roasted peanuts and other ingredients. Both canapés were excellent.

Aperitif wine. Our Winemaster had taken the final bottles of Tyrrells Vat 1 Semillon 2001 from our cellar to serve on the day. The 2001 was one of the last Vat 1’s wines under cork and some variation was expected and we were not wrong. However, other than a few dodgy bottles, the remainder were remarkably fresh, and one wonders what they would have been like at 17 years of age had they been under screwcap. At its best, it is a very good wine showing good acid and mature fruit.

Main course. James served soy and Shiraz poached beef fillets with crispy fried shallots on an Asian salad. The beef had been beautifully cooked rare the day before and left chilling overnight with the soy and Shiraz. Above you will see a photograph of James’s assistant, Michael, with the beef fillets. The meal looked good on the plate and followed up by tasting even better. Some comments were made about preferring a little bit more spice/heat in the dish but I thought it was about right especially for the wine. Salads are always a little controversial with our members, but James nailed this.

The Wines.

• Shiraz by Farr 2011 (cork)
• Anne Gros & Jean-Paul Tollet La Ciaude Minervois 2012 (cork)
• Woodlands Margaret Cabernet blend 2008 (screwcap)
• Fontodi Chianti Classico 2011 (cork)

An interesting selection of wines put on by Paul Ferman. Farr wines have an excellent reputation, so the 2011 Shiraz was somewhat of a letdown. A full-bodied wine, too fleshy and obvious hot stewed characteristics made it not particularly enjoyable. The Minervois (Anne Gros is Burgundy royalty) was a wonderful Languedoc wine made from Carignan, Grenache and a few other grapes such as Syrah. Beautifully balanced with soft fruit it was by far (no pun intended) the better of the two.

With the cheese, again, we had two very different styles of wine. The top-of-the-line Woodlands Margaret is a fine wine. It was bright, very clean and whilst not over un-oaked there was certainly the remnants of new oak still evident. The Chianti was in excellent condition. The savoury nose and palate of the Sangiovese fruit was evident and for some, including myself, it was the wine of the day.

Cheese and coffee. Cheese today was presented by Gary Linnane and he served one of Australia’s finest with Pyengana cheddar from Tasmania. Apparently, Pyengana has recently been impossible or almost impossible to buy for reasons that are not clear. This cheese comes in a few forms mainly relating to the ageing at the farmhouse where it is made and today we had one with less age which meant it was still quite firm and not a sharp as the more aged examples become. A wonderful cheese.

Coffee from Spencer Ferrier, was Agung Agung from Bali and is commonly called God’s Cheese. This is an excellent medium bodied coffee that members should seek out for home.

Our President, Keith Steele, celebrated his birthday today and plied us with some Portuguese ruby port, which was deliciously soft and much enjoyed.

The tradition of the Wine and Food Society is to remember our recently deceased members with Green Chartreuse and we did so in honour of Graham Fear AM and Michael Hobbs who also passed away the previous week.

The lunch was then closed. We now enter into the Chef of the Year cookoff cookoffs, an exciting time for your Society.

12 December 2017 CoTD Nick Reynolds

Guest "writeuper" of the day was Roger Straiton. Thanks Roger. Volunteers always welcome, you know where to find me. JT.

Cook of the day Nick Reynolds was rewarded with a predictably full house for the final lunch of 2017. Nick was ably assisted by Steve Liebeskind.

Aperitif and Canapes

Three canapes were served. Roasted skinned capsicums were stuffed with anchovies, pine nuts, parsley, capers and raisins. Delicious. Small pastry boats were filled with goats cheese and decorated with either green onion or Peruvian Kiss peppers. A very festive appearance. Finally squares of watermelon were skewered to feta and mint then topped with an olive. A great start to the day.

Served with this were the oft seen Denmar chardonnay – always welcome, as well as a standout chardonnay from St Huberts. Preferred by some was the 08 Riesling from Lehmann. Also popular were the usual excellent sherries from Lustau, a Manzanilla and a Fino. One member complained that the Riesling didn't go with the watermelon. You can't please everybody.

