Food in Provence (and elsewhere)

Probably not an inspiring title for a post, but that’s what it feels like looking back on the day. I had assigned recipes (a broad bean leaf broth and a cherry, pistachio & coconut cake), I added in ice cream because a) I had time, b) I thought it might go with the cake and c) I’m thinking about an olive oil ice cream for the final menu so some practice seemed a good idea. And things went mostly to plan. The big failure was putting my bowl for the ice cream in a fridge rather than the freezer so it was a little too soft when I served it. But otherwise things were fine. Indeed, as I had some time to spare, Florrie, my teacher today, suggested I take a few minutes to make an omelette. Which I did, but French-style and pale rather than a well-browned Ballymaloe one!

Probably the more interesting thing is the discussions about the pop up dinner. This could probably have been better organised by the school—more time for us to discuss amongst ourselves would have been good. Knowing from the beginning, for example, that there would be a need for the head chef and maitre d’ roles for the pop up dinner as well as team leads for different areas might have led to a better gender balance. Males have the two key roles in a cohort that is 80% female… It’s still not clear either how the menu will fit with the nostalgia theme. I suggested madeleines should feature but that seems to have split opinions.

I’ll also have to see about my final menu plan. Pam, one of the school organisers, seems to think my idea of substituting olive oil for butter is going too far off the beaten track; we have to stick to the written recipes. But she at least liked my general idea and said she’d discuss with Rory. A suivre…

FInally, here’s the picture of my sauerkraut to make up for the one I didn’t take yesterday. Not much difference really, although the frothy layer was more prominent yesterday.