From 3rd to 6th May, the Ballymaloe team hosted first ever Ballymaloe Literary Festival of Food and Wine. On Thursday, just 1 day before the opening of the festival I've received a message from "Food and Wine" magazine that I was the lucky winner of a VIP pass, which allowed me to attend any of the events taking place during the festival. The prize was sponsored by "Foods of Spain" and the Spanish Embassy. It was a fantastic surprise and I was delighted!! Unfortunately, due to our busy work schedule, we couldn't get to the festival on Saturday but we decided to leave for Ballymaloe very early on Sunday morning. It took us just over two hours to get to Midleton. I must say the signposting for Ballymaloe is pretty terrible but after taking a few wrong turns and having to ask a few passers-by for directions, we finally arrived at the Ballymaloe House.
We started with a little stroll around the Ballymaloe House, shop and cafe.
After our walk we visited the Big Shed where lots of free events were taking place throughout the weekend. With live music, farmers market food stalls, craft corner, wine talks and tastings, book signings and many other activities, the place was buzzing. Looking at all the delicious food has made us hungry, so we decided to sample some Spanish food from Silvia Iglesias Hilara Spanish Food stall (after all it was the Spanish Embassy that sponsored my VIP pass!) and some lovely apple juice from Mealagulla Orchards.
After our little lunch, we decided to have a look at the cookery school, farm shop and gardens. I would love to do the 12-week certificate course at Ballymaloe at some stage (still saving for it!) and was curious to see the school and student cottages.
The cookery school is located in the middle of its own 100-acre organic farm. The gardens surrounding the school are wonderful and the school itself is modern and well-equipped. It would be such a fantastic experience to be able to spend 3 months here. Who knows, maybe next year?
There were many workshops, talks and demonstrations taking place during the festival and I was able to attend one of the most exciting cookery demonstrations with three past Ballymaloe students: Rachel Allen, Thomasina Miers and Stevie Parle.
Thomasina Miers is an English cook, writer and TV presenter. In 2005 she won the British MasterChef. Thomasina is the founder of the "Wahaca" chain of Mexican diners.
Stevie worked in some of the best restaurants in England, opened his own "Dock Kitchen" and has written 3 award winning cookery books.
And finally - Rachel Allen. Rachel is an Irish celebrity chef, known for her work on television and as a writer, she also teaches at the Ballymaloe School. Rachel Allen is one of my favourite Irish celebrity chefs and there will be a separate post about her.
The demonstration was absolutely amazing: funny and educational. The chefs have shown us how to make:
Caramelised scallop, avocado and orange salad with spices
Luxurious chicken liver toasts
Easy goat's cheese souffles with spiced almond crust
Chicken roasted in pomegranate molasses&mastic with braised broad beans
Asparagus thoran
Lemongrass coconut cake
Dulce de leche cake
Madeleines
We were able to sample all of the dishes after the demonstration. Everything was delicious but suprisingly, my favourite dish was the goat's cheese souffle (I don't really like goat's cheese) and that will be the first dish on my "to re-create at home" list.
The demonstration finished at 6pm, we spent another hour doing a bit of shopping (stocking up on Ballymaloe Country Relish, lovely olive oil and spices) and as we had to be back to work the next morning, we decided to drive back to Dublin.
I had a really great day and I am only sorry that we couldn't stay longer...Thanks very much to all involved, thank you "Food of Spain" for the fantastic prize and last but not least: thank you Mr PB for driving me to Cork and spending the day there with me.
No comments:
Post a Comment