Main Course – Christmas on a plate.

The main course was a beautifully thought out and presented plate. A cylinder of shredded pork cooked in apple cider, carrot, celery, garlic and bay leaf and moistened with apple puree was formed into a tower with the addition of sage and thinly sliced apple. This was topped with a mixture of crumbed black pudding and toasted panko breadcrumbs. Very tasty.

Sitting with this on the plate was a crumbed and deep fried Croquetta made from a thick nutmeg béchamel containing Serrano and home smoked ham. A superb mouthful that had wonderful texture contrasts.  

The third element was a homemade sausage containing dark turkey meat combined with Grand Marnier soaked cranberries and crushed pistachios. A flavour bomb of epic proportions.

Vegetables were thrice cooked mini potato balls and carrot and celery mirepoix all sitting in a rich chicken gravy. Although there did not appear to be a lot of food on the plate it was very satisfying as the different elements were so interesting to eat. Nick always produces something innovative and he didn't fail us this time.

Wines.

The main course was accompanied by two chardonnays both from areas bordering Burgundy. First off was a Rully 2013 from Domaine Roux. Quite full bodied it finished well and was a fine example which went well with the white meat. Slightly less successful was a 2015 Macon from the esteemed house of Leflaive. Rather thin and lean it failed to sparkle and had a rather characterless profile.

With the cheese we had a 2010 Ocean Eight Aylward pinot whose murky appearance was probably due to lack of filtration. Quite Burgundian on the nose with a reasonably fine middle palate it fell away rather quickly and did not really justify its high price. Similarly, a Reserve Shiraz 2001 from Huntington Estate promised much on the nose but failed to follow through. Probably too old now.

We were then treated to a ‘bonne bouche' courtesy of James Hill of half bottles of Cockburns Special Reserve. Fruity, alcoholic and satisfying. Thank you James.

Cheese and Coffee

James Healey went for broke and sourced the mighty La Luna Holy Goat. This award winning handcrafted goats cheese is made near Castlemaine and is based on the traditional French soft curd style using slow lactic acid fermentation and produces an amazing full bodied creamy texture with slight nutty notes. Expensive but worth it. Served with this were a selection of nuts and non-sulphured dried apricots.

Coffee by Spencer was a high-quality blend from Bali. Round and full.

Our President Keith Steele then made presentations of Christmas gifts to all the members of the superb new team at the Royal Exchange. Everyone is very happy with the new arrangements.

Finally, Keith welcomed three new members and presented them with their Society ties.

Reluctant to wind up the day many members adjourned to the bar.

5 December 2017 - CoTD David Madson

This lunch was the last mixed lunch of the year as we welcomed our better halves. David Madson was back in the kitchen today assisted by newish member Peter Fitzpatrick and James Tinslay. David made a name for himself earlier in the year by cooking a dish that could be described using the “S” word, salad. The watermelon and pork belly salad was much enjoyed and certainly set few of us rethinking our compass.

Canapés. Two canapés started the day, both topped with pearls made of balsamic vinegar. These pearls are striking to the eye and add a real touch of flavour and acid to a meal. First off was a combination of cherry tomato and bocconcini served in a spoon topped with the pearls. The other was home-made baba ganouj topped with rare lamb loin again topped with the aforesaid pearls served on a crisp bread base.

Both the canapés were made in quite large numbers and yet there was only a handful left at the end which must be testament to hunger or quality and being part of the team that day I will pump for the latter.

Aperitif wine. Our Winemaster has a range of single bottles of wine in the wine cooler at the Royal Exchange of Sydney and so we enjoyed a range of these, but the aperitif wines were anchored by the Aubert Rose Champagne which, while entry-level, was very serviceable and enjoyed.

Main course. Whilst duck was on the menu the week before, the comparison between the two would be meaningless. This was a duck ragu and many were scratching their heads as to the last time pasta had been served at lunch. These ducks had been dissected with the backbone removed, pan fried and then slow cooked before stripping the meat to add to the ragu sauce. The ragu contained carrots, onion, garlic and all the usual suspects. The ragu was left simmering and then left overnight to allow the flavours to integrate. The pasta was fresh and was of the fettuccine style.

