It's a long way to Ballymaloe

I know the song is actually "It's a long way to Tipperary" but it also applies to Ballymaloe. I left the house Friday August 1st at 9 am. I don't normally check luggage but for 5 weeks, I thought that I would need a little more clothing plus I had to bring a whole chef coats, pants and shoes. The flights were all on time and uneventful. Edmonton Toronto, Toronto Dublin arriving at 8:00 am Dublin time making it in 15 minutes early. I think I even slept a little on the Toronto to Dublin flight. After a little wait, a coffee and some food I caught the bus from the airport to Cork. It arrived in Cork punctually. Spoke my pigeon French to a Chilean lady sitting beside me on the plane. I showed her my holiday photos from my Chilean trip and thought she would start crying. She has lived in Ireland for a few years and was obviously homesick. A French Canadian introduced himself to me. He said you speak French like Mark Carney you must be English Canadian. I wandered around Cork a little before catching another bus onto Middleton. Middleton was a very pretty country town with a main street full of businesses and a wonderful Super Market. I even sat in their down park as it was so well maintained and there were no ne 'er do wells. I stayed in a very pleasant cottage Air BnB with Muriel. Muriel had 4 kidney transplants due to mesangiocapillary glomerulonephritis. Fortunately the 4th kidney had been really good and had lasted 28 years. Muriel fed me breakfast in the morning and drove me onto the school which was ever so kind of her.

I have now had 2 days at Ballymaloe Cooking School. I arrived quite early so after checking in, I walked down to the Irish sea which is only 25 minutes from the beach. It was a beautiful sunny day so I even ventured into the water for a swim. It's a real treat to swim in the salt water when you come from Edmonton. I felt 5 years younger. Sunday night we had an introductory supper. Today Monday we had a tour of the farm grounds. It is a very impressive operation. They have dairy, pigs, chickens, a brand new very large greenhouse and multiple fields of produce. They are totally organic so no herbicides, pesticides or non natural fertilizer. They have a massive composting operation so they don't have to rely on fertilizers. Talk about a lot of work. This afternoon we had our first cooking class. Rory brother of Dorina Allen demonstrated to us how to cook 5 of the recipes some of which we will have to make tomorrow morning. I learned some interesting things in general about cooking and hopefully will remember some of the things for tomorrow. It was a long day as we didn't finish until 5:15. I walked over to a little shop 10 minutes from the school to buy some provisions for sandwiches for supper. After all the eating today I didn't really need much to tide me over for supper. I walked down to the sea for another dip. It was a little cooler and overcast so it was a shorter dip.

My accommodations are quite pleasant. I am sharing a house with 8 other people. I have my own large bedroom with ensuite. Lots of other foodies to talk to. We are the more mature students while the younger university types are in some cottages closer to the school.Read more