Go Ireland: Marie-Claire Digbytakes a working holiday at a Co Mayo cookery school
LEARNING TO COOK can be exhausting. Just as well, then, that you can't take more than five steps at Lisloughrey Lodge, a refreshingly modern country-house hotel on the shores of Lough Corrib, without bumping into a deeply upholstered red-velvet sofa or armchair inviting you to sink into its depths and relax. But first there's slicing, chopping and stirring to be done.
In the Kitchen at Lisloughrey Lodge, a series of practical and demonstration classes, invites participants behind the scenes and into the Cong hotel's kitchens for two days of intensive instruction with executive chef Wade Murphy.
As uncompromisingly modern as its near neighbour Ashford Castle is traditional, this boutique hotel just oozes style, as you'd expect of a venture that made it into the US travel bible Conde Nast Traveler's Hot List 2008, and its cookery classes are similarly on-trend, with shellfish, game, winter casseroles, fusion cuisine and the intriguingly named Tuscan Dinner Party featuring in the weekly schedule of two-day courses running until the end of February.
The funky art, statement pieces of furniture and adult relaxation zones - such as the Wii room, complete with giant screen and black-leather beanbags, and Comfort Zone Spa - that greet visitors to Lisloughrey Lodge suggest a hip urban retreat rather than one in deepest Mayo (or Galway: if you stand in the right spot you can apparently have one foot in each county). But although it loosely resembles Babington House, in Somerset, which is a benchmark for this type of savvy, hip hotel, Lisloughrey Lodge retains its own, strong personality.
Could this be Ireland's only country-house hotel with deep-red walls, matt-black paintwork and a chocolate-brown suede-padded lift?
But it's not only about strong style statements; the kitchen has been attracting attention, too, earning two AA rosettes, as well as being named Connaught restaurant of the year by Food Wine magazine, and earning the hotel breakfast of the year award from Georgina Campbell's Ireland.
Chef Murphy, originally from Gorey, in Co Wexford, was part of the team that opened the Four Seasons Hotel in Dublin, as well as participating in launches in Egypt and the UK for the chain. After two years honing his skills in high-end restaurants in Chicago and New York, he joined the management team at Lisloughrey Lodge, sister hotel to Wineport Lodge, in Athlone, and the Ice House, in Ballina, and has been wowing the critics with his food ever since.
Murphy doesn't believe in buying in anything that can possibly be produced by his kitchen team, and I knew I was in good hands when a beautifully presented box of chocolates, marshmallows and truffles, hand-made in-house, welcomed me to Lisloughrey Lodge for the hotel's inaugural cookery course. Nestled alongside the chocolates was a card inviting me to meet my fellow students - two men and four women, from as far afield as Bailieborough and Blackrock - for pre-dinner drinks in Malt bar, followed by a tasting dinner and wine tasting in Salt restaurant.
This was our introduction to Murphy's style of cooking, and it showcased the talents of an assured and confident cook. Over the course of five beautifully judged courses, showcasing local ingredients, the classmates had a chance to get to know each other and to hear what was in store for them from general manager Marc Mac Closkey. As the food arrived and the wine flowed, Mac Closkey kept the conversation flowing and proved himself to be a skilful negotiator when deflecting requests for a later-than-advertised start time for the following morning's class.
The students must have been on the losing side, because at the appointed hour next morning, after sampling that award-winning breakfast served with the added attraction of stunning views of a storm settling over Lough Corrib, it was time to put on our hats and aprons and go backstage to see how the other side of the house operates.
Cookery courses generally fall into one of two categories - demonstration or participation - and as we made our way to the smaller of the hotel's two kitchens for the opening session in the Seafood and Shellfish programme, it immediately became clear that we'd be getting our hands dirty. There, waiting for us, was a tray of lobsters, and dispatching them was our first task of the day. Piles of shellfish also had to be cleaned - who knew there was a right and a wrong way to pull a beard off a mussel? - and a mountain of onions had to be chopped so that our knife skills could be assessed and tweaked.
Seafood chowder, prawn cocktail "revisted", west coast scallop and Dublin Bay prawn linguini, and moules mariniere were on the morning's worksheet, but, happily, we didn't have to do all the cooking ourselves. Murphy, a patient and enthusiastic teacher, manned the stoves and rattled through a fast-moving demonstration, all the time inviting us to taste as he cooked, and imparting some really useful tips as he spun between counter top, stove and fridge. Some things, though, it's best not to know, such as just how much cream goes into a good chowder and what it would take to part a chef from his ever-present slab of butter - full-fat, of course.
The fruits of our labours - well, to be honest, they were 90 per cent Murphys labours - were served for lunch, which was a relaxed affair served in a private room off the kitchen.
Before going back to work to prepare a further three dishes that would be served for dinner, the class was taken on a tour of the main kitchen, where the chefs were quietly and efficiently getting on with preparing a tasting dinner for 20 guests.
Smoked fillet of beef, from the award-winning butcher James McGeough, was being trimmed; three types of cookie dough, for the biscuits served with coffee, were being rolled out; milk-chocolate Baileys ice cream was churning away; and chef Pauline Reilly was on the beer - pouring it into a batter, that is. This was a fascinating glimpse of a professional kitchen in action, and it was a highlight of the day.
