I’ve been home for a week and a half now and it’s back to normal life, work and a house covered in cat hair. I’m very glad to be back though, I missed it a lot.
I have grand plans to do lots of baking and things, so I will get back to blogging soon – hopefully with recipes and pictures and all that jazz.
Bear with me!
I’ve officially finished school! Exams are done, things are packed, all that remains is our farewell dinner at Ballymaloe house (and obligatory after-dinner visit to the pub).
My exams went ok I think. The practical wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be, up to the point where I had to get everything together for serving. Then I went a bit nervous and confused, but I pulled it all together and I think it looked pretty good. I had to make white yeast bread rolls as well, which turned out well (very good dough). I was very proud of how my dessert looked – I’m not very good at presentation but it was very pretty.
Written exams were a lot harder than expected. All the things we thought they wouldn’t ask were asked and there were a lot of very strange questions as well. I think I did ok though, as long as they can read my horrible scrawl.
All in all, I don’t think there’s any question of me not passing, but I think all hopes of a distinction are out of the window. A ‘highly commended’ would be lovely, but I’m not confident. I just have to wait 2 months now for my results.
Everyone in our house seems to be tidying or organising the kitchen and I seem to be getting out of it. There are benefits to being the youngest – everyone thinks you’re a bit useless at stuff like that! I did ask if they needed any help and they said no, so I feel justified!
Right, off to get ready for dinner now. Must try not to drink too much booze – dinner at the Tannery tomorrow and I’m very excited. Don’t want to be hungover and ruin it!
I’m going home!
One of the students organised an awesome beach barbeque for us all as a thank you to the staff and as our first farewell party.We had spit-roasted piglet which was yummy, although a bit disturbing watching it being prepared!
The piglet is prepared
Poor piggy
The sun finally comes out!
We got the results of our wine exam yesterday – 83%! Yes, really. I have no idea how I did it and I don’t feel particularly knowledgeable about wine, but clearly something stuck. EIGHTY THREE PERCENT. Shocking stuff.
Our penultimate week meant I was back in the demo kitchen, which is very calm and quiet compared to the others. On Thursday I made Paul Flynn’s glazed pork belly with celeriac and potato mash and my teacher (and I quote) said “thank you for the best plate of food I’ve had in ages” (end quote)! High praise. It was a lovely recipe though, I’ll definitely be doing it again. Perhaps with less butter in the mash – they really, really like their butter here. I also made some truffles, lobster in cream sauce, puff pastry (2nd time – not as good as my first attempt) and rack of lamb. There were a few other things but I can’t remember them right now. We also got the recipe for one of the nicest truffles I’ve ever eaten which have a raspberry hidden in the middle and are just gorgeous. Definitely going to be experimenting with that one when I get home.
We have one more morning of cooking, 2 more demos, exams and then we’re finished! It’s weird to think a week tomorrow I’ll be on my way home, but I’m looking forward to it and I’ve got lots of new ideas and experiments to be getting on with. I would like to start filling my blank recipe book and need to start getting recipes from other people as well. I’m also excited to find out just how much I’ve actually learned.
Right, I’m off to practice making raspberry sauce, chicken, mayo and everything else for my practical. There is no way I’m getting all of it done in 3 hours. I also need to practice my presentation, it’s not my strong point. Then I’m going to try to revise some theory and file some notes. Fun, fun, fun!
So I did a wine exam this morning… I have no idea whether I passed or failed to be honest. I completely blanked on anything to do with wine styles, grape varieties and ‘homelands’ (basically all of the stuff I wanted to learn), but managed to remember the less useful things like how sherry is made.
I need 60% to pass and I really have no idea if I’ve done it or not. Fingers crossed. It doesn’t have any bearing on our food certificate though, so it won’t be too much of a disaster if I’ve failed. Just as long as I can get through the practical cookery exam. Which is a week today. Oh god.