The Glorious Gleneagles: Part Two

 The Dormy clubhouse and the Birnam 

The dormy

The dormy is an Indian restaurant/ club house where we cater to golfers and their families. Starting here I was initially on cold larder to begin. It was mainly starts and desserts from this section. With the layout of the kitchen tandoor, pizza and cold larder were at front of the house, which was cool. Being one of the busiest outlets in the company during service, walkie talkies are used to communicate across the floor, another thing to add to the list of things i've never seen before.

    

I asked to move sections as I felt cold larder wasn’t challenging enough for me. So the head chef put me on curry. This i can say was a handful, prep wasn't too bad as it was just making everything in bulk. But the service was wild. We have this option on the menu called a thali which is 2 curries of choice, 3 sides and protein from the tandoor. Having more than 3 on order is very difficult to get out especially when you have other checks.

 Working in the dormy was so fun, putting out authentic Indian food  and learning about the chemistry between flavours and textures from highly qualified chefs was like a dream come true. I got to learn how to make all sorts of curries properly from scratch. I was completely out of my comfort zone here with their style of cooking, but everyone was so patient with me. This allowed me to reach my full potential. Yet again making friends that helped me along the way, the dormy had such great energy and was by far my favourite kitchen to work in.

The birnam

The birnam is an italian brasserie, it tiptoes around fine dining and casual. 

It's a beautiful open kitchen with a char grill. Sections in the kitchen include pasta, fish/fry, grill, sauce/sides and cold larder. My first week I was put on sauce, this is where some sides come from and sauces for steaks and fish. Next I was on cold larder. This was all the cold starters, snacks and salads. Prep heavy section yet again but simple service. This is one of our starters which is grilled sashimi tuna on bread sauce with caper dressing and parmesan.

I learned alot from others in this kitchen, things like patience, concentration and management. I admire the  birnam.

I also had a week in pastry, this was organised by my manager. It was very calming but not for me. It made me appreciate a lot more what they do as everything sweet in the hotel comes from them, that's not easy. During my time there we had a few functions, a frequent one is afternoon tea.

 

This was for a buffet, it consisted of chocolate and peanut butter choux buns and raspberry rice pudding.

All kitchens have made me into a better chef in their own ways and I am never going to forget my time here, gleneagles is now my home.

Until next time, S.A.

Christmas in Edinburgh 

As time is going by so quickly and it’s almost time for placement to finish, I must say it has been an absolute pleasure around Edinburgh in the city especially with the Christmas Market kicking off.

The Edinburgh Christmas Market is one of the biggest festivals in Edinburgh. The festival kicked off on the 25^th of November and will run until the 3^rd of January. The market includes local craft and food stalls as well as amusement rides all along Princes Street Gardens with an ice-skating rink and a carousel on George Street between Charlotte Square & Castle Street Popped in to see the market for myself when I was off and I am enjoying it so far, especially when I’m not driving and I could have a sneaky pint in the middle of the day because I’m commuting by bus and haven’t been driving for 3 months now which I was so used to.

While the Christmas Market is happening in Edinburgh, I’m also preparing for Christmas Functions for Banqueting with about 70 Salted Caramel Cheesecakes and preparing Christmas dinners for the same functions.

When I’m not busy with the Christmas Banqueting or BABA prep. I recently started doing Dessert and Fruit platters for smaller groups staying in the hotel as well as showing one of the kitchen porters who got promoted to a breakfast chef the ropes around the cheffing side of the kitchen and everything I learned over the past few months which is something I wouldn’t think I’d be doing, seeing the way things were. Felt like it was time to pass them on as I’ll be flying home in 2 weeks’ time.

As the time is going by so fast, I have to say it has been a pleasure working in the Kimpton from when I started on the 26^th September when I felt homesick as well as having the first day nerves to having confidence with Breakfast, Banqueting, BABA & finally Canteen prep. I felt I really got on in the hotel over the past 3 months which has flown by so fast and now I feel sad that I’ll by flying back home but also happy at the same time as I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of Edinburgh, and I can see myself 100% returning to Edinburgh when I complete the BA Honours Degree and hopefully return the Kimpton again.

This has been a truly remarkable experience and I’m glad I went to Edinburgh for the International Placement part of the year abroad of the course. Hopefully Barcelona turns out the same way when I start over there for the Study part of the year abroad and finish the last few weeks of placement.

All the best and Merry Christmas!

Oscar Fitzgerald

Settling into life in Edinburgh!

Few weeks into placement, I’m starting to get settled in, the accommodation is nice. Living in a quiet suburban area of Edinburgh called Gilmerton which takes 30-45 minutes to get into the city centre travelling by bus.

I am beginning to have an idea on the types of duties to be done while on placement, from getting breakfast prep along with various banqueting, canteen, and BABA prep when I finish all the breakfast prep as I start at 8am and finish at 4pm while the other breakfast chefs start at 5-6am and finish around 2pm which I have no problem with.