But for the rookies it was back to school, and another session of slicing, dicing and occasionally laughing at our less-than-perfect efforts, before we could shake off the aprons and sink into one of those squishy sofas, glass of wine in hand.
• Marie-Claire Digby was a guest of Lisloughrey Lodge, the Quay, Cong, Co Mayo, 094-9545400, www.lisloughrey.ie
• Two-day cookery courses cost €495 per person sharing (€575 single), including two nights' accommodation and all meals. The tasting dinner, with wine and a further nights accommodation, is optional and costs an extra €115. Full programme on www.lisloughrey.ie
Where else to try if you'd like to hone your kitchen skills
Go first
• Paul Flynn's new cookery school, at his Tannery restaurant, in Dungarvan, Co Waterford (www.tannery.ie, 058-45420), is the hot ticket at the moment. The top-of-the- range course here is the five-day Paul Flynn's Kitchen (January 19th-23rd; April 6th-10th; October 12th-16th), which costs €1,150, including accommodation.
• The Kitchen in the Castle, a new cookery school at Howth Castle, Co Dublin (www.the kitcheninthecastle.com, 01-8396182), has a comprehensive line-up of classes from short demos (€65) to four-class programmes (€310). French Provincial Cooking, on Saturday, January 17th, is a one-day course, with lunch, for €190.
Go together
• Not everyone wants to spend their leisure time in a kitchen, so cookery schools that offer alternative activities are a good thing. Dunbrody House (www.dunbrodyhouse.com, 051-389600), in Co Wexford, has an excellent spa, as well as a custom-built cookery school that sits alongside the hotel. Courses cost €165 for one day or €315 for two. Dinner Parties for Six, a two-day course, is a popular choice.
• Belle Isle School of Cookery (www.irish-cookery-school.com, 048-66387231), in the Fermanagh lakelands, has a croquet lawn, tennis court, children's play area, snipe and woodcock shooting, and boats for hire, all on site, as well as a variety of accommodation, so you can bring the family. One-day courses cost £120 (€140), weekends £310 (€360).
Go change careers
• Ballymaloe Cookery School's 12-week certificate course has launched thousands of culinary careers (www.cookingisfun.ie, 021-4646785), and although pricey, at €9,395, it is the one by which others are measured. The next certificate course begins on January 5th.
• Four-week intensive courses are also run at Dublin Cookery School (www.dublincookery school.ie, 01-2100555), where the next start date is January 7th, and at Cooks Academy (www.cooksacademy.com; 01-2145002), next start date January 12th. Both cost €2,950.
Go on a food trail
• Pamela and Eveleen Coyle's Fabulous Food Trails include day-long explorations of the food of India, Thailand and Japan, in addition to a chocolate masterclass and a two-and-a-half-hour walking tour of Dublin's food halls, fruit and flower stalls, cheese- and fishmongers, butchers and bakers. Cooking days cost from €135; the walking tour is €45. (www.fabulousfoodtrails.ie, 01-4971245.)
Go celebrity
• Celebrity chefs sell out fast, so book early for Thomasina Miers's appearance at Ballymaloe Cookery School (July 13th, €255). The Ballymaloe graduate and former MasterChef winner now runs her own Mexican restaurant, Wahaca, in Convent Garden, London, as well as making TV programmes and writing books. Stay overnight and spend the following day exploring the art of the chocolatier with Gerard Coleman of Artisan du Chocolat (July 14th, €255).
• TV chef and author Ursula Ferrigno brings her popular Italian workshop and farmers' market tour back to Cooks Academy on May 23rd and 24th (€150 each day).
Go abroad
• In London, the two Divertimenti cookware shops, on Marylebone High Street and Brompton Road, offer a huge range of classes, some demonstration and some hands-on, as well as chef's table evenings with well-known chefs such as Mark Hix, Atul Kochhar and Henry Harris (www.divertimenti.com).
• Books for Cooks (www.booksforcooks.com), in Notting Hill, hosts regular literary lunches - Anthony Capella and Lindsey Bareham are the January and February guests - in addition to cookery workshops and classes.
• In Paris you can begin an apprenticeship that can lead to a career in the kitchens of the Ritz Hotel, or just spend your lunchbreak watching a demonstration (€45), at the Ritz Escoffier School (www.ritzparis.com).
• L'École de Cuisine d'Alain Ducasse (www.atelier-gastronomique.com) runs half- and full-day courses (€165/ €315) in the Paris suburb of Argenteuil, with a free shuttle bus from the city. The classes are in French; translation is available for an extra fee.
• In New York the Culinary Institute of America offers a full programme at its Astor Centre campus, in Lower Manhattan (www.astorcentrenyc.com). The French Culinary Institute, also in Manhattan (www.frenchculinaryinstitute.com), has an amateur programme as well as several professional options, so you can blow the budget on a €40,000 total-immersion six-month course or just drop by for a meal at the school's highly rated restaurant, L'École.
• In Hong Kong the Martha Sherpa cookery school (www.cookery.com.hk) offers classes in dim-sum preparation as well as full-day courses in Chinese and Thai cooking. Don't go expecting to sit around a demo table and sip wine; this is hard-core cooking. You can do the eight completely different Chinese cooking days consecutively; about €160 per day.