Another successful Australian Gourmet Pages week-long residential cooking class has come to a close last Sunday. The participants from all over Australia were no doubt the most enthusiastic bunch I ever had the pleasure of working with.  Despite an incredibly strenuous program, they all kept their wits and humour and achieved incredible culinary heights.

My special thanks go to the visiting master chefs, (in order of appearance) Hideo Dekura, Hans Kaufmann, Mitch Green, Margaret Alcock and Janni Kyritsis.

Thanks to Joe Mellis and Orlando Wyndham for the enlightening lecture on the past, present and future of the Australian Wine Industry. Your generosity was very much appreciated.

Port Phillip Estate sent us some fabulous wines and inspired us all with their two vintages of Shiraz and were a fitting finale to the challenging Wine Game, organised by Chris and Marita Oakley. I also noticed the Port Phillip Estate Pinot Noir giving the Bass Phillip Premium a bit of competition on the final night!

Alas, the 1981 Château d’Yquem did steal the show!

Stephen and Rhonda Doyle travelled all the way from Orange to spend an afternoon with us and introduce the Bloodwood Wines. Their passion is beyond question and the match of their Shiraz to Mitch Green’s ‘Tart of Two Chocolates accompanied by Black Pepper Ice Cream and Chocolate Sorbet Cones’ was the unexpected sensation of the week.

Füri Knives lent us a fully stocked knife block for the week, donated an East West knife to each participant, and reinforced that Australian Design works best.

Thanks to Roberta Muir for meeting us, at an uncivilised hour at the Sydney Fish Market, for a tour of the fascinating auction set-up.

Thanks to the fantastic meals put on by Flavours of Peking in Castle Crag and Tim Pak Poy and his talented team at Claude’s Restaurant in Woollahra.

Thanks to the incredible efforts of Karen Roe all supplies were at hand on time, every time. Debbie, the clever queen’s enthusiasm matched the efforts of Rick from Aaxion Charters and were in great contrast to the serene view from the glorious Boathouse on Hawkesbury and congratulations to all participants who survived “La Grande Bouffe” the magnificent finale on Saturday night.

This whole week has been a lot of fun, we all learnt a lot and we will no doubt do this again!