Spring Carnival – The rain and Spain — Cooking Down Under Blog

The 150th running of the Melbourne Cup and horses near the winning post.

A few questions peppered the conversations as I enjoyed unbridled hospitality in the Emirates marquee on Oaks Day this week –

Do any AFL heroes date short women? Or do they leave them for the jockeys?
Doesn’t anyone under 30 have a plan B dress for a chilly day?
Shouldn’t women who wear strapless frocks have the necessary flesh to hold them up?
What happens to their Achilles tendons when the stiletto heelers have to wear sensible shoes?
Why do fake tans look so… fake?
Who says the fascinator is dead? They’ve been trying to sell us that myth for years.

The jockeys line up prior to the running of the Melbourne Cup. No tall jockeys there.

Horseflesh aside, there was plenty to ponder during my two visits to Flemington this week. My unscientific method of picking horses makes me think I should pay more attention to form in future, though I did managed to share in the Melbourne Cup trifecta on the Tuesday.

French stayer Americain wins the cup. Merci!

The rain certainly didn’t dampen anyone’s enjoyment – after all, it was filling the dams, watering our gardens and proving the umbrella business is still good.

Catering was spot on during Melbourne Cup Day in the committee room where morning suits were de rigueur. There was an elegant spread of hot and cold buffet dishes provided by Peter Rowland Catering – tender slices of fillet beef, smoked salmon, oysters, chicken, salads…

Dessert included the very retro trifle, and bread and butter pudding along with some classics. No sooner had the desserts been cleared away when afternoon tea arrived. The dainty little sandwiches were an instant hit though no one seemed to be rushing for the scones.

Well out of the rain, our feathers remained unruffled as the hospitality flowed.

And then Viva Espana! The never-ending parade of tapas dishes and glamorous guests in the Spanish-themed Emirates compound on Thursday was abundant food for thought.

Spanish chef Miguel Maestre, 30, who once cooked at the world famous El Bulli restaurant and now runs Sydney’s El Toro Loco presented a couple of his signature dishes – a flavour-packed seafood paella, and churros dipped in Valrhona chocolate. Epicure Catering’s Tony Cimmino kept us happy with numerous tapas offerings. I sneaked a few for you to sample – help yourself! Sorry, no churros. But I did taste them at a media dinner in the marquee early in the week and they were pretty good.