Polish Easter

Easter is major holiday in Poland, and Easter celebrations are not limited to Easter Sunday. Easter-related traditions take place for more than a week in Poland. From Palm Sunday to Wet Monday, this period is marked with religious rites and practices with their origins in pagan times.

Buffet

A buffet is a system of serving meals in which food is placed in a public area where the diners generally serve themselves. Buffets are offered at various places including hotels and many social events.

MONDAY is baking day with chef Norbert Thul

Every Monday we improve our baking skills.

Ballymaloe Country House and Cookery School

This year Ballymaloe House is delighted to be celebrating 50 years in business. In June of 1964, Myrtle Allen first opened the Yeats Room at Ballymaloe, offering guests the opportunity to 'Dine in an Irish Country House'.

Wednesdays with Chef Quinn

On Wednesday Chef Quinn brought in a surprise... a pheasant. He demonstrated how to gut it and the smell wasn't too pleasant.

  

 

Spring Veg demo

There maybe a chill in the air but spring is officially here.The days are longer,its starting to feel warmer and there is an abundance of ingredients coming into their seasonal best. Chef Arnold from L'Atmosphere showed us the best ways to cook with spring veg.

Rachel Allen shows support for GROW HQ

At a fundraising cookery demonstration celebrity chef Rachel Allen praised the vision of GROW HQ, GIY's proposed national food education center which will be base in Waterford and is due to open next year. The TV and Ballymaloe chef was at Dooley's Hotel for a very special " GROW, COOK, EAT" event.

An interview with her is here http://content.yudu.com/Library/A2skuz/MyWaterfordAprilMaga/resources/index.htm   page 24/25

Chef of the day in production kitchen

Last week me and the other students were on duties to be chef of the day.Our responsibilities were to decide who will be working on which section, create the menu and organize everything from making orders to ensure that the kitchen was cleaned up after service.There was carvery lunch.

                                                                      Starters

                                                      Tomato and Roasted pepper soup
                                           Goats cheese and walnut Salad, with beetroot,
                                                            raspberry dressing

Ireland boasts some of the finest cheeses in the world.

When I was researching for the project I discovered  a lot of interesting thing about Irish food. I like Irish cheeses but I didn't know that there is so many cheese makers and cheese brands in Ireland.

The history of Irish farmstead cheeses is an ancient story.  The Irish word for cheese – cáis – is itself an ancient term, and throughout Irish history milk and milk products – referred to as ban-bhia, or white-meats – were central to the traditional Irish diet.

BORD BIA OPENS DUBAI OFFICE

Reflecting the expected market opportunities in the region, Bord Bia has opened a new Middle East regional office in Dubai. Michael Hussey will be the Middle East Manager for Bord Bia Dubai and he is confident that Irish companies can take advantage of the demand for food in the region. “I
think there is a lot more potential in the region for Irish exports. It’s a very affluent market with a very young population. Bord Bia expects population growth will play a significant role in the surge in demand for food and food imports in the GCC region. At the turn of the century there were 28.5 million people living in the GCC member states according to UN statistics. By 2010, this had increased to 44.5
million people, a 56 per cent increase in population in one decade. By 2020 it is forecast the population in GCC members will exceed 50 million people. “It’s a very young, vibrant population.”

PROJECT ABOUT IRELAND

Last Wednesday our lecture chef Michael Quinn gave us a project to do.We all got different countries to write about their history of food,regions,classic dishes and famous chefs.We also had to choose three typical dishes from that country and cook them for our classmates in own station at WIT.That was a fantastic experience because some students got very exotic regions like India, Middle East, Tunisia , Morocco. We discovered must-eat dishes of each country. I got Ireland and was a little scared. Imagine a polish girl cooking traditional Irish dishes for Irish people. I found it quite challenging but at the end I was happy with the results. I decided to prepare Colcannon soup as a starter, Lamb Shank in Guinness sticky sauce with Champ and two desserts: Apple Tart and Bailey's Cheesecake.

Another Tuesday in Production Kitchen

Starter

Cod and Salmon Terrine

     

Main Course

Pork Belly with Carrot pure, Smoked Apple and warm cider.

COME BACK AFTER CHRISTMAS...

We just came back after the Christmas break and our timetable has changed.
Monday is baking day and on Tuesday we are in the production kitchen where we have a chance to practice and cook new dishes. Some of them are very fancy.
Below are a few examples of what we prepared on our first day in the production kitchen


STARTER
CHICKEN AND APRICOT TERRINE

ALMOST 70% OF SMALL FOOD BUSINESSES EXPECT BUSINESS TO GROW IN 2014

According to a recent Bord Bia food industry survey (December 2013), small Irish food businesses are
optimistic about their growth prospects with 67 per cent of those surveyed expecting business to
grow in 2014, while almost half increased their turnover in 2013.