My throat was killing me this morning, so sadly I didn't cook today! I was so excited for it too! Oh well. I think I really just needed to get some sleep. Wow, I guess this is going to be a much shorter post today!
In demo today we learned how to prep shellfish and seaweed, make meat pies, and make fruity confections (like banana bread and gingerbread). Another really interesting dessert we learned about was Carrageen Moss Pudding. Apparently not only is this seaweed naturally gelatinous, but it's also great for sore throats! I've thought about experimenting with it (if I ever have time hah) in jams as a sugar substitute. Sugar helps the jam set, so without it you'd just have a big gloopy mess I would imagine. If there was carrageen in it, maybe it would turn out okay without any added sugar! :D. Here are some of the pictures I took...
In demo today we learned how to prep shellfish and seaweed, make meat pies, and make fruity confections (like banana bread and gingerbread). Another really interesting dessert we learned about was Carrageen Moss Pudding. Apparently not only is this seaweed naturally gelatinous, but it's also great for sore throats! I've thought about experimenting with it (if I ever have time hah) in jams as a sugar substitute. Sugar helps the jam set, so without it you'd just have a big gloopy mess I would imagine. If there was carrageen in it, maybe it would turn out okay without any added sugar! :D. Here are some of the pictures I took...
- The first is of the seafood starter - all atop a bed of lightly braised seaweed (apparently virtually all seaweed in Ireland is edible by the way. There are only 2 species in the whole world that are poisonous too, so really anywhere you go, you could eat the seaweed :D). We had some periwinkles (little snails that tasted pretty good, surprisingly!), clams, mussels, and oysters. Yum!
- Second: parsnip and maple syrup cake. I found this really interesting - who would've thought to use parsnip in a cake!? Apparently root vegetables have a decent amount of sugar in them, so I guess they would do well in baking. Still though, very peculiar. I would imagine you could make this into a decent paleo cake if you wanted to as well! :)
- Third: CARROT CAKE!!! Yum! I just loved the toppings on this cake. It looks so inviting! The cake was speckled with a lot of tasty things, like dried fruits and seeds and nuts. It's going to be sad going home and not being able to eat these dairyfull and glutenous foods, but at the same time it'll be fun experimenting and trying to recreate them into more digestible delicacies :D.
After the demo, I went to a chocolate tasting held by a local bean-to-bar producer! We got to try so many different types of chocolates!! She wanted us to pick out different flavors blindly from three different chocolates at each percentage (60s, 70s, 80s, and 100). So I guess that means we tried 12 different chocolates? :D. I really enjoyed them! Funny enough, the lower quality chocolates (after the big reveal at the end) turned out to be my least favorite ones! I spoke with the woman at the end about shadowing her during production, and she was totally up for it! :D:D:D:D:D:D I have the chocolate bug now after tonight's tasting! What a great thing, chocolate :).
I know I shouldn't have had as much chocolate, seeing as I've been feeling sick all day, but oh well! How many times do you get the chance to go to a chocolate tasting?! I just couldn't pass it up! Surprisingly, I'm feeling okay after it! Tomorrow, we'll have a wine lecture, then we get to learn all about tea and cakes! Woohoo! I can't wait! Tea is such a beautiful thing. Coming here has opened my eyes to the world of delicious tea :D.
Sending lots of love home! <3
Love,
Livvy
I know I shouldn't have had as much chocolate, seeing as I've been feeling sick all day, but oh well! How many times do you get the chance to go to a chocolate tasting?! I just couldn't pass it up! Surprisingly, I'm feeling okay after it! Tomorrow, we'll have a wine lecture, then we get to learn all about tea and cakes! Woohoo! I can't wait! Tea is such a beautiful thing. Coming here has opened my eyes to the world of delicious tea :D.
Sending lots of love home! <3
Love,
Livvy