A Taste for Change: OIYP Gala Dinner

There's nothing like eating good food and feeling good about it. That's the feeling we got at last week's A Taste for Change, a charity gala dinner supporting the Oxfam International Youth Parliament (OIYP).

400 guests dined on six courses of dishes, prepared by hatted Sydney chefs, and matched with both wines and beers. There was entertainment by Rai Thistlethwayte and Phil Stack from Thirsty Merc, charity auctions, guest speakers and a gift bag of sponsor goodies for each guest to take home.

Our table was overflowing with wine glasses and polished silvery cutlery, and although I bemoaned the lack of light to take decent photos, I was impressed with the herculean effort involved in bringing together five "celebrity" chefs into the one kitchen. The lights did get turned up slightly at one point... you can easily tell when this happened just by looking at the photos!


First Entree
Salt-cured topside of Mandagery Creeky venison with
celeriac remoulade, truffled cream vinaigrette and pomme allumette
by Matthew Kemp, Restaurant Balzac

Wine: Framingham Marlborough Pinot Noir 2004
Beer: Montheith's Celtic Red Beer


Pea soup
by John Tufegdzic, Altitude, Shangri-La
(last minute replacement dish when Peter Es, Rydges Jamison, had to unfortunately cancel. He was otherwise due to create an amuse bouche of tomato jelly with roasted beetroot, horseradish foam and parmesan biscuit)

Wine: Bay of Fires 'Tigress' Tasmania Rose 2005
Beer: Monteith's Pilsner Beer


Second entree
Seared kingfish with smoked tomato fondant,
sauce soubise and crisp leek
by John Tufegdzic, Altitude, Shangri-La

Wine: Yarra Burn Valley Viognier 2006 (chilled)
Beer: Monteith's Golden Lager


Risotto
Risotta alla Milanese - saffron risotto with bone marrow and parmesan
by Darren Simpson, La Sala

Wine: Yarra Burn Valley Chardonnay 2004
Beer: Monteith's Golden Lager


Main Course
Warm galantine of quail, sauteed potato gnocchi stuffed
with Chinese roast duck, soy and lemon thyme infused buerre blanc
by Dietmar Sawyere, Forty One

Wine: Wyndham Estate Reserve Shiraz 2003
Beer: Monteith's Radler Bier


Dessert
Goats curd cheesecake with organic blueberries
by Peter Evans, Hugo's

Liquer: Kahlua liquer over ice
Beer: Monteith's Black Beer

My personal highlight was easily the salt-cured venison which was soft but meaty, salty but tasty. The pea soup was also a clear hit with the assembled crowd. Everyone expected something thick and gritty, but it was more like a pea cappucino with its light airiness, and it possessed a surprising throat-warming kick with more than a hint of spicy cayenne pepper.

An entertaining evening for a very good cause.

The sixth annual TASTE gala dinner was held on Tuesday 4 April 2006 at the Shangri-La Hotel, Sydney. Discussions are currently underway to extend this event to Melbourne in the near future.

Related sites:
Oxfam International Youth Parliament
Oxfam Australia
Make Poverty History