There was no ducking for cover when Mark served up his Fesenjan . It was like the Iranian war starting with one bold strike of flavour, and five minutes later the entire plate is involved in a full-scale escalation. Mark called on extra troops to assist with his lunch today and was ably assisted by Fabian Dwyer and Craig Smith with the first assault of a home baked pastry tartlet of creme fraiche, smoked salmon and dill. Denys Moore came over the top with his pate on a Jatz biscuit, the saltiness of the biscuit complemented the pate , Mark also jumped in with a Chilean smoked mussels on mini toast spread with sour cream. Gary Linnane supported the crew with a White Bean Anchoiade-blended white beans, anchovies, capers, cream cheese, lemon, served on his favourite Ritz biscuit
The Duck marylands were sourced at Hudson Meats Cammeray. Seasoned with SNP then browned in vegetable oil for circa 8 minutes. They were removed so they could watch me prepare the stew. Duck fat removed and pan deglazed.
Walnuts powdered in food processor then toasted for a few minutes.
Yellow onions sauteed in duck fat and olive oil until brown like the ones on your Bunnings sausage sandwich. Turmeric, cinnamon and a little nutmeg added until fragrant. Then chicken stock, honey, pomegranate molasses and walnuts added with the duck legs and deglaze liquid, stewed low and slow for 3 hours. Legs had 2 nights in the stew and were separated from the sauce on the day.
Basmati rice washed and par boiled for 6 minutes. EVOO heated in large saucepan and bottom lined with waxy potato slices then rice added but not packed. Butter on top then kitchen paper and lid on with low boil for 45 minutes. Real saffron used to prepare saffron water for about a quarter of the rice.
Meal garnished with the "potato scallops", walnuts, pomegranate seeds and chopped parsley.
Cheese was Gruyere, same as last week and some "Persian" feta. The Persian Feta added to the theme of the day
Wine Report, Lunch 10th March 2026 by Stephen O'Halloran .
A modest roll up of about 30 were rewarded for their attendance by an excellent main of Persian Duck, followed by a terrific Gruyere, all provided by the multi-skilled Mark Bradford. A great effort Mark, well done.
For the Canape wine we enjoyed a very drinkable Orlando Lyndale Chardonnay 2019 @ 13.3%. Green /gold in colour, bright & intense, a full bodied Chardy which went well with the Canapes, of which there were plenty & very tasty. I really liked this wine which had an abundance of quality fruit, buttery & a well balanced integration of oak & acid. A clean finish. Overall a most enjoyable aged Chardy drinking at it's peak. Well chosen by our Wine Master.
Wine 1 on the lunch list was the Bouland Corcelette Gamay, from 2021 @ 13%. This Beaujolais is designated as a Morgon, being up at the top of Beaujolais ratings. A thick, luscious wine, a joy to drink. Perfect match with the duck. Powerful, yet elegant complex flavours. Let's not over analyse this wine, just drink it & enjoy. My wine of the day.
Wine 2 was the Yabby Lake Pinot Noir from 2010 @ 14%. This is a most respected wine from the Mornington Peninsular in Vic. Regarded by many as one of our top Pinots. Medium weight, firm tannins with a complex array of flavours. Ruby colour with some browning at the rim, as one might expect from a 16 yo Pinot. Still drinking well, fully developed with sufficient acid to ensure a pleasant finish. The strong flavours of the Duck were perhaps a little overwhelming for this wine. Defiantly a wine for very short time cellaring.
The third wine was a Society favourite, the Wynns Black Label Coonawarra Shiraz @ 13.5% from 2012. An excellent vintage for that region & the wine showed it's quality pedigree. Dense & full bodied, colour dark red/black. Terrific oak/tannin integration producing strong flavours on the back palate of dark fruit, spice & earthy hints. Fully matured but drinking so extremely well. I think this wine was the room favourite.
For the last wine we had a pick of 3 top class wines, my table got the Shiraz by Farr 2014 @ 13.5%. My comments will necessarily be restricted to this wine. We have enjoyed this wine before, { see my report of lunch 17 Feb. } In that report I gave the wine a very high rating as I thought it was one of the best Shiraz I had tasted. I will not repeat here my full review of this wine, only to say, nothing has changed, still magnificent! By way of a comparison with the Wynns, the Farr wine had in my view a softer, more elegant & refined taste over the Wynns which in contrast seemed rather coarse in terms of mouthfeel. I know many will disagree, however when I took on the role of Wine Reporter, I promised to honestly assess the wines as I saw them.
