With only five hours sleep last night, I woke up with a cranky feeling.
Wandering around at 8am to unlock our bedroom door I woozily staggered back to bed for an extra hour.
Thankfully today was all about Mammy Kavanagh’s visit and with an hour of study under my belt, I was glad to get out of campus for a while and head away.
With a refreshed feeling and a lot of yummy food in my belly, I came back with a full tummy.
Back at home, I’m in a non-studying feeling but know that I need to hit the books and get some sort of knowledge into my head (I had a lot of fun learning about cheese though).
Tomorrow is my final day in the kitchen and I’ll be rustling up a lamb tagine with couscous Then it’s down to exams, exams, exams. Wish me luck?
Some random things I learned today:
- Many kinds of cheese now carry an Appellation d’Origine or sometimes they’re stamped on the rind of the cheese with the country eg. Parmigiano Reggiano (Italy)
- When buying cheese, buy a freshly cut piece of cheese rather than a pre-packed section – the cheese should be cut cleanly with a wire or a special cheese knife and wrapped in cheese paper or greaseproof paper – not clingfilm!
- Generally speaking, the stronger the cheese smells the riper it is.
- Farmhouse cheeses quite often grow a mould on the skin or rind. This is perfectly harmless and can be brushed or washed off if you choose.
- Cheeses can be divided into five groups:
- Very soft: soft cheese, uncooked and unripened eg. cottage cheese, fromage frais and quark.
- Soft: soft, spreadable cheese eg. Brie and Camembert.
- Semi-soft: Firmer cheese that’s often crumbly eg. gorgonzola, Cashel Blue, Gubbeen.
- Semi-hard: The largest cheese family and that can be sliced easily eg. Cheddar and Edam.
- Hard: Cheeses that have been pressed but need to be grated when old eg. Parmesan and Grana Padana.
