Ballymaloe Day 13, 25th January - Bovine Bacchanalia

Our third theory day and most of the morning was taken up with a huge demonstration by Darina, Rory and some of the teachers cooking Roast Rib of Beef, some cheaper cuts of meat, Yorkshire puddings, horseradish sauce using fresh horseradish, roast vegetables, Anchoiade, Crab Apple Jelly and a massive Simnel Cake.

For the best beef apparently you should buy in on the bone from a good butcher and it should have been hanging for long enough to develop the texture and flavour of the meat. The beef we had was straight from the farm and had been hanging longer than usual, over 6 weeks. It was a grand production on an epic, almost bacchanalian scale, and we all tucked into the huge rib of beef for lunch. There were also really tasty cheaper cuts of meat such as stuffed breast and braised neck of lamb. The breast was stuffed with pearl barley and both were cooked for a long time to get succulent, juicy meat that could be carved with a spoon!

stuffed lamb breast and lamb necks, slow cooked

Gorgeous Roast Beef and Yorkhire Puddings

Rory serving up the Lamb Shanks

Delicious Crudite and Anchoiade

Slow cooked Lamb

With the Anchoiade there was a great selection of fresh green crudite all grown on the farm and displayed on a big platter, perfect for a summer's day, or imagining a summer's day right now.

Then in the afternoon Darina spoke to us about oils and vinegars, menu planning, and getting a job! She has a vast collection of menus going back years and years and from all over the world as well as the menus from Ballymaloe House when Myrtle Allen wrote them everyday. It's fascinating stuff. The key is providing a balanced and varied list of dishes that appeal to all your customers.

Darina also spoke at length about what to do after Ballymaloe. It may only be week 3 but she keeps asking us if any of us have jobs yet! There seem to be loads of possibilities and opportunities to investigate, not just working in a restaurant kitchen. Some appeal more than others, I am doing my research as we speak!!

Ballymaloe Day 5, 13th January - Wine, Theory, Bacteria!

So, Friday the 13th, end of Week 1 which has raced by and a weird title for this post!
Our first theory day and it was good to have a break from the kitchen after three days in a row. Luckily one of our first tastes of theory was regarding wine!

We watched a brief introduction to wine video by Hugh Johnson, a wine maestro apparently although I didn't know who he was! It was a hilarious 80s-style video where this Hugh explains storing and serving wine and serving it in a restaurant etc. Next week we'll begin the wine lectures with the sommelier from Ballymaloe House, very exciting! Darina also introduced us to some of the artisan farmhouse cheeses which Ireland has become famous for including Gubbeen, Mileens and Cashel Blue. We were also taught how to handle, store and serve the cheeses; no lopping the nose off a cheese!

We also had lectures on fire prevention and food safety, including preventing food poisioning and information on various types and bacteria! Was actually way more interesting than it sounds, I was quite into it.

Lastly today we also met some of the local food producers who Darina likes to introduce us to so we can learn more about how all this lovely food is produced. Today we met Jane Murphy from Ardsallagh Goat's Cheese whose cheese we will be using in the salads on Monday. She has built the business up from one goat to supplying supermarkets and winning awards: http://www.ardsallaghgoats.ie/

We also met Mark Kingston of the Golden Bean Roastery who roasts coffee in the grounds of Ballymaloe House. He sources his coffee from a single estate and treats it as a fresh product getting it to the customer within three weeks. I'm hoping to sample his coffee at Ballymaloe House soon, but not this weekend as I have a full day tomorrow helping out at the Farmer's Market in Midelton, 6.30 am start!