The Master’s lunch at Pembroke
I was invited to the Master’s Society lunch at Pembroke, my old Cambridge college. There was a champagne reception before we all trooped in to our assigned places in the dining hall. The meal began with an extraordinary terrine of smoked salmon interspersed with Mozzarella cheese slices and with a pink peppercorn dressing. It was very good indeed, and was served alongside a Montagny premier cru Bonnevaux 2006 from Olivier Leflaive. This was an extraordinarily good wine which just radiated quality.
The second course was roast fillet of beef with fondant potato, spinach, and pumpkin puree, and a red wine jus. The beef was brilliant; soft and tasty, and I wondered if the chef had used his sous-vide (slow vacuum cooking) to achieve the effect. It came with a Vacqueyras, Reserve des Monardes 2001 from Domaine de la Monardiere, smooth yet full-bodied.
Next were poached winter fruits in warm pomegranate sangria with strips of filo pastry and elderflower ice-cream. My photo does not do justice to this remarkable dish. The flavours were so deep and subtle. I often pass up on desserts, but one taste of this and I was hooked. Alongside it came a dessert wine, Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese, Willi Haag 2001.
This extraordinary meal finished with petits fours and coffee. There were no petits fours left when the plate reached me, which was just as well because I was too full to eat any!