Post Ballymaloe

Life after Ballymaloe – it might sound weird, most people that have done the course will get what it’s like and be able to relate to the fact that it’s hard to adjust back to reality after being at Ballymaloe. Twelve weeks really isn’t that long, but twelve weeks can change a person, that’s for sure. In some ways, I feel like you really have to do the course to fully understand how much of an impact it can have, to understand how much you can learn in twelve weeks, and to really just understand what Ballymaloe is all about.

I haven’t read my entire blog from start to finish, but I’ve read a few… I have just finished reading the blog I wrote after St. Patrick’s Day, “As we were enjoying our tasty treats Darina, Hazel and Rory Allen (Tim’s sister in law and brother), chatted to us about the history of Ballymaloe, about how Mrs. Allen started the restaurant and the hotel, and about the impact she has had on food. Rory said something that really stuck with me, if you find something that you love, it will come easily to you. Which is common sense, but it’s something that so many people don’t live by. I’ve said it before, it is so hard to explain the experience of being here at Ballymaloe, but all of the people you chat with along the way, have the same simple message – it IS about the simple things in life (from the ingredients that you cook with, to everyday life), doing something you love, being passionate about what you do, and that you can do anything you set your mind to if you just get up and do it. How inspiring is it to be surrounded by people who have done this, and who have done it so successfully?”

It is crazy to think I’ve only been gone for seven weeks, already, that feeling of inspiration is starting to slip away. When you’re not surrounded by people who live by the same values as you, who are passionate about good food, sharing good food, and teaching good food, it is hard to stay on the right track and think that positively, but I am trying, as are most people I am in touch with form the course.

Sine I’ve been home everyone asks me the same questions… “Why Ireland? Why Ballymaloe?” I also get asked a lot, “Was it worth it? Did I get everything I wanted to out of the course?”

Why Ireland? Well… Ireland because that’s where Ballymaloe is, it’s as simple as that. For me when I thought about going to cooking school, it was so important that it was at a place that thinks about food in the way I do.

Why Ballymaloe? Ballymaloe has the ethos that I try to live by, by doing the course I feel more encouraged to constantly continue to learn about gardening, cooking, sharing good food, and of course wine!

Was it worth it? Without a doubt it was worth every single penny. I don’t know if in my life I will ever spend that kind of money and get so much out of something again.

Did I get everything out of it that I wanted to? Yes, and more. It’s funny to look back now, and as I spend more and more time in the kitchen, I realize JUST how much I learned. I am a more confident cook than I realized even when I left Ballymaloe. When you have a teacher beside you, it’s easy to fall back on them for support and help, even if you know the answer, they are there, so you ask. I can make some pretty tasty food, and make choices and decisions about what to do next and it ends with a great result. I knew how to cook before I left, of course I did…. But Ballymaloe instills the basic skills of the kitchen, often the “forgotten skills” of what makes good simple food. Ballyamloe isn’t about crazy new ideas, or reinventing the wheel, or weird random combinations of food. It’s about good, simple ingredients, being put together to produce delicious food. Often I think that can be the most difficult part of cooking, and after being at Ballymaloe surrounded by some of the most talented people, I feel more confident and know that food is me, sounds silly, but it’s the truth.

What’s next? I have no idea really… I have ideas constantly swimming around my head, so now… It’s just finding the idea that I will keep coming back to, and pursing it. Thankfully I can keep myself busy in the kitchen in the mornings before work, and on weekends. So until I find that perfect idea, at least I’m cooking… I am trying to perfect my sour dough again, but am struggling like mad… Going to try again tonight, hoping it will work. It is crazy to see how many different things can affect different bits of cooking, but the sour dough is the one that has thrown me the most… Different flours, water, altitude, climate, and of course ovens. Fingers crossed I get there soon with it.

After making a rather delicious Cottage Pie for dinner one night with piped spuds and all, I thought, why couldn’t I sell these? So, I’m in the beginning stages of recipe testing a few different pies, soups, and sauces, sorting out containers and pricing… We shall see what happens!

I wish I had been able to jump on a plane this weekend and head back to Ireland for Litfest, which is a foodie’s heaven in terms of a food festival, held at Ballymaloe every May. I cannot wait to go next year. I miss Ireland a lot, it’s funny though, what I miss is the availability of great ingredients – okay, it helped that I was living on an organic farm and going to cooking school, I miss the way there is so much support for local producers, I miss the structure of it all, okay, and of course I miss the people too! It sounds cheesy (I loathe that word), but Ireland and Ballymaloe changed the way I look at life, emphasized what is important to me, and has left me feeling inspired to do something to prove to people that good, healthy, simple, delicious and nutritious food, isn’t too expensive, often takes very little time, and can be loads of fun.

Recently there was a link to 23 Anthony Bourdain quotes going around Facebook, here are a few of my favourites.

 

“Good food is very often, even most often, simple food.”

 

“You learn a lot about someone when you share a meal together.”

“There’s something wonderful about drinking in the afternoon. A not-too-cold pint, absolutely alone at the bar – even in this fake-ass Irish pub.”  — But a real Irish pub would obviously be better.

 

“But I do think the idea that basic cooking skills are a virtue, that the ability to feed yourself and a few others with proficiency should be taught to every young man and woman as a fundamental skill, should become as vital to growing up as learning to wipe one’s own ass, cross the street by oneself, or be trusted with money.”