There was no ducking for cover when Mark served up his Fesenjan . It was like the Iranian war starting with one bold strike of flavour, and five minutes later the entire plate is involved in a full-scale escalation. Mark called on extra troops to assist with his lunch today and was ably assisted by Fabian Dwyer and Craig Smith with the first assault of a home baked pastry tartlet of creme fraiche, smoked salmon and dill. Denys Moore came over the top with his pate on a Jatz biscuit, the saltiness of the biscuit complemented the pate , Mark also jumped in with a Chilean smoked mussels on mini toast spread with sour cream. Gary Linnane supported the crew with a White Bean Anchoiade-blended white beans, anchovies, capers, cream cheese, lemon, served on his favourite Ritz biscuit
The Duck marylands were sourced at Hudson Meats Cammeray. Seasoned with SNP then browned in vegetable oil for circa 8 minutes. They were removed so they could watch me prepare the stew. Duck fat removed and pan deglazed.
Walnuts powdered in food processor then toasted for a few minutes.
Yellow onions sauteed in duck fat and olive oil until brown like the ones on your Bunnings sausage sandwich. Turmeric, cinnamon and a little nutmeg added until fragrant. Then chicken stock, honey, pomegranate molasses and walnuts added with the duck legs and deglaze liquid, stewed low and slow for 3 hours. Legs had 2 nights in the stew and were separated from the sauce on the day.
Basmati rice washed and par boiled for 6 minutes. EVOO heated in large saucepan and bottom lined with waxy potato slices then rice added but not packed. Butter on top then kitchen paper and lid on with low boil for 45 minutes. Real saffron used to prepare saffron water for about a quarter of the rice.
Meal garnished with the "potato scallops", walnuts, pomegranate seeds and chopped parsley.
Cheese was Gruyere, same as last week and some "Persian" feta. The Persian Feta added to the theme of the day
Wine Report, Lunch 10th March 2026 by Stephen O'Halloran .
A modest roll up of about 30 were rewarded for their attendance by an excellent main of Persian Duck, followed by a terrific Gruyere, all provided by the multi-skilled Mark Bradford. A great effort Mark, well done.
For the Canape wine we enjoyed a very drinkable Orlando Lyndale Chardonnay 2019 @ 13.3%. Green /gold in colour, bright & intense, a full bodied Chardy which went well with the Canapes, of which there were plenty & very tasty. I really liked this wine which had an abundance of quality fruit, buttery & a well balanced integration of oak & acid. A clean finish. Overall a most enjoyable aged Chardy drinking at it's peak. Well chosen by our Wine Master.
Wine 1 on the lunch list was the Bouland Corcelette Gamay, from 2021 @ 13%. This Beaujolais is designated as a Morgon, being up at the top of Beaujolais ratings. A thick, luscious wine, a joy to drink. Perfect match with the duck. Powerful, yet elegant complex flavours. Let's not over analyse this wine, just drink it & enjoy. My wine of the day.
Wine 2 was the Yabby Lake Pinot Noir from 2010 @ 14%. This is a most respected wine from the Mornington Peninsular in Vic. Regarded by many as one of our top Pinots. Medium weight, firm tannins with a complex array of flavours. Ruby colour with some browning at the rim, as one might expect from a 16 yo Pinot. Still drinking well, fully developed with sufficient acid to ensure a pleasant finish. The strong flavours of the Duck were perhaps a little overwhelming for this wine. Defiantly a wine for very short time cellaring.
The third wine was a Society favourite, the Wynns Black Label Coonawarra Shiraz @ 13.5% from 2012. An excellent vintage for that region & the wine showed it's quality pedigree. Dense & full bodied, colour dark red/black. Terrific oak/tannin integration producing strong flavours on the back palate of dark fruit, spice & earthy hints. Fully matured but drinking so extremely well. I think this wine was the room favourite.
For the last wine we had a pick of 3 top class wines, my table got the Shiraz by Farr 2014 @ 13.5%. My comments will necessarily be restricted to this wine. We have enjoyed this wine before, { see my report of lunch 17 Feb. } In that report I gave the wine a very high rating as I thought it was one of the best Shiraz I had tasted. I will not repeat here my full review of this wine, only to say, nothing has changed, still magnificent! By way of a comparison with the Wynns, the Farr wine had in my view a softer, more elegant & refined taste over the Wynns which in contrast seemed rather coarse in terms of mouthfeel. I know many will disagree, however when I took on the role of Wine Reporter, I promised to honestly assess the wines as I saw them.
