Educational Eating

11 hours, 64 students, 3 counties, a smokehouse, a farmers’ market, a cheese makers, an apple farm, a castle and views like this from the bus window….

…..it can only be The Ballymaloe School trip! Setting off at 7.45am sharp with trip leader Rory (immaculate in tweed) and deputy dog Mike, we embarked off into the misty Irish morning for an early morning breakfast of smoked fish! Which we found here,

....at the Belvelly Smokehouse in Cobh where the mildly eccentric (artisan food producer requisite, seemingly ) Frank Hederman smokes some of the best salmon money can buy...

Having been doing this for the odd twenty years or so he is, to quote Rory, ‘A font of smokey wisdom’, and is generous with his information too, not always the case. Hairnets (see above) were all that were required to get us past the front door and into where the magic happens! He buys wild salmon to smoke or, when this is not available/viable, organically farmed salmon. Although he insisted that producers like him have a lot to thank intensive salmon farming for in that it created a huge market for smoked salmon, the facts about them are pretty shocking. For instance, in an industrial farm there will be approximately 35 salmon per cubic meter of water (equivalent to a bathtub-full of water) whilst in the same space in an organic farm there will be 6 or 7. Which I thought was still rather a lot of salmon to have swimming around in your bath, but I guess that, comparatively, its actually not. The more the salmon can swim and move, the better the flesh, hence wild salmon, who have got the biggest bathtub of them all, are the best, and, accordingly, x 3 the price. Also interesting how the colours of pink and orange that we associate with salmon, are just that, an association. They are simply artificial colourings, added at the dictate of the public’s perception of what smoked salmon ‘should’ look like. Anyway, some pictures within the actual smoker part of the smoker, about the size of a garden shed….

Salmon

Mussels

After a tiny taste of some smoked salmon we headed on to the more substantial offerings of Mahon Point Farmer’s market…

Mahon Point is in fact a huge retail park just outside of Cork, but the developers have allowed Rupert, Darina’s son in law, to set up a farmers market in the car park. They find that contrary to depleting the business of the other supermarkets and shops, it is a huge draw, to the extent that the developers are considering investing in a retractable glass roof (estimated cost – 300,000 euros) over the outside car park especially for the market. In the winter months they have to hold it in the multi-storey car park, as you can see from this picture of us lunching….





Is cool in a sort of hip urban way, but also a bit dark and dingy. So after lunching and shopping for our supper we headed off to County Tipperary to visit some small farmhouse cheese makers, Richard and Anne Keating. Here yet more food was eaten as Rory and Mike produced a picnic of cheese, Ballymaloe relish, bread, apples, tea, coffee and cake for us all in the Keating's greenhouse!





Anne was inspirational! They started making cheese as a last resort means of making some extra money whilst in serious debt and with six children to support. Eventually they made a success of it and, she proudly announced, put every one of them through college! Cue clapping!

Anne stirring the curds and whey

After cheese making/eating we carried on over the mountains to county Waterford, stopping for a Pink Cottage photo op on a beautiful hillside,

And, included for the virtue of having snuck Rory into their picture, the girls from the White Cottage!...

‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away’ and on this premise/promise we next headed to the farm of Julia and David Keane who grow apples for various Irish supermarkets and make their own apple juice. Their daughter Jess, a nutritionist, gave us a talk on the health benefits of apples, then Julia showed us how they make the juice. Apples that are rejected from being sold due to being misshapen or not colourful enough are crushed, folded into muslin and then layered between heavy timber boards before being crushed ....



David then took us to the orchards and the place they sort the apples. We went away laded down with apples, and, carrier bags being a big no-no here, Mulbs, along with all the goodies purchased earlier, left considerably heavier….

Next and last stop on the itinerary was Lismore, a beautiful estate town that’s sprung up around Lismore castle, part of which dates from 1185! Is absolutely fairytale like, but unfortunately closed in the winter season so we just caught a fleeting glimpse of it driving over the river Blackwater into the town….

In town we visited a little café called The Summerhouse (run by a past Ballymaloe student) and a restaurant called The Chop House, both chosen as local examples of how to run a lovely business! Which they both indeed were. Plus they provided us with food and drink, so we meandered home on the bus happily: stomachs full, legs tired and, with memories of all the lovely passionate people we met, minds even more fully converted to the cause of small local producers! The end.

Chickin Lickin and Foxy Muffin

So after the 'Irresistible Breakfasts' demo and departure of the mothers, a return to normal life on Tuesday. Cooked said breakfasts and did a fair bit of practicing for the technique exam! Alot more difficult than it looks, segmenting citrus fruits...






Tuesday's duty was hen-feeding, and (for Alice's pleasure) a picture of one of the little cuties waiting for her lunch.....

