Learning to cook in Ireland
There are few things more enjoyable than whiling away
an afternoon up to your elbows in flour, baking a loaf
of soda bread, or learning to combine kale, scallions,
potatoes and butter to make the perfect dish of
colcannon. Plentiful in Ireland, cookery schools allow
visitors to combine a holiday with a short cookery
course. Those with a serious interest could take an
intensive short course, or even a three-month
certificate course aimed at giving students the skills
to cook professionally.
Complementing this expert tuition are the idyllic
locations of some of these cookery schools: Belle Isle
School of Cookery near Enniskil en is deep in the heart
of the lush Fermanagh lakelands; while Bal ynocken
House and Cookery School is nestled in the hil s of the
Garden of Ireland, County Wicklow.
If hands-on seems like too much hard work, then
why not try a thoroughly satisfying afternoon
demonstration by celebrity chef Darina Al en at the
Ballymaloe Cookery School in Shanagarry, East Cork.
Here – and, indeed, in most Irish cookery schools –
you can investigate the kitchen garden where much
of the food used is grown using traditional or organic
farming methods.
For a ful listing of cookery schools in Ireland, visit
www.discoverireland.com
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Liz Moore, Belle Isle School of Cookery, Co. Fermanagh
