Food review by Frank Liebeskind and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

Calling Paul’s meal a deconstructed Reuben was a total disservice to a brilliant dish, a CoTY contender.

Canapes

Three canapes today, the first was tasty and simple, cherry tomato and baby bocconcini, peppered, oil and balsamic glaze.

Followed by Steve Liebeskind’s marinated herring on pumpernickel bread, which was a favourite (especially with President SOH), Bismarck herrings, sliced onions and sour cream create this flavour bomb.

The third canape was a Paul Irwin creation, smoked potato squares, not just squares, but a 15-hour layered potato that used smoked brisket tallow to give it a light savoury smokiness.

This smoked creation was a great introduction to the main, where Paul again used his offset smoker to create his pastrami.

Main

OK, what makes a Reuben?

Corned beef or pastrami, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, pickles, Russian dressing and rye bread.

Well, Paul had all these PLUS. The cheese was presented as a tuile, brilliant, crispy and tasty.

Russian dressing of mayo, tomato sauce, Worcestershire, paprika, horseradish and had sweet relish pickles, chives, and white onion finely diced through. A large, tasty smear on the plate.

Rye bread, a toasted, flattened slice of rye, crispy and a perfect accompaniment. A large home-made rye crisp bread.

Pickles were aplenty, and no, Paul didn’t pickle these; they were excellent store-bought European pickles.

Then the homemade hero of the meal was the sauerkraut. Paul sliced the cabbage (4 kg to start), salted and squeezed, and the resulting juices are the base for the ferment. Paul added caraway seeds, placed them in jars and fermented them over 4 weeks. Nothing tastes better than homemade sauerkraut, and it is great for the gut, full of probiotics.

The homemade pastrami was the true hero. Paul didn’t want a simple corned beef, Paul started with 8kgs of brisket, trimmed it, brined it in salted water for 72 hours, then refreshed it in distilled water for 12h hours. The brisket was crusted over an American mustard rub (common brisket technique to make the rub stick) in a blend of mostly cracked black pepper, along with coriander seeds, dried onion, brown sugar and paprika. And 3-4 hours in Paul’s offset smoker (brisket shrinks big time, and Paul was left with 5kg of his pastrami). Then, it was brought to the REX and rewarmed before slicing and serving. The meat was juicy, soft, beautifully smoked, and the dollop of American mustard gave an alternative to the Russian dressing.

But there was more. Steve Liebeskind created his version of a German potato salad, and each table had a couple of bowls, and we could help ourselves to this tasty addition.

Truly a fantastic, innovative take on a Reuben.

I went away happy and full.

Cheese

Gruyère Vieux AOP, served with an excellent rocket and pear salad, with a caramelised balsamic vinegar dressing. Perfect pairing with the cheese, a Society favourite. One of the best aged AOP Gruyères from a single Swiss cheesemaker.

This raw milk, cooked curd cheese uses milk sourced from small herds farmed close to the dairy, and just six cheeses are made each day.

Matured locally for 18 months, the cheese is brine-washed using Alpine Bex salt to encourage the thick rind formation.

The flavours reflect the milk of the season – spring and summer cheeses are sweet and herby, whilst autumn and winter cheeses are saltier and savoury. The smooth texture and rounded flavours have fabulous depth and light crystallisation.

Wine

A small gathering of 19 enjoyed one of the most delightful lunches of the year, food-wise, with Paul Irwin's deconstructed Ruben. Warm brisket with all the trimmings that go into the classic Ruben Sandwich, but without the bread. The meal was so good in such a small gathering that the words of Shakespeare, Henry the Fifth, came to mind, "we few, we happy few, we band of brothers. And, gentlemen in England now-a-bed, shall think themselves accursed they were not here." My thoughts exactly about WFS members who found themselves otherwise occupied yesterday. Missed a treat, fellas. 

Wine-wise, we started with an outstanding German Kabinett Riesling from the Rheinhessen region, a Gunderloch "als Wars Ein StückVon Mir Riesling" 2021 @ 11.5%. 

A really delicious wine, perfect with the canapes. Clear, brilliant mid-yellow colour, plenty of acid, delightful fruit but quite dry with a little residual sugar, and a crisp aftertaste. A top wine, my favourite wine of the day. This is, I think about the second or third week in a row, where our Winemaster has served what I consider to be the wine of the day first, bucking the trend established by none other than Jesus Christ at the Feast of Cana in serving the best wine last. In any event, this wine would have shone no matter where it was placed in the lineup. I would love to think we have some more in our cellar. 

First of the lunch wines was an Eden Road Shiraz 2021 @ 12.5% from the Canberra region. I actually liked this wine, quite elegant, modest alcohol, light to medium weight, a nice change from the thunderous Shiraz with high alcohol we often see nowadays. Good integration of fruit and mild oak with restrained tannin. Plenty of acid to carry it through to a satisfying finish.

Second lunch wine was a visitor we do not see here often, an Argentinian Malbec 2024 @ 13%, from the Mendoza region. This wine surprised me, as most of the Malbec I have drunk from Mendoza have been huge black things, with high alcohol and massive Malbec flavours with tannin. This wine, to me, was much more in the mid-weight category, restrained fruit flavours of blackberry and plum, with a nice balance of oak, tannin and acid delivering an enjoyable finish. Overall rating, a pleasant surprise package. 

Final wine of the day that we all drank was the Valminor Albarino 2022 @ 13% A very popular Spanish white wine, a good all-rounder, that pairs well with a wide range of foods. I found the wine quite rich and mouth-filling with slightly sweetish overtones. Pear and apple flavours were evident, as was a very crisp acidity at the finish. I found the wine enjoyable, but I felt it was a bit lost in its placement at the bottom of the list of luncheon wines. Perhaps it may have been better paired with the canapes.