Spring break in Chicago!

 Long before the mid term break was set to take place, I proposed the idea that while we were out this far across the world, and while the Erasmus funding was there to lend a helping hand, we should make the most of the mid term break. My proposal was that we take a trip to Chicago!

Chicago is a city located in the US state of Illinois. Chicago is famed for its bold architecture and skyline with notable buildings such as the John Hancock centre and the Willis Tower which was formerly known as the Sears tower. The city is home to over two and a half million people and the city itself is known as the windy city.

Chicago was not chosen at random, however. The city is home to what has previously been named the World’s top restaurant. This restaurant is Chicago’s only three Michelin starred restaurant and it is known for its mind bending gastronomic feats such as balloons of sugar, tomatoes that aren’t tomatoes and taste like strawberries as well s desserts that are plated right in front of you on the very table you are sitting at.

The restaurant which opened under famed chef Grant Achatz in the year 2005, offers three unique experiences; the Kitchen table experience, the gallery experience and the Salon experience. Chef Achatz has trained under some of the world’s top chefs such as chef Thomas Keller the chef Patron of both the French Laundry and Per se, among others. And chef Achatz has also staged at establishments such as El Bulli which was a restaurant in Spain which is accredited with being the creator of modern molecular gastronomy. Chef Achatz was for some time known as the chef with no taste as he unfortunately was diagnosed with stage four tongue cancer. He however went for experimental treatment and made a full recovery, also regaining his taste. The inspiration for going to Alinea came after watching an episode about it on the hit Netflix series, the Chef’s Table.  

Other things we got up to while in Chicago were seeing the infamous bean sculpture as well as the World’s biggest Starbucks. The trip was excellent and the meal was one of a kind!

Enjoying the high life in Barcelona!

A few months have passed by since I arrived in Barcelona. I have really begun to start enjoying life in Barcelona with the beautiful sunny & warm weather that we be lucky to get in the summer months of Ireland. Most of the time midweek is spent in the college while I normally like to travel around the city centre during the weekends & when I don’t have many assignments due for the following week. It didn’t take too long to get settled into Barcelona once I had an idea of the modules I was studying, the transport system when I want to travel as I am living on campus grounds which I am delighted with. I have a supermarket which I found convenient when I needed to buy a few essential items for the room. 

A few weeks have passed, and I’ve been informed that my family were travelling over to see me in Barcelona. Met them at the airport after their flight was delayed with bad weather back in Ireland. I brought them to the metro stations from the airport to the hotel we are staying at. The hotel itself is up the road from a metro station which they were delighted with. Brought them on the 2 bus tours around the city. Took them to the Marina & the Fresh Food Market which was their highlight and even took them to my university & was able to bring them into my accommodation which they loved as well as I am. The time flew by so fast that I even brought them to the airport before their return flight to Ireland. 

One of my favourite moments of Barcelona though has occurred when I went to a shopping centre along the Marina where I spotted a Ferrari and the staff asked if I wanted to drive one, I told them that I’ll get back to them on that and that was a few months ago. After a full week of assignments due & I felt like I earned the spin in the Ferrari. Finished College for that week and told them that I’ll drive one. Booked me in for 5pm so I had to wait around which I didn’t mind as I spent most of it just looking out to the sea before getting into a Ferrari F430. I couldn’t believe it; I couldn’t believe I was about to drive a 4.3L V8 Ferrari along the Barceloneta Beach for 20 minutes. Had an instructor with me as I have also never driven on the right-hand side before. Once I got on the road, I felt like I was on a motoring show driving around and it was one of the best experiences I had since arriving in Barcelona. It was a truly remarkable experience and one that I will never forget!

While I spend the weekends going out and about when I don’t have many assignments due, I would also spend a bit of time in the social area at my accommodation where I usually play some of the games offered in the accommodation which are usually a bit of fun as it had been a great way of getting to know the other students that are living there as well. 

I can’t write about the study in Barcelona without mentioning some of the culinary modules I’m studying, well mainly World Cuisine as that’s the practical module. This module is about cooking popular dishes from different countries around the world. This is a group-based class where we’re split into 3 small groups and each week one student out of the groups is a head chef similar to a previous module that I completed in 2nd Year back home. As I finish up this last blog entry, I have to say this year abroad was an amazing experience that I got to do. From doing work placement in Edinburgh to studying in Barcelona, they have both been amazing experiences in their own ways. Here’s to finishing up in Barcelona & to get ready for the exams. 