Also discovered that, contrary to appearances, Muffin is a chicken killer! Shocking! Chickens are demi gods here! He's only just been allowed to take off his muzzle, who would have guessed it....

The Art Of Butchery

Pure comedy morning with the multi-talented Phillip - Ballymaloe's in house 4th generation German butcher/cupcake baker/pizza maker! Sausage making is a funny enough process as it is, but being talked through it by someone with a German accent is just inexplicably hilarious. He showed us how to take a little piggy from this..

.

to this.....

The pigs are, of course, all residents of Ballymaloe Cookery School Farm who live a happy healthy life until a little trip to Midleton slaughterhouse. Then, to use Darina's word, 'ping', a quick end. Aside from obvious humane reasons its hugely important not to stress the pig in this period otherwise adrenaline pumps through the body making the meat pale, wet and generally of a poor quality. After the short journey from the farm they stay over in a cosy straw filled pen to, in Phillip's words, 'chill out', then are stunned before being killed. Found the demo really interesting, and not that gruesome, but when Phillip started talking about the physical similarities to humans and pigs I began to feel a tiny bit nauseous. Apparently, the only differences are that humans have an appendix and a larger brain, but apart from that we can both eat everything, live anywhere and get sunburned! We also talked alot about curing meat (parma ham, coppa, pancetta etc) which sounds like such a cool thing to do! Salt, the magic curing ingredient, both flavours and draws out the water from the meat thus destroying the microorganisms that need moisture to survive. Then all you need is a cool, dry and fly free environment et voila!

In the afternoon we had a talk by an ex student Arun who now runs a company called Green Saffron, importing 'the finest quality whole spices, superior 'Bespoke' spice blends and highest grade Basmati rice'. Arun talked about the differences between traditional western flavours (sweet, sour, salty, bitter), Indian ones (which also include pungeant and astringeant flavours) and how, with his blends, he is trying to create a 'blend' of cooking so to speak which encorporates both cultural elements. He and his wife run stalls at all the farmer's market and thier spices are just out of this world....you can smell the quality! They just look beautiful too - rose petals in the garam marsala blend!

So the day finished with a curry tasting for us all, but the evening held yet more cookery fun for Rosie and I as we went to assist with the evening demonstration: held in the evenings for local people! Rory was cooking, with Florrie assisting him, and us assisting her....which roughly translates to washing up and chopping! But we were greatly rewarded for our efforts with an almost-midnight feast in the cookery school of moussakas, salads, chard, mackeral pate, breads, popcorn, soup, eclairs and yoghurt ice-cream. Food like that a more than acceptable payment!

Corking Times

It seems to have been a while since I last found myself typing away on here, which can be explained by the fact that my core readership have been here, with me, sampling the delights of the Emerald Isle! Now that they have successfully crossed the choppy waters of the Irish sea back to the homeland I’ll pick up where I left off. So Mum, Nansi and Maz a little blog for you to relive the Ballymaloe experience!

Friday night I successfully managed to find a Mazzy, and we in turn successfully managed to find the most lovely bar in Cork for a Guinness! I was recommended a restaurant called Isaacs by one of the local ladies on the course so after meeting at the youth hostel we headed off over to MacCurtain street in the city centre. Wandering down the road we had one of those Parisian ‘through the arch’ moments when suddenly you get a glimpse down an unassuming little alleyway to something intriguing/beautiful/unexpected....Pictures don’t really do it justice…


…but a 40 foot waterfall, starkly lit, tumbling down a rock face in the middle of a city, and in particular Cork city, is a bit different! So we sat at the base of that and had ourselves some of the blackstuff before deciding to bypass dinner and carry on with our exploration of the city, aided by Mazzy’s Erasmus friend, Randall. He took us to two pubs just off St Patricks street, but then bowing to our stomachs’ demands we slightly unceremoniously ditched our guide to go to a diner in town where I took this picture of some words to live by. Appropriate, I think….





The next day we walked up to University College Cork, which is right across from the youth hostel. Like the rest of the 'Rebel City' it bears the scars of a turbulent history; there are bullet holes in some of the walls from executions that took place during the Irish civil war. A picture of its centre, the old quadrangle....



After our little educational detour we breakfasted in the city on O’Connails famous praline hot chocolate then headed back to Ballymaloe via the Midleton farmer’s market for some X-Factor supplies (organic salad, Cashel Blue cheese from Tipperary and a bag of ripe to bursting figs). Did the grand tour of the farm and school, ending in Saturday pizza lunch (this week homemade sausage and kale) and then a Garryvoe beach walk. The rest of the Pink Cottage Contingent being in Dublin we had the house to ourselves so lit the fire, cracked open a packet of Barry’s tea, and sat down to await Cheryl’s Saturday dress choice, and the arrival of the mothers. Unfortunately there are no pictures of our stay with them at the Bay View hotel, the yummy breakfasts, Ballycotton pier stroll, or Kinsale jaunt, but I do have a picture of the trip’s grande finale (Mazzy sadly absent), the wonderful Ballymaloe House Hotel…..




