We celebrated D's birthday last night at Prix Fixe. I think we'll be making up an occasion to celebrate just so that we can try the new menu every month. This month is The Whole Hog and as usual, the dessert was the highlight of the four courses last night.Tinkled Pink - Chocolate, raspberry, pear, "all sorts"
The small morsel of cake that you see there was the masterpiece of the night. It's layer upon layer of vanilla cake, white chocolate mousse, raspberry filling and pear. I thought that the pinkish pear sorbet was the best element on the plate. It has a real strong comforting pear flavour. The fresh berries added a nice tartness that rounded out the dish.
Now, let's get on with the rest of the courses.
I really liked the menu that they printed out tonight. It's cute and delightful. Philippa also wrote her inspiration behind the entire menu. The pork used is free range (which you'll see below) and a lot of thought was put into organizing and orchestrating the dishes. Every mouthful was an inspiration that came to fruition.To start, I had the Razorback. This is kind of a strong apple martini. Very sweet and strong.
Green Eggs and Ham
Paired with St Ronan's Methode Traditionelle Pear Cider, Yarra Valley, Vic
This is a ham hock and minted green pea soup with an egg sorbet on top. It really looked similar to the soup that we had during the Midsummer Night's Dream theme which was an asparagus cold soup but the taste was different. Texture and concept-wise, very similar. Everybody loved the pear cider! It was one of the best pear cider's I've had.
OTTI
"Silk purse from a sow's ear" - Inspired by Tansy's circa 1989
San Danielle prosciutto, watermelon
Ham hock and lentil terrine, truffle mustard
Artichoke gribiche
Paired with 2012 Pittnauer Blaufrankisch Rose, Burgenland, Austria
I love the San Danielle prosciutto with watermelon. The four of us had our own favorites. Sis liked the fried sow's ear pocket. It was crunchy and very tender. The terrine was quite unique too. The lentils were cooked al dente. They turned a classic into a modern dish. The gribiche wasn't my favorite. It was too sharp and I thought the flavours weren't balanced well enough. The rosé complemented this dish very well. It was crisp and dry without being too sweet.
This little piggy's date
Western Plain's porchetta, drunken Medjool dates, apple panzanella, celeriac pureé with a side of WWW salad - witlof, watercress and walnuts
Paired with 2009 Chalmers Sangratnino, Heathcote, Vic
The porchetta was very tender and luscious, the meat will melt in your mouth. Nothing was dry about the meat. The crackling was cooked to perfection, with a combination of crunchy and chewy bits. If you're not a fan of a sweet main dish, you probably won't enjoy this but it's worth a try once in a while. I would prefer the dish to have an apple OR date flavour combination but both made it slightly sweeter than expected. Still, it was enjoyable!
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