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

Food

A small but dedicated group of members were present for our post Easter lunch with Cheesemaster Mark Bradford on the hobs for the fifth “cook off’ for our chef of the year award.

Mark was assisted by Denys Moore.

Canapés

Keeping with the Italian theme we had ‘caprese’ skewers of tomato bocconcini, basil with a balsamic spray. Tomatoes are near the end of their season the skin was a little thick. Denys advised they were on special at Woollies!

Next up sardine pâté on Italian garlic toasts topped with carrot Portuguese sardines, olives, onion, chives and coriander, lime juice, mayo, olive oil, salt and pepper. They were a little runny it could have had something to bolster the texture like butter or white beans.

Main

This was the star of the lunch Mark reprising his brilliant version of Polpettonne.

Great presentation of a “meatloaf slice” with the colours reminding us of the Italian flag colours. It’s usually mixed pork and veal baked in a log, wrapped in pancetta with string and having a filling such as cheese. Mark wanted to try individual portions and was concerned about leakage of cheese during baking, so chose to blind bake impervious shortcrust pastry shells. These were lined with prosciutto (sides and base) and filled with a mix of Feather and Bone pork and veal mince, garlic, oregano, fresh rosemary, panko crumbs, egg and feta and cooked in batches for 40 minutes.

It was topped with taleggio and cooked for a further 20 minutes. The individual meatloaf in its pastry shell was served on rings of mash, white and green. The white was a silky Paris mash of unpeeled washed potatoes put through a potato ricer, lots of cold butter added, as well as warm milk. The green ring was pea (frozen) and mint (fresh from Mark’s garden) puree. Sauteed garlic and French onions, peas brought to a simmer for two minutes then blitzed through a food processor with a small quantity of mint, salt and white pepper. This was then forced through a sieve to remove pulp. Looked great and tasted even better.

The dish needed red, and Mark created a topping of Roma tomatoes reduced slightly in sauteed garlic, treated with a stick blender and forced through a sieve to remove pulp. Warmed on the day with fresh torn basil leaves, and carrot shaves on the pie!

The bread today a sourdough baguette from Baker’s delight. Liked it.

Cheese

Plenty of cheese today with no-one guessing its style or origin. It was a cow's milk cheddar from Victoria.

A cheese we’re familiar with “Maffra red wax” young and creamy with good flavour.

Mark served this with dried apricots, figs and hazelnut nuts.

It was a mature Cheddar with a smooth texture and a distinctive sharp flavour.

The Maffra Cheese Company is in Gippsland where Ferial Zekiman and her team produce a delicious range of farmhouse cheeses using milk from her herd of Holstein-Friesian cows that graze on the lush green pastures surrounding the farm and dairy.

This creamy waxed cheddar has subtle fruity tones and a delicate nuttiness. 

Wine

After last week’s party for Peter Manners 100th birthday, we were all fully prepared for a modest function today. At our age you cannot have too much fun too soon! It could be medically dangerous! A little restraint is a good thing. Nonetheless, Mark Bradford put on for the 30 or so attendees, a splendid lunch, see the food report for more detail.

Our first wine was indeed a cracker. A Lindemans Reserve Hunter Sem Bin 150 2011, 12.5% This wine was a most interesting comparison to the Tyrrells Vat 1 from the same year we had last week. The Tyrrells was developed, deep straw colour, gleaming and clean, looking every bit an aged Hunter Sem of high quality. The Lindemans today was a totally different wine, but from the same year. Far lighter in colour and texture, with lots of acid, but well balanced with abundant fruit of lemon zest and citrus overtones. Very hard to accept that they were from the same district, same year, and same grape variety. No doubt the difference was in the wine making. The Tyrrells was easily identifiable as a Tyrrells wine, the Lindemans totally different. Go with the style you prefer. The Tyrrells from last week offered the classic aged Hunter Sem style. Enjoy with cheese or fruit. The Lindemans today offered a firm crisp finish, wonderful vibrant fruit with superb balance and a promise of many years ahead of beautiful drinking Enjoy with oysters. Hope we have more of this wine in our cellar. For a 13 yo Sem it looks more like a 5 yo! Time will tell!

Wine No 2 was a Dolcetto d’Alba from Massolino 2016, 14%. Normally not regarded as a serious wine, “the sweet little one“, as it translates into English, is the perfect wine to be chugged down with a pizza or spaghetti marinara without too much thought into what you were drinking, nothing wrong with that! Particularly if your attention was distracted by an attractive female sitting opposite playing footsies with your feet!  Where was I now ?? Oh, yes the wine. This Dolcetto was a terrific wine, deep colour, and loads of ripe fruit but in perfect harmony with the acid/tannin /oak. A delightful food wine, much better than I expected.

Wine No 3 was another Italian, more please, a Podere Poggio Chianti Classico from 2015 13.5%. A Sangiovese. Excellent. Same depth of colour as the previous wine, but a little bit finer in the mouthfeel dept. There was nothing between these two wines at the end of the day, and I think some at my table were sliding towards the Dolcetto as their favourite. A close call, both wines were the perfect match for a quality Italian meal. They would take your thoughts off playing footsies, at least for a while! Both wines were doing their job, complimenting the food, not dominating.

Wine No 4 was the Yalumba Menzies, the “Cigar“, named after the narrow strip of Terra Rossa soil in Coonawarra. The wine was from 2009 at 14%. This wine is now 15 yo and is still looking good. Classic Oz, huge Cabernet fruit, tannin, oak and alcohol, the winning blend for our wines in the past. I really enjoyed the wine, but at the same time I could understand that folk nowadays are seeking a lighter, less alcohol and tannin style with the accent on elegance. I do not blame them. Still, this wine is an Australian Classic, from the Old School, with plenty of time ahead of it.

The final wine was a Viognier 2014, 13% from the great winemaker Gary Farr, who has made some terrific wines in the past from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Why on earth would a top winemaker like Farr devalue the currency of his wines by introducing Viognier? in my view an uncouth grape, cloying and unctuous, although it does claim to be a cousin of Nebbiolo, a claim that would need to be fact-checked! Readers of this regular report would be aware that I do not have a high regard to this grape. But like a stray dog that keeps turning up on your doorstep, in recent times I seem to have to open my door to this unwelcome arrival far more often than is desirable. Witness today. Another one. We must have had 3 or 4 of these in the last few months. Anyhow to be fair, the wine today was to my taste, passable with the cheese. Palates more expert than mine speak highly of the wine, well that’s fine, they can have mine, I’ll have a Chardy thanks!