Comments from the floor were very positive as it was a good concentration of flavour and the duck was not overpowered by any ingredient of the dish. Well done David Madson.

The Wines.

• Cos Cerasuolo di Vittoria (Sicily DOCG) 2011
• Freycinet Pinot Noir 2011
• Metrat Chiroubles 2012
• Coldstream Hills Pinot Noir 2010

For this lunch, Paul Furman had selected all reds, somewhat of a change from previous lunches. The Sicilian wine was 60% Nero d’Avola and 40% Frappato. This wine from Cos is the only DOCG of the style, aged in terracotta only. There was a purity and freshness with gripping tannins but lovely to drink. The Tasmanian Pinot was a medium bodied and relatively complex wine for an Australian Pinot. Good concentration with fine-grained tannins. Both fine wines

The cheese wines, the Beaujolais and the Coldstream Hills provided quite a contrast. The Beaujolais was a little acid sharp and lacking balance. Not unenjoyable but not a notable example of Chiroubles. The Coldstream Hills from Yarra was quite floral with a plum and cherry background. At 7 years of age, enjoyable but relatively simple.

Cheese and coffee. Cheese today was selected by James Healey, but in his absence, was presented by Gary Linnane. It was Ossau-Iraty from the Pyrenees region of France, but in origin a Basque cheese. The texture was uniformly smooth, close and dense and yet supple. Flavours are sweet and nutty.

Coffee from Spencer Ferrier, was Ethiopian and generally liked. The servings on the day were a little larger with Spencer investing in some larger plungers for our enjoyment.

Compliments of Tony Scott we enjoyed a desert wine being a Chateau D’Aydie Pacherenc Du Vic Bilh 2010. This wine is from South West France and made from Petit Manseng. It was a richly sweet wine with stone fruit characters, think peach and apricot, citrus and sweet spice. At 7 years of age it was showing well.

President Keith Steele closed the lunch with a reminder that the next lunch was the “last supper” for 2017.

28 November 2017 - C'sOTD Ted Davis and Gareth Evans

This week we were fortunate to have as our cooking team the high standing Ted Davis and Gareth Evans duo in the kitchen. Over the years they have produced some memorable meals and the number of members and guests on this occasion were high with these expectations.

Canapés. To start off the day. Ted and Gareth provided us with two canapés. The first was Ted’s home hickory-smoked Woy Woy sea mullet with a little crème fraiche topped with a little chilli infused salmon roe and a bit of decorative garlic chive on Pasteles Bakehouse pastry shells. They debated serving the roe as a separate item, but it was dynamite hot on its own. Responding to a comment on salt levels they agreed a little more salt may have been in order.

To follow was a ‘poultry haggis’, seasoned (allspice and a bit of nutmeg and black pepper) and chopped chicken hearts, liver, onion and steel-cut oats. This was a Gareth experiment and served in pastry cases from the same provider.

Both were well received for both their presentation, innovation and taste.

Aperitif wine. The main aperitif wine today was the Vasse Felix Chardonnay 2009. Although there was a sprinkling of the Mount Horrocks Riesling 09 and the Denmar Estate Chardonnay 2010, both of the latter wines having been enjoyed in recent weeks. The Vasse Felix under screwcap was impressive with good acid and a crisp dry finish. At 8 years of age it was drinking beautifully and is not about to fall off a cliff.

Main course. The presentation of the main course was magnificent and surprising. We have been told that were having duck, but we didn’t quite expect to have duck like this. I could not describe the meal as well as the chefs. So here is a direct quote:

The crepinettes (faggots to some!) were a labour of love, mostly for Ted. Slow cooked ducks, meat taken off and added back to mince, fat separated off and used for basting in the oven, and the carcases turned into the reduction sauce with a bit of red wine and brandy. The crepinette stuffing, meat and mince, had a bit of softened onion, and seasoned with a touch of allspice, rolled in pig caul fat and roasted.  Served with beetroots, using the whole plant – root segments, after poaching in red wine and red wine vinegar, they were basted in a bit of orange juice and butter, and was the chopped stalks and wilted leaves.  The spicy duck tongue (and beak) was obtained from a Chinese BBQ spot. Ted wanted to use as a canape but was finally persuaded to put on the main plate.

The beak had a number of thinking was a bit too big for a duck, some guessing it was sourced from a goose. Much praise for this meal indeed.

The Wines.

• Tyrrells Vat 6 Pinot Noir 2010
• Stefano Lubiana Pinot Noir (Tasmania) 2000
• Lowe Block 5 Shiraz 2009
• Yannick Amirault Bourgueil La Petite Cave (Loire) 2009
• Lupe Cholet Beaune Avaux (1er Cru) 2001
• Lupe Cholet Charmes Chambertin (Grand Cru) 2002

A quick glance at this list makes you wonder where our Winemaster was headed with the non-Pinot Noirs. In pairs, the Tyrrells Pinot from the Hunter looked insipid in the glass but like Nebbiolo, you cannot judge a Pinot by its colour. It was however a very elegant wine and more so than the Tasmanian Pinot Noir, which at 17 years of age had lost most of its fruit and was past its best. Except for one bottle of the latter wine being corked the remainder were in reasonable condition but just left too long before consuming.

The pairing of the Mudgee Shiraz from the premium Block 5 with the Bourgueil (predominately Cabernet franc) was interesting. The Lowe wine was surprisingly elegant and only of medium body. Many thought it went well with the duck based main. The Loire Valley wine on the other hand was just a little unbalanced and some felt it was carrying a number of faults although still drinkable. It just felt a little dumb in comparison to the fine Mudgee wine.

The final two were of course from the same Burgundian maker with one being a Premier Cru and the other a Grand Cru. On the day many thought that the Premier Cru was drinking the better of the two and seemed to have a little more body. The Grand Cru however, may have the legs, body and the subtlety to continue to improve for some time.

Cheese and coffee. Cheese today by James Healey was a Cropwell Bishop Shropshire blue. The untouched orange round looked inviting (see above). Lusting after the cheese can be as much fun as eating it. The cheese is made very similar way to Stilton with a creamy texture and a striking orange colour that comes from the addition of annatto, a natural food colouring

Coffee from Spencer Ferrier, in absentia, was a high-class offering from Rwanda. His notes explained that until recently coffee from this country was pretty ordinary, but it has entered the realm of high-class coffees. It was strong and some at the lunch felt that it was too strong and not their ‘is cup of tea’ is so to speak.

We were awash in wine gifts again today with Gareth donating 6 bottles of de Bortoli Deen Vat Series All Rounder Dry Botrytis Semillon 2002. This rose looking wine had a wonderful depth of flavour with differing views of the how it went with the cheese. It was quite an unusual wine and a real treat for many.

We also enjoyed some bottles of Andrew Buller Cannobie Tokay provided by our birthday member, Nigel Burton. This Tokay managed to brilliantly walk the gap between cloying and too dry and was much enjoyed with the coffee.

Ted Davis gave a very entertaining presentation on the food and its sourcing. He admitted to causing some grief for Gareth yesterday after he was lost for a few hours yesterday morning trying to source vegetables at Mangrove Mountain. This led to Gareth calling the police, seeking to find him. Apparently, this was all for the sake of having some fresh beetroots which we enjoyed with the main. We gather Gareth was not looking forward to cooking this lunch by himself.

Being a wine luncheon, our Winemaster, Paul Ferman closed lunch and thanked our chefs for their tremendous effort.

21 November 2017 - CoTD Leigh Hall

We had Leigh Hall in the kitchen today ably assisted by Denis Redfern. Leigh had just come back from three weeks in Iran where he obviously sampled an extensive amount of Iranian and Middle Eastern delights. Wine was clearly not one of these. Leigh provided me with detailed notes re the dishes served today which are included below under the appropriate heading.

