Wooaaahh... after 10 gruelling days of assignments and tests (my real job) it is great to be back doing some writing - I find writing things down therapeutic, even to-do lists make me more pro-active and less stressed! Assignments though, could happily never see another one!
So a couple of Fridays ago I was delighted to receive an invitation from AIKEN Promotions to attend an event at Belfast Museum. As I read down the invite my delight turned into a slight manic haze of excitement as I realised John Torode, yes the bloke from MasterChef was going to be cooking for me!!! I quickly phoned Laurie who was more impressed that each of the 6 courses was accompanied by a glass of Mc Guigan's wine, 3 from their new Founders Range and that Neal McGuigan, the CEO of Mc Guigan's Wines was also going to be there! P.S. he referred to himself as Uncle Neal, but it worked; he was passionate, extrovert and extremely charismatic ;)
(Myself and John Torode)
So after a quick introduction from Neal, John arrived in his apron and gave us a live cooking demo of our first eating course - Grilled Duck Salad with crushed peas, mint, parsley, pecorino cheese, croutons and crispy bacon! Tasty and very Spring themed - I loved it, first time having cold duck as well, won't be my last!
On to course two - this one threw me a little - Grilled Squid with Rocket and Lemon??? If you've followed the blog then you will know I am new to aquatic dining scene! Now I have had squid before, cooked in batter but this was fresh out of the Irish Sea Squid with no batter, naked squid!
Anyway one of the best parts of the night was that the cooking demos were being recorded so we could see exactly how to cook squid - here's a wee fun fact! The Chinese used to wash squid in BLEECH to get rid of the ink/dye, however this meant that when it was cooked it didn't curl up and so it was called Unlucky Squid, probably because it poisoned you and you died! If the squid had been cleaned properly it would curl when cooked and this was called Lucky Squid, probably because they didn't have to call the undertakers. So our squid curled (Thank Christ), it was scored to help with the curl, seasoned with S&P and then John Torode put it in a bowl and placed rocket on top - the heat of the squid allowed the rocket to wilt a little and then he squeezed lemon juice over it and a little zest! It was served on a sharing plate and you could take as much or as little as you want! A rep (Ben) from McGuigan's actually served us and he hit me the tentacles - sweet baby jesus I didn't know what to do - luckily the guy to my right loved them so I happily donated. It was tasty but not something I savoured, but I don't really like fish!
Course 3 - To quote myself "I don't really like fish" well this is obviously a blatant lie because course 3 was sea-bream cooked in red wine and served on champ and I bloody loved it! Now by this stage I reckon I had probably had 5-6 glasses of wine, and I am a lightweight so this new found love of fish could have been influenced by one of 3 things - A Chardonnay, A Pinot Noir Rose or Carbernet Sauvignon! On reflection I had food beer goggles.
TOP TIP: So during the cooking demos John Torode would hand out some cooking tips, the best one I felt was - "if you are cooking fish, only cook it for half the time"
So if the instructions say cook for 20 minutes, only cook it for 10 minutes, remove it from the heat and let it rest for the other 10 minutes, the residual heat will continue to cook the fish!
Course 4 - getting full you ask? Regarding food - never! Regarding alcohol consumption, let's say I was happily merry ;) So the 4th course was probably my favourite - Grilled Lamb Cutlets, now I have had Lamb before, my Aunty Audrey cooks lamb a lot, usually every Sunday for about 4 hours, comes out like an old sandal, she'll probably hit me for this! She's an amazing woman and a really kind person but her cooking skills are up there with Kim Kardashian's credibility. (sorry Aunty Audrey - I owe you a wee treat)
So this Lamb was cooked to perfection and served on something so simple yet so amazingly tasty - ricotta cheese, radishes and mint, holy moly this was good, and so easy to do, that's what I liked most about the night, here we have this renowned world class chef and he is showing us how to make simple but superb dishes, really was my highlight!
Course 5 was wine and a cheeseboard - I managed half a cracker, one slither of cheese and if I remember correctly a glass of Rose - I had to phone mum, I was now tired, slightly drunk and had work in the morning.
So, 6 courses and an abundance of wine later I woke up - the room was spinning ever so slightly and someone was hitting my head like a drum??? But I had had such a good night, it was definitely worth it. Later that day I was thinking about the night before and I really was privileged to go, thanks a bunch and half to Finola for the generous invite and hopefully one day Diarmaid will rethink that pug situation ;)
Overall an amazing experience, I truly wish you all could have been there but hopefully this we blog and the photos will give you a wee insight!
Thanks
Conor