Exams!! I thought I was finished with all of that stuff, cramming, panicking, writing notes its all happening again! Week 6 has started and all the talk is about the mid term herb and technique exam that takes place on Friday afternoon.
The last week has flown by and I have neglected this blog terribly. Week 5 finished off quite nicely, strawberry jam and granary bread were the highlights, some of the low points were trying to fillet Monkfish and bean stews (which i just cant seem to get enthused about!). It has to be said however, that I thoroughly enjoyed week 5 and suffered none of the expected doldrums that we had heard so much about. We also made some amazing fish dishes including a Monkfish curry and a fantastic spicy tomato fish dish that I recreated in Belfast on the weekend, who would have thought that great food could be so easy to make? The weekend was spent in Belfast as we had an extra day off due to the public holiday here in Ireland on Monday, so 3 days of eating drinking and taking the dog for walks was amazing fun and it also gave me a chance for a little extra practice! My friend Davey came round on Sunday night after his trip to Jakarta, with possibly the funniest story about being "felt up" by an Indonesian woman on the plane out. Almost as funny was the slap across the face he received when the woman was trying to wake him up as food was being served! For those of you who know him, a phone call to listen to the story is recommended.
I arrived back in Cork (not so sunny anymore) yesterday and headed straight for the herb garden to brush up on my knowledge and then early to bed to prepare for the days cooking. Today went really quite well, I made Ballymaloe Irish Stew, white yeast bread (which you have to plait), sea salt and pepper bread sticks, white rolls and shortbread biscuits. All in all it turned out quite well and I was pretty happy with my days toil. This afternoon I was introduced to pumpkin risotto, vegetable curries and 2 amazing tarts which you make upside down. So Thursday will be risotto followed by apple and fudge tart on my menu.
The end of the week is a little bittersweet, on a positive note Davey is coming down for the weekend, however firstly I must negotiate the dreaded test. Now I can hear all of you saying, "its only cooking" but let me tell you, trying to learn 14 different varieties of herbs and about 10 different salad leaves by sight and taste is no easy feat. Not to mention the 4 or 5 different skills that you have to demonstrate to the teacher whilst they stare blankly as you try to look for help! So this week I will be buying cheap chickens to joint, fish to fillet and onions to sweat, in the vain hope that some of what I have learnt has stuck and I won't look like a fool on Friday. Very much looking forward to the first pint on Friday night and the Halloween party on Saturday!
So, I am almost halfway and I think that I may have learnt some things, will let you know after Friday if it has been enough! Wine tasting tomorrow morning at 9.30am and then Tapas demonstration tomorrow afternoon, cant wait!
T
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