foraging, survivalism and a good dollop of mischief.
As Rachel Allen sauntered into Kitchen 3, I almost dropped my dough on the floor. My morning hadn’t started off particularly well, and with an impending sense of doom before I hit the kitchen floor, I wasn’t feeling the best. Last night I had really struggled with formulating my order of work and all my …
I shovelled the food into me like I hadn’t eaten in days, and as bizarre as it sounds – I hadn’t fed myself properly since I came here. We were out of the kitchens today and started off our theory day with a few quick demonstrations on how to make quick and sweet tray bake …
After a relatively good day in the kitchen yesterday, everything collapsed on its head. What started out as a pretty straightforward order of work, it quickly transpired that time was not on anyone’s side. I started out with four recipes under my belt with a chicken to joint – and ended with six dishes to …
As Darina dropped the seasoning into the avocado, she exclaimed an amusing “oh crikey!” Turns out she had added sugar instead of salt to her dish and quickly lashed on the Maldron sea salt. It’s funny that sometimes you forget that these things happen even to the most experienced of cooks. My order of work …
Opening an eye slowly to take in the early morning rays, I completely forgot that I wasn’t at home in Kerry. Last night we had a communal feast where people made dishes and brought them along to the courtyard. Along with generous glasses of wine and beer, the partying went on well into the night …
Jealous of my housemates’ lie in, I pulled myself out of bed at 6am to prepare for a day at the Farmers Market in Midleton. Each week two students have the opportunity to volunteer at the market on the Ballymaloe Cookery School stall and I chose to give it a lash – despite my slight …
C’est fini, our first week at Ballymaloe is complete and we’re all having a well-deserved rest. Too lazy to start the fire, I’m tucked into one of our couches like a proper potato. I can’t even begin to explain how much information has been handed over to us over the past few days and wondering …
As I stared at the limp body in my lap, with my fingers plucking away at its torso, I realised that everyday some kind-of randomness happens here at Ballymaloe. I had an early start today and got up at 7am to head off to our optional gardening class. About 14 of us trudged around the …
Still no blue plasters on my fingers so all’s well in camp Ballymaloe this evening. Each day we’re to prepare an “Order of Work”, where we time out how we plan to spend our kitchen time and let’s just say, when it came to cooking the plan went out the window. We’re meant to be …
I think my body clock is learning that it’s time to re-adjust the system. Before the course started I was going to bed at about 3am each night, now I’m going to bed at about 10.30pm. Today was our first day actually cooking in the kitchen and the eager beaver in me couldn’t wait to …