Week four see`s us going on our first college trip. So its off to “The Banner” for us. Clare…one of the nicest counties in Ireland. I have to be a little biased because i`m from there. So our first stop on the road to banterville is St. Tola Goats Cheese. Being from Clare and working in the industry for 18 or so years you`d think i`d have visited here before, but that`s not the case. Having being using St. Tola cheese for many years and slowly acquiring a taste for both their regular goats cheese and their ash log it was good see how it was produced. “Farm to Fork” so to speak. Grainne gave a good talk on how the cheese is made from start to finish and was really interesting. Then we had a walk around the farm and we seen the goats and the production line. Where they are milked, where the milk goes and how the cheese is made an shaped. Thoroughly enjoyed this visit.

Then it was off to Wild Irish Sea Veg where they collect and produce seaweed. The Talty`s are one of only five families to be allowed to pick and produce their own seaweed products. They are fourth generation seaweed harvesters. Evan gave us a tour of their production areas and brought us down to the beach to explain the different types of seaweed and how and where they harvest it. Enjoyable.

So we arrived in Lehinch and we stopped in Danny Mac`s for lunch and a pint. Not the best lunch i`ve had but also not the worst lunch i`ve had!! Got the steak sambo, meat was a bit tough to be fair. I did however enjoy the pint, but one was enough.

Our next stop is the Moyhill Community Farm. Run by a few locals and a few Krusty`s. Is that term ok to use?!? But anyway that`s my own opinion. Not as enjoyable as the 2 previous visits but very informative none the less. Good set up at the farm though, where people come to the farm collect their crate of vegetables and leave back the empty crate from the last visit. It`s 100% organic and they pride themselves on this.

Last stop on the trip is The Burren Smokehouse. Was really looking forward to visiting here, but unfortunately it was a bit of a disappointment for me.  I liked the idea of seeing how they smoke the fish but it was a 15 minute video followed by a brief talk and then a sample of the smoked fish the do there and out the gap then. I was expecting more, that was not to be tho.!!!

All in all it was a good day, the views were amazing (as always in Clare😏) the visits were interesting and it was good to get a reminder of the west coast as it had been a few years since i had been up there.

So i`ll catch ye on the flip side, chat soon and ciao ciao..

Hey there…..

So week three was the event “Pigtown” in the LIT restaurant “Taste”. It went as smooth as we all thought it would. Interesting day where we all started at 2 o clock and we were flat to the mat until service started. I do love the buzz of a service. Its the easiest part of this course for me. So here is a picture of our dessert.

So feedback was positive which is a major plus. Interesting evening for all involved. Service was a success. So we can all go home proud of what we have done and a pat on the back is well deserved 😁. Its back to the grind now… work will be busy the weekend and obviously need to stay on top of the college work aswell.

so until next time… Adios….

Hola people,

So the second week of blogging is here. Interesting week, with work,college and everyday life. Where do i start.?!!?

Since i was last here i`ve  put down a few hard days at work. As it was before i started my journey back into the college world, work was its usual crazy busy. Between groups,restaurant,buffets and afternoon tea we certainly earned our wages this week.  Good to see things are not slowing down in work at the moment. Good for the company..yes, Good for the staff, i`m not so sure. I think at this stage of the season everyone is looking forward to the 3-4 week lull we get after the october bank holiday weekend. Just for the break really. Before we hit the extra busy christmas period!!! Its been a tough year all round for every department. Mainly because of staffing issues. It seems to be harder to get quality chefs in the last number of years. I`m not saying their not out there but they are few and far between. That`s my own opinion though.

Back to college so. Not so busy week this week. The “Pigtown” event is on this week (wed 26th sept). Catering for numbers between 35-40 people. Monday was a prep day for us. I have been chosen for the pastry element of the menu. Along with my two compatriots eimear and christine. Each taking a different element on the dish to prepare. This seems like the easier part of the course for me (the practical side) because i`ve been doing it for so long. We are probably 75% ready for the service apart from a few small elements which can only be done on the day. Not to fear though, as we will be ready to rock early. I have the utmost confidence in us.

Our dish, as it says on the menu :- Honey,Plum,Almond.

Consists of a Honey Cake,Sous Vidé Poached Plums, Compressed Plum filled with a Plum and Brandy compoté,Plum Gel and a Honey and Almond Praline Ice Cream. Sounds delish, does`nt it..!!! When you marry all the flavours in your mouth it`s amazing. As a good friend of mine described a dish before “its like two angels making love on your tongue”.

In my next post i`ll elaborate how the service went. More to follow………

Hey peoples,

So its been an interesting 2 weeks so far. I hav`nt seen the inside of a college in 18 years!! Which is a little daunting but exciting at the same time. Sometimes a little over-whelming but i know in the future i will reap the rewards of coming back to college.

The first week was easy enough,getting to know people on the course and the guidelines for modules. Some classes i have never done before and that kind of puts me in a bit of a panic! Eventually i will get the grasp of things though.

I have been working in the industry for the last 20 years. Spending the majority of that time (13 years) in the 5 star Dromoland Castle hotel. This has been the basis for my training over the years. Which i  have worked in every section of the kitchen. Starting on breakfast as a commis chef when i was 19 and fresh out of college, thinking i was quite a good chef. I was not long put in my place. This taught me discipline and a more efficient way of working. To which i have the utmost gratitude to certain people back then who helped me along my journey to where i am today.

I then moved to the larder section after 6 months,followed by fish(which i struggled on the first time around) and then to the meat section. I spent 2 1/2 years there and grafted hard and put my head down.I seemed to find my feet on the meat section and it felt like there was a flow to my work. Almost like i could do it with my eyes closed.

This boosted my confidence and when i was finally moved back to the fish section it seemed easier. I was finally happy in my job when it was like second nature to me.

So then came pastry. The hardest but also the easiest section to work. Follow a recipie and you cant go wrong. NEVER deviate from the recipie or you risk going down a slippery slope to disaster. And belive me i have been there..! It is not fun times..

But i liked pastry and the creativity it has, so much so that i have been doing it for the last 9 years. My bakery was always good, but the pastry side of it was very basic. Over the years i have fine tuned my flavour pairings and my plating skills. So much that i got a promotion to pastry sous chef. Which again i have to thank my extremely talented head pastry chef.

So here i am today, taking my career to a different level and so far loving it. Fingers crossed it all works out, which i`m sure it will. That`s a little bit about me over the last few years, so its onward and upward from here..!!!

Adios people.

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton