Day 58: Afternoon Tea and Bickies...

Wednesdays, you know when I started the course, I thought Wednesdays would be a comfortable day because we just sit in on lectures all day. Nothing to it, right? Well, no, not quite. Today was like a high speed train as we went through a world of cheeses, then went onto do a long list of canapé recipes, before driving down to Ballymaloe House for a tour and some afternoon tea.

The morning started off with a few Limoncellos; Rhubarb Gin recipes and Cherry Brandy to wet the palate. Then we went straight into cheeses from Rocamadour, to Selles Sur Cher, to Lingot de Quercy. My favourite cheese of the morning was the Cavet Feuille which comes from the lovely Provence. This cheese making dates back to the Roman times. This goat's milk cheese takes a period of two weeks to mature, it is dipped in eau-de-vie and then wrapped in a chestnut leaf. The alcohol protects the cheeses against bad mould and slowly the chestnut leaf aroma influences the cheese’s taste. How amazing is that?

Then it was straight down to business with canapés from Tiny Smoked Salmon sandwiches:

Lamb on Rosemary Shewers:

Smoked Salmon Spirals:

Tiny Shepherd's Pies:

Rory's Quail Eggs with Shrimps and Mayonnaise:

Finally, the highlight of the demo was the quail eggs in a real life nest:

Fabulous, the only word I can use to describe it.

Speaking of fabulous, we had afternoon tea with some light cake and bickies in Ballymaloe House conservatory over looking the delightful gardens. We were taken on a tour of Ballymaloe House starting with the kitchen, then around the comfortable rooms before heading to the wine cellar:

 

Jay-Z, the rapper, tried out alot of the wines during his recent visit to Ballymaloe House!