Bearnaise and buche de noel part of the magic

Readers of this column will know that in another life I owned a catering company.

We worked for many and varied clients, the two biggest of which were the Victoria Racing Club and the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival.

Catering at Flemington during the spring carnival was incredibly stressful and time consuming. It always seemed a battle against time, rain, wind and, of course, the next race day coming up. It was thoroughly exhausting yet incredibly gratifying.

As a result of many years of this work, I became totally disinterested in horse racing. Before, I could think of nothing better than a day enjoyed at the races with friends. After all the catering we did, I would rather poke a burning stick in my eye than attend a race meeting.

To a lesser extent, working on The World’s Longest Lunch for many years meant outdoor lunches were a reminder of stress and responsibility. There is no doubt I gained much reward from my involvement, but the idea of sitting down to a long Sunday lunch was now less alluring.

Last weekend, however, I was released from the shackles of lunches past. My wife and I went to a celebration with friends, which was magnificent. I enjoyed every moment and thought we really should do more entertaining like this.

The atmosphere created when good friends and/or family enjoy food and wine together is probably the reason I started catering. It’s intoxicating (often literally) and I never take for granted how much effort it takes.

The lunch we attended was just perfect. It was sunny but not too hot, the garden was immaculate, the house divine and the food and wine superb. Mix with great company and you can’t help but have an inordinate amount of pleasure.

Lunch started with Peking duck canapes then main course of sticky pork, Vietnamese coleslaw, poached salmon salad, potato gratin, eye fillet of beef with béarnaise and a green salad.

There was a sublime selection of dessert and cheese to follow; a toblerone mousse, fresh strawberries, a buche de noel and an Italian semifreddo.

Here is a recipe for eye fillet of beef and béarnaise. The important part is to make sure the egg yolks are whisked well initially and they triple in size.