Oscar Fitzgerald

Time is flying by in Barcelona!

This has been a journey for me in every aspect. I have learned a lot while studying here in Barcelona. I got the opportunity to visit different historical sites and join in different celebrations.

I took this picture on my walks and at first I didn’t know what it was but then I saw it in the different angle, and I figured out that it is a matchbox with a lit up matchstick. Barcelona is famous for having these structures around the city. It makes every turn much more interesting. 

In the middle week I have been able to improve in my Spanish language. I can speak a bit fluently. I rented a room in an apartment owned by this lady that only speaks Spanish, so it has been a struggle, but she is very understanding and helps me with the pronunciation. At first it was hard to deal with the classes because I needed to get used the system they had and getting used to the grading system. I was struggling with some subjects, but I was able to improve on them. It was a bit of a struggle with back-to-back assignments almost every week. I have learned to manage my time better due to this. I have learned the streets a bit better as in when I walk around I am able to identify where I am and what places I can go.

During the Easter break my mom came to Barcelona to visit me. I was so happy to see her. It was the first time that my mum has visited Barcelona, so I was excited to show her around. I did the most I could with the short period of time I had with her because she was only visiting for 4 days. We took a bus tour around Barcelona seeing the sites, I showed her around the shopping districts, I also took her to some restaurants to try the tapas here. 

I take daily walks around the city and the area where my accommodation is located. The time has flown so quickly, I feel like I haven’t been in Barcelona long enough, but I do miss Ireland a bit and hanging out with my friends and family. I have learned so many dishes from different countries and the techniques used for them. I have learned how to make Greek, Italian, French, Nordic, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Moroccan, Mexican, South East Asian, Middle Eastern and Peruvian Cuisines. All different but some have some similarities.

   

Here are some of the dishes that me and my group made that are from the Middle East. It consists of hummus, Baba ghanoush, falafel, pita bread, Kibbe and Kataifi. 

The exam period is almost here. I only have six exams to worry about and they are separated into 2-week periods my last exam is on the 19th of May and my first is on the 8th of May. This semester had been fun and interesting. I meet new students from different countries, and I learned new skills to improve myself. I made friends with local students and international students. In all I had fun, and I enjoyed the whole

A very busy March in France

Bonjour!!!

I am busy!!! but my favourite event of the past few weeks was our restaurant experience.

To begin in March we started a restaurant simulation called experience where we were put into groups of 6/7 and had to start up a restaurant from scratch for a week. This was very fun from start to finish but a little challenging. We had a number of themes to choose from and the class chose to do the theme is the Michelin Green star. We had to find local suppliers, ethnic tradesmen and eco conscious ingredients, recipes and cooking methods. I found this really interesting because we even had to advertise our restaurant to attract customers. The restaurant was a small place of 40 covers a night and we did our best to fill the seats each night with our advertising. 

We made an Instagram and posted videos of the team and our concept to attract people. We chose the concept of “roots”, having a wide variety of cultures in my group we thought a fusion would work best.

Focusing on the positive sustainable actions in each other’s countries. This part was what our customers found most attractive with our group being from Egypt, Indonesia, Vietnam, China, America and of course Ireland. We all added little aspects from our cultures in our dishes to pay tribute to our own countries.

Doing this taught me about the amount of effort it takes into building a successful business, from fiche techniques, menu and dish calculations and where and how to place your money to make a profit and to circle back to the green star products that represent it and how.

It was so much fun and gave me the opportunity to get to know my classmates better, it was like an icebreaker where we all got to be more comfortable with each other.

We also had a week of service were we became front of house for the other teams. Having to polish cutlery and plates, set the dining rooms vacuum the restaurant, iron table cloths. It was very enlightening seeing the kitchen “from the other side”. What i found most difficult was actually interacting with the guest, having to check up on them see if the have enough bread and water if they need more drinks, its not like in the kitchen when you service the food you’re done with the table. In France before dessert they like to eat cheese, it kept slipping my mind to ask them if they want cheese before i fire desserts, and the kitchen was not happy but i did eventually learn on the third night…

Learning from the French chefs as well was another experience in itself with their precision and patience they have such great techniques that I can now implement into my career.  March was eventful and busy, but now it’s time to study and practice for my exams.

Wish me luck.

Lots of love from Ecully,

Sarah :))