Letters on Lunches: Ballymaloe Diary, Weeks 2 & 3

May 06, 2008

Ballymaloe Diary, Weeks 2 & 3

So, I've another two weeks down and soooooo much done. We've made cakes, marmalades, chutneys, breads, gutted fish, jointed chickens, butchered lambs, plucked fowl and skinned rabbits. Ooh rabbit skinning; it's not for the faint hearted at all at all. Imagine how I felt when I saw a dead bunny urinate on one of my fellow classmates; animal rights activists may assume I was moved by the beauty of nature in life and death, everyone else may assume I almost urinated myself from laughing at said event!

We were also introduced to the seriously enthusiastic German butcher, Philip Denhart who basically slid through half a lamb carcass with the smallest boning knife and very little effort. We were taught that you don't actually need a power saw to butcher an animal. He's also a dairy enthusiast and demonstrated butter and cheese making and I heard through the grapevine that he bakes cupcakes (modelled on the Magnolia Bakery recipe) for a local farmer's market. Mental note: must try cupcakes.

Celebrity coeliac chef, Rosemary Kearney was in to demonstrate some of her amazing, coeliac friendly recipes and I also spent an evening working in the kitchen at Ballymaloe House. When I say worked, I mean I loitered around the kitchens for a few hours, plagued the chefs with questions and tasted as many of the dishes on the menu as I could. I left fed & happy.

Onto food tasting and you'll be glad to hear I'm not balooning in size - we're treated to the best of food but most people are mindful of portion control. I also go walking in the evenings which isn't such a chore due to the breath-taking scenery.

It's getting close to cooking time here so I'd better sign off for know....

Posted at 08:39 AM in Ballymaloe | Permalink