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

Food

Paul Thorne was in the kitchen as Chef of the Day for our first ‘cook off’ for Chef of The Year award 2024.

Canapés

Yours truly assisted with a riff on traditional ‘Gildas’ today they were made with pickled celery, guindillas peppers and anchovy paste stuffed green olives.

Gary Patterson up next with a warmed Spanakopita and got the third degree from our Greek president Bill on the ingredients which were English spinach, cinnamon, dill, Dondoni goat and sheep feta and filo pastry.

James Tinslay followed with baked chicken tenderloins marinated with garlic, ginger, date syrup and maple syrup and served with a dip of chilli jam.

A lot of effort evident in the canapés today which were well received by members and a good match for our canapé wine.

Main

We were lucky with the weather today, not too hot, as our main was more a winter dish. Paul served us wagyu beef cheeks on a bed of potato mash and pea purée. The pea purée was made with some Japanese chili.

Such is the dedication of our chef, Paul was up at 4.30 am to cook today’s meal! The cheeks were marinated for 24 hours with a mixture of onions, garlic, celery, carrots, bay leaves, star anise with lots of red wine and duck stock. This was then cooked low and slow, at 160C for one hour then for three hours at 140 C.

The beef cheeks were perfectly cooked with the silky mash and pea purée perfect to mop up the red wine sauce made with Tempranillo.

Lots of hearty flavour, good textures and presentation with many favourable comments on the meal with members commending the portion size.

Today we saw why this dish was nominated for contention, thanks Paul.

Cheese

Our cheese master Mark Bradford presented a Fromager D’Affinois Florette a white mould cheese from France.

Florette is a hexagonal-shaped goat’s milk cheese with a silky consistency made near Pelussin in the Rhone Valley. As it ripens, the cheese becomes quite runny retaining its delicate creamy goat’s milk flavour.

Members readily guessed the cheese today it came to the table in very good condition and not showing any ammonia that we often experience.

This was served with a well-dressed salad of iceberg lettuce, spinach, pear, pomegranate seeds, walnuts and blue cheese.

Bread from Haberfield Bakery, a Society favourite when it was the only good bread available in Sydney. Good to see evoo and balsamic as an option to butter.

Wine

Lunch today saw our Chef du Jour Paul Thorne produce some very flavoursome beef cheeks along with some delicious pass-arounds. See Food Report for full details. 

The party got started with a very agreeable WA chardonnay, Folklore by name, produced by the wine making genius Larry Cherubino. 2022 at 13%. I moved around the room seeking opinions from a good number of members about the wine, and it is true to say there was uniform agreement that the wine was most enjoyable with no faults. An excellent food wine, with good balance and a clean finish. More please Mr Wine Master. 

The first red for the day was the Clonakilla Hilltops Shiraz 2023 at 13.5%. A very young wine, just an infant, but already showing signs of great future potential. Light to medium weight, vibrant crimson colour with abundant tannin and acid on show. Good spicy, peppery flavours. Should be drinking very well in 5/6 years when the acid and tannin mellow and soften. Keep an eye on this one.

The second red was the Yves Cuilleron Syrah 2014 at 13%. A Northern Rhone wine. Medium weight and in my view beginning to show some signs of ageing. Acid dropping off a little leaving the wine a bit flat and listless. This wine is in my view a definite drink now proposition. 

Wine number three was the wild card of the day. A rich mouth filling Pinot Gris from Scorpo wines sandwiched between a tiring Syrah and a huge Dolcetto set to the background of fully flavoured beef cheeks.  What was going on here? My taste buds were scampering in all directions. The beef was strongly flavoured and spicy, the Pinot Gris was crying out to be paired with a cold Lychee. I kept some in the glass to pair with the cheese and indeed that was a better match. Nothing wrong with the PG, a very nice wine, just placed in an awkward position. 

Final wine of the day was the Paolo Scavino Dolcetto d'Alba 2017 at 14.5%.  Whatever happened to the "little sweet one", as Dolcetto is translated. I have enjoyed many Dolcettos over the years and have found them to be medium weight, soft and round and fruity made for early consumption. An ideal wine to go with a pizza or steamed mussels in a rich tomato sauce to be glugged down and enjoyed for the fun of the moment before tomorrow catches up with you. So, it was with these thoughts in mind, I was confused when confronted with a huge, heavy, muscular Italian red much more like a Barbera. The wine itself was enjoyable, well balanced tannins, oak and acid dovetailing into a rewarding finish. Enjoyable, but what happened to my "little sweet one"? Looks like I will have to wait till next time.