"Basic ingredients are terribly important."

Day one at the cookery school is complete, and wow, what a day it was! I'm exhausted but in the best way possible. Thinking back to breakfast this morning seems like a life time ago, could be to do with the fact that I woke up at 4:30, (damn jet lag!). But, really, I think more than anything it has to do with what a great day it was, everyone we have met so far has so much knowledge on the things that I feel so strongly about, I am here to submerge myself into The Ballymaloe Culture and absorb as much as I possibly can over the twelve weeks here.

After doing as much research as possible before booking to come, I had a pretty good idea of what to expect in terms of the ingredients that would be used here, but this morning at breakfast and again at lunch, I was shocked to see just how much they can get locally or grow on their own here -- in the middle of winter! Jersey cream / buttermilk from the cows, cumquats from the tree in one of the dining rooms, heirloom tomatoes from the glass house in the summer which were pureed and preserved for the winter in our soup at lunch, eggs from the chickens, the old hens go into the stock pot... You get my point. Leeks, scallions, onions, shallots, romanesco, beets, carrots, kale, rocket, Jerusalem artichokes, turnip, radish, daikon, and other various lettuces and herbs, all growing either on the farm or in the glass house right now.

We had a quick (but lovely) breakfast this morning before heading out in the misty rain to begin our tour of the farm and gardens, the rain ended up stopping us from getting to see the entire farm, but we made it to the glass house, when you walk in you are hit with this incredible smell, soil, herbs, vegetation, such good smells. Tim talked about sowing a seed, taking a root cutting vs. stem cutting, and then we all got to plant our very own seedling that we will get to care for during the course. At the end of the glasshouse was a table with all of the lovely veg I mentioned above out for us all to see, and Darina got Haulie (head gardener’s) knife, and started to cut everything up into bite size pieces for us all to try - talk about fresh, talk about delicious.

After the rain got in the way of our tour, we came back in and each student introduced themselves, there are 12 different nationalities on the course, which is pretty neat. Very interesting to hear the different backgrounds, many people here for a career change, and lots who just love to cook. Many people who "hated" their jobs, and were completely miserable, so they packed it in and came here -- that takes some courage. Darina said that she thinks the North Americans have it the worst because in the months leading up to leaving they constantly hear, "Ireland... For COOKING school? Why would you ever go there? What do they know about food....?" Isn't that the truth, I got used to it and quickly stopped answering the question.

Then it was time for lunch, a bowl of tomato soup (many of you know my feelings on tomatoes, but this soup was so nice), followed by a plate of various things… Chicken liver pate, smoked mussels, smoked salmon, smoked mackerel, prawns, cucumber pickle, tomato salad, olives, home made mayonnaise, deviled eggs, a scallion, rocket, and a piece of aubergine with salami.

Back into the demo kitchen we had our first demo, which thankfully started with things that are familiar to me - although, I am sure once I am in the kitchen at the school and not the kitchen on Mead Court, things may be different - will let you know tomorrow. Chicken stock, veg stock, stock syrup, flavoured syrups (rosemary!), homemade lemonades, basic vegetable soup technique (1 cup of onion, 1 cup of potato, 3 cups of any veg you wish, 5 cups of stock), carrot and cumin soup, mushroom a la crème, roux, oatmeal biscuits (flapjacks!), soda bread, rice pudding, spiced fruit and homemade candied peel. The afternoon ended at 5:30 with Darina showing us how to pluck various birds, welcome to Ballymaloe!

Tomorrow morning is the first day in the kitchen, so I am off to bed.

"Basic ingredients are terribly important." Darina Allen – she had many other fabulous tips and quotes today, that I will try and add into my next blog post.

The courtyard!	My home for the next 12 weeks!	The kitchen at The White Cottage.
Chef's whites!	Pheasant anyone?	Teal duck, wood pigeon, pheasant, and snipe all shot by a local yesterday.
My ensuite.	Hazelnut room.	My bed!
Lunch!	The sitting room at The White Cottage.	Rainy day farm walk.