Food review by James Hill and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Nigel Burton was our Chef of The Day cooking a Japanese-themed meal.

Canapés

I always think you should involve your friends when you’re cooking and Nigel did just that.

Greg Chugg was up first with a chicken liver pâté made with Suntory plum liquor whisky topped with bottled Bulgarian plums served on Sakata seaweed rice cracker. Togarashi was in the mixture adding some heat on the after palate.

Frank Liebeskind followed with Okonomiyaki with Japanese bbq sauce and two types of kewpie mayo. The omelette has no flour. Cabbage ginger shallots sesame and soy chicken katsu. It was done with panko pickled ginger Kikkoman teriyaki and a third kewpie Mayo.

Kewpies used were

• plain
• +siracha
• +wasabi.

Greg Brunner baked some Tsukuba with tare sauce for chicken thigh mince meatballs with panko breadcrumbs, spring onions, garlic, ginger and grated shitake. The sauce is made from soy, mirin, cooking sake, red wine vinegar, ginger, garlic and spring onions. Served warm and sprinkled with toasted sesame.

Plentiful canapés, commended by members today.

Main

A great meal today encompasses everything that makes a perfect lunch, presentation, use of texture, intense balanced flavours and umami.

A signature at Nobu restaurants, this sweet-savoury miso black cod recipe has been cloned by chefs all over the world. Nobu's miso black cod is made by marinating the fish in a large amount of sake-miso marinade for two to three days.

The recipe for marinating was 1/3 sweet Shiro Miso, 1/3 Sake, 1/3 mirin and then three days in the fridge.

The sauce recipe was 40% Shiro miso, 30% sake and 30% mirin, reduced for thickening purposes.

Nigel had hoped to serve cod however it was unavailable in the market, thought about Patagonian toothfish and then settled on grouper.

The grouper was perfectly cooked with no variation on our table and moist with the intense flavour of the sake miso. It was accompanied by some wild rice topped with konbu, and edamame (soybeans) served on top of choy sum that had a little pickled ginger sauce.

The black rice had sesame seeds, seaweed and mixed Japanese herbs. Kecap manis was then drizzled over the bok choy and edamame and blanched in salted water for 30 seconds.

Much praise for the dish today with most agreeing it was Chef of The Year worthy.

Domo Arigato  Nigel

Loved the bread today, Greg Chugg advised it was a house-baked olive oil and salt bread from Grana restaurant in Hinchcliff House in Young St in Circular Quay.

Cheese

Cheese master Mark Bradford presented a Milawa Blue.

Hand-selected batches of Milawa Blue are matured for up to six months to create slightly sweeter, stronger flavours, and a darker-coloured interior.

Ingredients are cow’s milk, non-animal rennet, cultures and salt.

In theme, it was accompanied by a plate of blanched spinach dressed in a savoury nutty sesame sauce, this is a Japanese spinach salad with sesame dressing (Gomaae).

Wine

Lunch for today was a real treat with chef du jour Nigel Burton whipping up a superb fish dish of Groper served with an exotic Asian sauce, superb.

For the wines, we started with an Andrew Thomas Semillon from the Hunter 2022 11%. Just a baby, but showing all the right signs for good things to come. Would like to see this wine in 10 years. Should be a beauty.

The next was my favourite of the day, a Leo Buring Leonay DWJ 17 Eden Valley Riesling from 2006 13%. A great wine, superb. I have never had a poor wine under this label. Sipping this wine took me back to the late 1960s and early 70s when John Vickery was turning out some classic Riesling under the DW series. The wine today was just as good, in my view as the memory of those past vintages all those years ago. Perfect balance, sufficient acid still to carry it through another 5 years perhaps. Thank you Winemaster for this gem of a wine.

After the excellent pass arounds, we then moved into unknown territory with a Junmai Daiginjo Sake. My first response was WHY! I found the sake on the first tasting very ordinary with little flavour. What was going on here? Redemption arrived with the groper and its accompanying sauces. Then it really took off. A wonderful match, truly inspirational. Would never have imagined how well the two matched. Congrats Nigel.

The next lunch wine was the delightful Tyrrells Vat 47 2013. 13.5%. I really enjoyed this wine, great fruit with an excellent mix of gentle oak and developed flavours. Drinking superbly with 10 years of bottle age under its belt. Some commented that the Chardonnay was a bit out of place with the fish flavours, however many in the room seemed to think it was just about right and well-placed. It was a lovely wine in itself, enjoyed by all.

The first red for lunch was the Curley Flat 2015 Pinot Noir 14.2%. I was a bit undecided initially about this wine as it seemed to lack body and texture, and was a bit thin, however after a glass or two it grew upon me. Some considerable benefit from time in the glass.  A well-made wine from a fine producer, just a little below the usual high standard from Curley Flat.  The final wines were a “Table Drop“ of various reds to be shared around the room. Earlier in the lunch I spied a St Hallets Old Block, yum and a Rosemont Balmoral, both well-aged. I was getting excited. My hopes were dashed however when a bottle of Larry Cheribino Shiraz from Franklin River arrived at our table. This chap is a great winemaker, however, you can only work with the material you have. This 2015 Shiraz at 14.9% and was well made and very drinkable but  I am of the view that this region is not suited to Shiraz. It was a considerable step down from what I was expecting with the other two. Damm!  One of life’s little letdowns. The old saying goes “into each life a little rain must fall“. Otherwise a terrific afternoon.