We also had wines or spirits from two members for their birthdays. Starting with the big one, Wal Edwards, who bought out his usual rum in preparation for his 101st birthday on the following day. More of that later. Also celebrating a birthday this week and donating wine was Roger McGuinness.

Canapés.

• Kashk-e bademjan - eggplant, kashk [Persian yoghurt], onion, turmeric, garlic, mint, walnuts
• Baba ghanouj - eggplant, tahini, lemon, garlic, paprika
• Hummus and beetroot - chickpeas, beetroot, tahini, garlic, cumin, lemon

This was a beaut range of starters. The beetroot hummus stood out for its stunning colour, whilst the eggplant dishes were tasty and demonstrated what a versatile vegetable it really is.

Aperitif wine. Thanks to the generosity of Roger McGuinness we enjoyed six bottles of Piper Heidsieck Brut to celebrate his birthday. The still wine supplied by the Society was the Denmar Estate Chardonnay 2010, a wine that has been served many times before. The Chardonnay is a rich Hunter Valley style and one that is drinking at its peak

Main course.

Ghormeh Sabzi was the main served with two types of rice as detailed below.

            Lamb, onion, dried limes, turmeric, tomato, red kidney beans, turmeric

            Fenugreek, Leighks, spinach [Main flavours from fenugreek and desiccated limes]

            Chelo - aged Persian rice with saffron

            Pelou - aged Persian rice with almond, currents, barberries, mint

For most in the room, this was the first time we had eaten this meal or the first time that we realised what it was. There was obviously a labour of love put into its preparation. Having said that, there were a number of people around the room who felt that the dish was very dominated by the dessicated limes, an ingredient, that many had not used themselves. Leigh subsequently explained that he had used some 30 limes and acknowledged the flavour was very strong. Notwithstanding this, a very interesting dish.

Leigh also explained some details about his time in Iran and its food. Of particular interest was that he explained that at homes you are normally served stews whilst as a tourist, eating out, you invariably had kebabs which he found to become quite boring after a while compared to the diversity of stews. 

The Wines.

• Combier Crozes-Hermitage 2012 (cork, 12.5%)
• Clonakilla Hilltops Shiraz 2010 (screwcap, 14%)
• Duval Plexus Marsanne Viognier Roussanne 2015 (screwcap, 12.5%)
• Coriole Sangiovese 2012 (screwcap, 14%)

Leigh had requested some Shiraz to go with the lamb and we had one from northern Rhône and one from the Hilltops district in New South Wales. The Rhône wine was an interesting reminder of how robust Crozes-Hermitage can be. Whilst lacking the finesse of Cote Rotie or Hermitage, it has a robust Shiraz character with drying tannins. The Clonakilla Hilltops wine was excellent. Whilst a long way short in price of the now $120 Shiraz Viognier it always comes up strongly. It was dry, savoury and luscious. Drinking well but will go on.

With the cheese, we enjoyed a red and a white. The Duval mix of white Rhône varieties was rich as would be expected but it was also showing youth and needs some time to develop. Not a wine for everybody as comments indicated. The Australian Sangiovese from Coriole was a lighter style as befits this grape and had some savoury characteristics but at the end the day was an Australian take on Chianti. Coriole has now made over 20 vintages of this wine and whilst some in the room cheered the fact that this was the last of this vintage in the cellar I thought it a good match with the excellent cheese.

Cheese and coffee.

James selected for us today a cheese that is a favourite of many, Taleggio. You can see in the photograph above the wonderful layer of mould that has spread across the large square shape of this fromage. This cheese from Mauri is guaranteed by the unique maturation process that benefits from a gift of the territory, the natural caves. These caves provide the perfect microclimate for maturing cheese and hence the mould. It was a first-class cheese, mild, delicate and melting in the mouth.

Coffee by Spencer Ferrier was from Cuba. Whilst not having visited Cuba I understand that the Cubans are crazy about the coffee although we don’t get to see much of their beans in Australia. It was a relatively robust coffee but the dosing by Spencer poured as a big but aromatic coffee.