An Irish culinary institution it’s been running for over forty years, ever since the presiding Allen matriarch Myrtle and her late husband Ivan placed an advert in the local paper that simply stated ‘Come dine in a country house’. The house itself seems not to date from any one period, but is a mixture of dilapidated castle, polished Regency home and even extremely grand farmhouse as ploughed fields not parkland surround the buildings. I’ve been twice already to work in the kitchen and visit the small café alongside it, but visiting the hotel you really get a feel for the Ballymaloe ethos, and the sense that despite it now being part of a huge commercial operation, it is still a home. The bedroom doors remain unlocked, you can have second helpings in the dining room if you like and the people are just incredibly welcoming and friendly. Their traditional Sunday evening buffet was nothing short of a feast, tables laden with all that the local area has to offer and a dessert trolley which is squeakily wheeled up to right under your nose, from where it is physically impossible to decline! To be experienced once in a lifetime....at the very, very least!

Gotta Love Ireland

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(that's a wedding dress)

Let Them Eat Cake

....said Darina to Rory on Tuesday afternoon as they planned the afternoon tea demo. Cooked said demo for today's lunch, along with savoury starters/mains. I did Thai spiced squash soup with noodles, but the day's star attraction were without doubt the cakes. The pudding tables were creaking under the weight of brownies, summer pudding, coffee cake, lemon cake, chocolate cake...it goes on. A small selection....

Spot my one (hint: its an orange cake, and on the best/worst plate the cookery school has to offer). Jogged on the beach, and recorded my personal best mile to equal my personal best cake consumption! Up early tomorrow for salad picking duty at 7.30am, then Cork to find a Mazzy!

Plucking

This morning's work.....

Me.....plucking a woodcock,

...roasting a guinea fowl,

....'crisping' parsnips/potatoes,

.........and baking my first white yeast bread! Woo! Two days in the making, several hours of my life spent kneading.

So those are today's pictorial highlights, and I have little to add in the way of verbal description. Except that Rory compared a pan of simmering kale to Wuthering Heights. I have no image of that, but it was a definite highlight.

Tommy & Benny

On herb duty this morning so an early start in the greenhouses with Eileen the gardener and another student, Hannah. We were aided by Tommy the duck who lives in the greenhouse for the express purpose of slug eating. Although apparently she has developed a bit of a cheeky appetite for lettuce! So cute, and, according to Eileen, is very good company!




My morning's cooking consisted of making dough for white yeast bread, tomato fondue and a chicken liver pate....




In the afternoon we had a local gamekeeper come in to talk to us and show us how to pluck/gut/prepare all sorts of game. Was very happy to see he bought his handsome hunting partner, Benny, also….



Here is Benny sat patiently waiting for tweedy Tom’s command to go and fetch a pheasant he had hidden. Went to it instantly and, without so much as a nibble, bought it back straight away. Bella eat your heart out! After that alternative little demo, we headed back inside for the rest of the game demo, in which Benny behaved in a manner much more Labrador-esque and showed great interest in some sponge cakes on the side….

:-)

Drinking/Feasting/Repenting....Weekend no 3.

Had soooo much fun on Friday night that we didn’t make Café Paradiso (or Cork) the next day. Instead we slept in late, cleaned up the shambolic Pink Cottage and headed over to the school for the Saturday pizzas they do (organic, woodfired oven, their own pancetta, Peter's parmesan, you get the jist)....

How they take the orders....call out your card when your pizza is ready!

Best. Pizza. Ever.

Then headed to a seaside town about half and hour away called Youghal. Wandered round aimlessly around the harbour, seafront and the main street. And, to make a change from all the foodie photos, the ‘famous’ clock tower…

Historic. And Exciting.

Sunday we made it into Cork for a wander and a little retail. And, meriting the evening’s beach run, a trip to Ballymaloe Café for some delectable cupcake/coffee action….

Latte in a beautiful mug from local potter, and...

Perfection (as it probably should be for €4!)

Gluten Free

End of the week!!!!!!!!!! Today had theory/demo day i.e. no cooking. This morning watched Rory cook a roast rib of beef and a whole lot of other things, which we then happily ate for lunch. Afternoon demo was by a lady called Rosemary Kearney who has written really good cookbooks on gluten-free eating. Didn't realise that gluten intolerence is actually a disease and how serious it can be! Demo was a bit boring as it was just repeating stuff we'd already done like the bread, scones etc. However, despite odd ingredients like 'xanthanam gum' and the like, food was really good! And it being 'healthy' gluten-free cake we ate a fair bit of it. Neglecting the lovely farm shop drove to Tesco's to get weekend stores and now are off to the Blackbird pub for the evening! Hopefully Cork tomorrow and an amazing vegetarian restaurant called Cafe Paradiso..... :-)

Back In My Natural Habitat

....the library!

