Isn’t it Ironic…?
TW: I talk about a deceased friend in this post. Please take care.
Saturday
God, I love trains. After a short drive over to the Midleton train station courtesy of Alice, we boarded a locomotive into Cork Central station, a 45-minute journey along rivers and countryside. Thinking about returning to American public transit makes my heart heavy. But! That is a worry for another day. We got to our hotel in Cork, right across the street from the hotel I stayed at during my first night in Cork- therefore, I was a local to the area. After a brief rest, we took to the town and I brought Beau to some pubs. I made him try Beamish and Murphy’s, two Guinness-alternative Irish stouts. He thought they all tasted pretty identical, I prefer Guinness personally. After a few pints, we went to Paradiso, a vegetarian restaurant in Cork with a set tasting menu each night. It was marvelous, from the parts I remember. Beau doesn’t drink that much and I had the brilliant Idea of ordering a bottle of wine for the table so things got fuzzy after our meal, but Beau reports that we had a lovely night walking around town and I even made some friends at one of the pubs we were at. Good to know that when I’m sloshed, I am still polite.
Sunday
The next morning, we went to Proby’s kitchen for brunch. Pat Browne, a former Ballymaloe instructor is the head chef at this establishment and he had done an outstanding job creating a succinct and delicious menu. We ordered three meals to share amongst the two of us. Everything was divine.
After this we walked around exploring and stumbled upon Fort Elizabeth, a military fortress-turned-museum with sweeping views of the entire city. We ran into a fellow Chicagoan who works here as a docent. Say hello to her if you ever stop by!
Later we jaunted across town to see the world famous Butter Museum. I support small businesses… but this museum was a flop. But it turns out this museum is less of a small business and more of a government project, so I actually have no problem talking ill about it. Admission only sets you back five Euro and the little video they show you is interesting, but the rest of the museum just had no personality. I was most looking forward to Butter Museum merch and the only thing they had to offer was postcards that were literally collecting dust. The best part about the Butter Museum was the walk there- we had lovely weather.
After this we went to Franciscan Well brewery for some pints and snacks. Great vibes and great brews. After strolling around town for the rest of the afternoon, it was time to bid Beau a fond farewell as he was off to Dublin to fly back to the land of subpar public transit. Between my Aunt, Uncle, and now Beau. It has been such a joy to show people I care about the place I love so much. When I announced to people I was going to Ireland to study cooking, I got a lot of questions, like “what made me want to disrupt my life so much” and “Why?” Showing people what I’m doing here and the joy it brings feels so much better than any answer I could ever give. Which is also why I’m writing this blog. So thanks for reading!
Monday
We have arrived at our final week… sort of. We have this full week, one more day of instruction on Monday, and then final exams starting Tuesday. This week, I am paired with my final partner, a lovely teammate named Koa, and we have one of my all-time favorite teachers, Jeni. Jeni demonstrates each day what a fantastic leader she is in the kitchen. She finds you at your skill level and pushes you to be better. Today in class I made a beurre blanc. This sauce is tricky because you want to emulsify the butter to the point of the fat binding to liquid in your alcohol to create a delicious, velvety sauce. Managing the temperature of the sauce so as not to “break” the consistency is the key. Meanwhile you have to add your butter at a slow frequency… but not too slow. Super fun stuff. My first attempt was a miss but Jeni gave me the confidence to mount that horse again and we got it right on round two with her watchful eye and expert coaching. Along with that I made a Jalousie, a very fancy pastry that was a joy to present and make it look all pretty (pictured below).
Tuesday
Today I got some really difficult news. One of my best friends from university has been battling a rare condition that causes brain tumors for the last four and a half years. While we all thought his treatment was working and he would be on the mend soon enough, today I got the text that my friend had entered end-of-life hospice care. After sitting in stunned silence for like 20 minutes, I laughed really hard at the coincidence. At this particularly joyful time in my life, I learn suddenly that something very tragic and traumatizing is happening on the other side of the world, and I can’t be there to grieve with anyone about it. So what is there to do? I’m not really sure. Maybe there isn’t anything.
I made a chocolate mousse today and that improved things for me the tiniest bit. It was a really good mousse. Also listening to “Ironic” by Alanis Morisette put a bandaid on it for a little bit.
Wednesday
IT’S CHRISTMAS. Since we won’t be spending the holidays in this very idyllic little slice of the world, we had a Christmas demonstration today hosted by Pam, Queen mother of the demo teaching space and Rachel, our very jolly and bright head-teacher. Of course, I grew up on my own family's holiday traditions which were primarily American in origin, so it was very interesting learning about Irish and British holiday traditions and cuisine. There’s a shocking amount of meat pies and dense fruit cakes. I haven’t had much opportunity to make desserts over the past week, so I made it my mission to make the chocolate yule log they demonstrated at some point over the next few days.
Thursday
Jeni was out today so Richard, the teacher who called me an idiot after I misplaced my puff pastry, was the fill-in today. To show his affection, he called me and my partner “needy little pricks” several times. I made a beef consomme today. A consomme is a clarified broth, usually with beef, that takes several hours to get just right. The goal is to pull out all the flavor from the beef and filter out all the fat and impurities to create? a very clear broth. It was a lot of hoping, praying, and babysitting to make sure that the consomme didn’t boil over which would disrupt the filtration from the beef and the egg whites. Richard told me I did a great job and then told me to “get the feck out.”
That evening, nearly our entire cohort convened at the Sea Church in Ballycotton, an old church transformed into a restaurant and performance venue. One of our classmates was performing with his band and the turn out was exceptional. Nearly everyone from our cohort was there, including several instructors. We danced, we sang, we drank, we were merry. I have a strict rule that I learned from many hungover mornings at my old job: you do not go to a second location on a school night. You can have as much fun as you’d like at the first location you go to, but don’t go to the next bar. No matter how much your friends pressure you, it will be a painful morning.
Friday
It was a painful morning. I had quite a bit of fun at Sea Church and at the risk of sounding braggadocious, I am thrilled to say I didn’t go to the second location. Those who did looked like the walking dead. It was gnarly. With my light hangover, I slogged my way through the morning on coffee, water, and lots of carbs. It wasn’t easy but I pumped out a lamb curry and a white yeast bread. Later that evening there was a pop up charity event happening at the school with ten-Euro pizzas and one-Euro beers. I ate a full pizza, nursed one beer, and tucked myself into bed at a very conservative 9 PM. A week of high highs and devastatingly low lows. Just one more week of this little slice of the world. Stay tuned!
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