Leigh had provided as afters, fresh dates, figs soaked in rose water and Persian delight. This put a smile on all faces in conjunction with his gift for lunch of the Bailey’s Classic Muscat to go with these delights.

101 and not out.

The elephant in the room today was the impending 101st birthday of one Walter Edwards. Wal was in fine form and gave one of his rousing presentations for which he received warm applause and congratulations.

In a fine deed, Paul Ferman had located and purchased a bottle of Chateau Mouton Baron Phillippe 1916. Paul removed a very black cork and each table was offered a glass to share for the toast. Great to try but Wal is in far better condition than this grand label of the 1916 vintage. See the photo below.

Wal then tried to do some harm by serving his Inner Circle Pot Distilled Premium Rum at an eye-watering 75.9% alcohol. It creeps up on you! Thank you, Wal.

Closure.

President Keith Steele closed the lunch today noting the jovial atmosphere of this wonderful occasion. He congratulated Leigh Hall for doing something genuinely different for us.

14 November 2017 - CoTD Robert Rae

Fresh back from a sojourn in the UK, Robert Rae was in the kitchen today with assistance from Hilton Chapman.

Canapés. Robert and Hilton had two canapés for us today, the first being Tasmanian smoked salmon on bread rounds with a tartare, yogurt, mayo, lemon, pimento and dill sauce. The next was a blend of smoked trout and smoked salmon served on crisp biscuits. This seafood introduction to the lunch kept in theme with the overall meal that was to follow. Comments on the smoked salmon suggested it was of the highest quality.

Aperitif wine. Pierre Luneau-Papin Mucadet 2010 was our main kick-off wine with some backup support from the Mount Horrocks Riesling 2009 and the Lustau Fino. The Muscadet is a wine normally consumed at a relatively young age for its freshness (the grape is Melon de Bourgogne) and in this case at 7 years of age under cork there was some bottle variation. The good ones were still freshish although darker in colour, whilst the others were dumb and passed their best.

Main course. Robert had promised us a deconstructed seafood pie based on a recipe by Rick Stein, and that is what we got. There was much nodding around the tables about the seafood ingredients and the chowder that accompanied it. Some commented on the strong chowder base, another thought it was a little bland and I suppose that is why we talk about food.

Robert went through the extensive list of ingredients including Australian salmon, flathead New Zealand mussels, fresh calamari, frozen prawns, sashimi grade frozen scallops from Japan and mushrooms. The plates on my table were quite clean when collected and this meal was much appreciated in terms of quality and it was something a little different from recent meals. Each serving was topped with an individually made (on the day) fish-shaped puff pastry which can be seen in the photograph above.

The Wines.

• Lindemans HV Semillon Bin 0755 2007
• Salomon Kogl Riesling 2011
• Massolino Dolcetto 2016
• Glaetzer Advance Pinot 2012

The Semillon and the Riesling were a good pair to serve with the seafood as it satisfied different needs with the food. The 2007 Semillon was as expected austere with good acid and a long finish. Our winemaker members rated it good to very good. The other approach to the food was the Austrian Riesling which was beautifully dry but with more body and depth with a mirage of sweetness. Both good wines and there was a split between each punters favourite.

Some thought the highlight wines were the reds served. The 2012 Pinot was very elegant wine with a plushness expected of an Australian Pinot, although from the colder climate of Tasmania. The Dolcetto from Piedmont a was a serious wine. Although very young at 2016 it represented one of the newer styles of this grape meant for relatively early drinking, but with a grippy and classic Italian style.

Cheese and coffee. Today we went back to Ireland with James's pick of Durrus from Cork. Durrus is a semi-soft, washed rind cheese and comes in a 1.3 kg wheel. It was mild, buttery and moreish.

Coffee by Spencer Ferrier in absentia, was Peruvian Paraiso Perdido. With a play on words, Spencer explained in his notes that the name meant “paradise lost” but he questioned whether it was named as such because it was a second-best coffee, the paradise blend having been lost. It was however a very good medium roast coffee with a subdued sweetness with caramel overtones.

An excellent lunch with many happy faces.