The Ballymaloe cookery school library that is! Amazing books, magazines, journals, menus... a lot of them. Finally made one of the two hours its open a week and got out a couple of books....one of Marcella Hazan's, Sam and Sam Clark's (Moro) and an encylopedia of ingredients to study for our technique exam. Before library exploration made Mexican...

A bird's eye view of my lunch! Yes that is a handmade tortilla you spy, and yes that may be a tiny little bite taken out of it - hungry cook. Pudding...

My strawberry sorbet melting a little here as took the pic after tasting. And as if that wasn't enough food for the day....

Flo and her enormous roll of cookie dough! Have run my 3 miles on the beach again so the fact it is currently being baked off by the pink cottage as we speak doesn't make me feel toooooo bad.... :-)

Keen-wah....Vegetarian cooking

Theory day. More about Irish cheesemakers, but a Welsh one slipped under the radar today too! Its an organic cheddar called Hafod, and is made near Brecon! The farm is called Bwlchwernen Fawr. Also looked at how to make our own flavoured oils, vinegars, preserve lemons, herbs etc and tried a surprisingly nice squash of rasberry vinegar. After cheese/preserving/biscuit of the week we moved onto vegetarian food, and our lunch! Darina enthuses daily about ‘delectable’ bits of brown meat, offal and shrimp brains so didn’t think it would be quite up her street, but the food she made was absolutely delicious. Wonderful chickpea stew (Skye Gyngell’s recipe), coconut, coriander and tofu curry, sweet potato salad, moro dahl, croquettes, quinoa and herb salad, aubergines with saffron yoghurt and pomegranate seeds…you get the picture. This afternoon we had a talk on the hundreds of different careers in food and looked through all the menus that Darina has collected on her travels. She raves about certain restaurants alot, and areas too....California seems to be top of that list! San Francisco in particular by the look of all the menus. Makes me want to go back and do a bit more culinary exploration.....good as Houstons is! Rain has abated and the sun was out again so after theory went running down to the beach and back. Pink house now currently munching on delicious homemade (goes without saying) chocolate cookies, supping green tea and having our daily dose of The Tudors....slightly shambolic TV series of dubious historical accuracy and codpiece shots aplenty! ….. :-)

Blogalot (to make up for Saturday...)

Mightily enjoyed Sunday's (well deserved) lie in, then for lunch the pink cottage inhabitants wandered down the lane to a pottery 'emporium' which also has a little cafe. Came home and, ever thinking of our stomachs, started cooking roast dinner! We bought a chicken and loads of nice veg, fruit, cheese and goodies from the farmers' market on Saturday, plus was a good opportunity to try out some of the weeks recipes...glazed carrots, gravy, potatoes, etc etc! Made some use of the herb garden for the first time too....







After food we all went to the Blackbird pub in Ballycotton where they have live music every Sunday. Is mainly Irish guys and guitars, but quite a few of the cookery school students and teachers playing and singing too which was really cool. Have disovered that Clemmie has the most beautiful voice so hopefully within the next 10 weeks we will persuade her to sing, Rosie to accompany on guitar and we can all bask in the reflected glory of having such talented housemates! The rest of us are decidedly lacking, musically wise. Skipped home to watch the very end of X-Factor and Emma.....and before we knew it.... 7.30am this morning and back to it! Everyone cooking today to make a huge lamb roast plus all the starters, pudding, bread etc....my redcurrant jelly contribution...





And a picture of afternoon demo too in the mirror.....I can be distinguished by the red crocs in the right of the picture.....


After lunch and demo tasting....homemade mayonnaise, Ballycotton prawns, moussaka, melanzane parmigiana, shepherds pie, yeast bread, greek salads, chocolate fudge pudding (not as good as Mumsy's!), fluffy lemon pudding.....REALLY felt the need for some exercise ! Jogged the couple of miles down to the sea and back just before it got dark, can feel the days getting shorter! Hopefully will not be proportionate increase in waistline as they do...... :-)

The Farmers' Market

Fun day. Early start. Nice food. Funny people. Tedious tidying up. Supper. X-Factor. There's the lazy summary of my Saturday for you! Too tired to type! Picture, thousand words, etc etc etc..

Ballymaloe Stall

Breakfast....THE best hot chocolate ever, they make this chocolate themselves then you choose the combination of chips you want then they melt them with milk....aaaaamazing.

Bread

Cheese

Miniature kiwi fruit! They're tiny and you just eat the whole thing. Thought I'd share as have never seen them before....random but really delicious.

:-)