We didn't get a chance to cook today because it was lecture day, sadly. I still really enjoyed the small cooking demonstration and wine lecture! In the 12 week Ballymaloe Course we apparently will get a chance to learn a whole lot about wine and listen to winemakers come or Skype in and give presentations! Before the lectures started this morning, though, I woke up even earlier to tour the gardens with Darina's husband Tim Allen, and plant my lettuce plant in the greenhouse. It's a great idea - they have us plant something and watch it grow throughout the course, which will coincide as well with our own growth as a chef and a person. :) I guess here's the before picture:
In the wine lecture, we learned about Chardonnay - a white wine that must be grown with the Chardonnay variety of grape. Apparently France now has some competition with Australia in producing exquisite wines! Who'd have thought! I didn't mind the flavor of both nationalities when we got to try them, but I think the French Chablis edged out the Australian Chardonnay for me.
I've been getting up so early this week with such little sleep that I apologize for what might be an random blog post! Lunch today was prepared for us by the instructors here while we were learning about wines. What an array of different foods there were! We had some local pheasant, eggplant and curry, some sort of white fish, and various small salads (like cabbage and raisin). I didn't get any good pictures, sadly, because I was at the end of the line (or "queue" as they say here). The desserts afterwards were really tasty, and I DID get a picture of those! They make their own ice cream here from raw Jersey Cow cream! It deceptively looks like cheesecake too :).
I've been getting up so early this week with such little sleep that I apologize for what might be an random blog post! Lunch today was prepared for us by the instructors here while we were learning about wines. What an array of different foods there were! We had some local pheasant, eggplant and curry, some sort of white fish, and various small salads (like cabbage and raisin). I didn't get any good pictures, sadly, because I was at the end of the line (or "queue" as they say here). The desserts afterwards were really tasty, and I DID get a picture of those! They make their own ice cream here from raw Jersey Cow cream! It deceptively looks like cheesecake too :).
After lunch, we had an extremely long, 3 hour lecture (or at least it FELT really long) on fire safety and also food hygiene, which are both undeniably important to understand if you're working in a kitchen. After the full day of learning, I was finally able to stretch my legs and go on a run. Again, the scenery was beautiful!!! I took some pictures in the garden afterwards and worked on my flower photography (inspired by my AWESOME sister, Lucy :D). Here are my favorites:
Well I guess that wraps it up for the day! I can't believe it has only been a week - it feels like we've done so much in that time!! Tomorrow we get another chance to cook on our own, so I'll see how that goes!
Until tomorrow,
Livvy
Until tomorrow,
Livvy