One morning I was asked to do come in at 7am and finish at 3pm, this was for my first breakfast service which I felt nervous about as I didn’t do breakfast service before but once I got in, I got into the swing of things as it was mainly Porridge, Pancakes and Eggs Benedict, Florentine, and Royale. I learned that Royale was with smoked salmon, Florentine was with Spinach, and Benedict was with Ham.

Since I completed that one morning of service, I felt better about myself as I felt good after doing it once and I’d help on service, and I now know what goes with certain breakfast meals including room service which is often Full Scottish Breakfast and Porridge & pancakes.

Few weeks pass by, and I have been counting the weeks for my family coming over to visit from Ireland for the midterm. Kitchen staff has been informed about that and I have informed that I was going to meet them in The Garden Bar when I finish work, because I was getting on with everyone and been working hard over the past few weeks. Jim the Banqueting chef that I often give a hand doing various prep for functions and making the coffee when needed, prepared a special afternoon tea for them before I showed them the main attractions in Edinburgh and surprisingly booked myself a room in the IBIS hotel along South Bridge as I told them about the time it would take for me to commute to and from the city centre if I stayed in my accommodation.

While we were having the afternoon tea, we got greeted by all the management team including my Sous chef Agustin within complimenting me to my family and telling them how I’m getting on in the hotel. We were also given a few recommendations of tourist attractions

from the General Manager Kieran Quinn before heading into the city and to drop my bag into the hotel they were staying in before going for some dinner around The Royal Mile.

The next day we went to see the Royal Yacht Britannia as one of the recommendations we were given for tourist attractions to go and see as well as going on a whiskey tour to Johnnie Walker the following day as the weather wasn’t good but was still an enjoyable experience which included 2 free drinks at the end of the tour. When the tour was finished, we got some food before heading to the airport, had a coffee there and after the coffee. We parted as I went back to the city centre while my parents flew home. The time flew by during their visit!

I feel I am getting on well in Edinburgh and now feel confident heading around knowing where the main parts of Edinburgh. I feel I’m starting to enjoy Edinburgh and I would be happy to live there when I finish the degree!

All the best,

Oscar Fitzgerald

Edinburgh - The Kimpton Charlotte Square 

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland; it has a medieval styled Old Town & and an elegant Georgian styled New Town with gardens & Neoclassical buildings. With a population of approx. 506,000 people.

Kimpton Charlotte Square Hotel is a Georgian styled hotel on Charlotte Square just few yards down from Princes Street. The hotel is owned by International Hotel Group (IHG) along with the Intercontinental along St Andrew Square. This hotel is a Luxury 5 Star Hotel with 3 restaurants including a Middle Eastern styled restaurant called BABA. It is one of the few luxury 5 Star Hotels that is also pet friendly which amazed me.

I checked in to the hotel on the 24th September to stay for a few nights to settle into the city centre. When I got to the room. I was greeted to a Welcome Card, Scottish Fudge and a can of Irn-Bru to welcome me to Scotland and get settled in.

On the 25th September I went down for breakfast, sat at my table, went up to go the buffet, saw there was haggis that I heard was the staple of Scottish food. I couldn’t resist, had to try some, loved it and thought I’d be prepared in case I get offered haggis during my travels. After the breakfast, I went for a stroll around the cities along the 2 towns of the city centre. That evening I popped into the kitchen to introduce myself to the acting head chef Agustin and to check what time I needed to be in the kitchen to start my 1st day of placement so I would plan my night around the roster and was given a little tour of the kitchen while I was chatting with him.

On the 26th of September my 1st day of placement started where I arrived around 7:30 to start the breakfast shift at 8 where I was introduced to the breakfast chefs and was shown around the kitchen before starting to prepare scrambled egg mix for service. Looking around the kitchen while I was getting the 1st day nerves which quickly went away when I began doing preparation for breakfast service for both this morning and the following day which reduced my nerves and homesickness as it’s my 1st time living away from home for 3 months. Time flew by after getting to know the other chefs and kitchen porters as well as staff from the various departments around the hotel.

After the 1st day of placement, I felt exhausted after heading back to the room after learning the different techniques and demonstrations and had to pack up to check out the following day as I am moving to my accommodation which is where I’d be living for the rest of the semester.

So far, I’m getting on ok living in Edinburgh, hopefully when I arrive to my accommodation where I hopefully will get settled in and feel like I’m home. I’m also looking forward to seeing what Edinburgh has to offer.

Wishing myself the best of luck on this new chapter of my life!

Oscar Fitzgerald

NUMA Portimão, Portugal - Part 3

Hi Everyone,

Well, here it is the last entry. A lot of things have happened. First of all, we have started to implement a completely new menu, meaning new desserts to make.

During the last 2 months I've been working hard doing some tests for the new desserts, seeing what works what doesn´t. I´ve enjoyed the process. It was long but very giving. We finally finished the new menu. I´m very proud of what we came out with.

The platings are so different, creative and crazy honestly. It was a good journey these past months. I've learned more about food, flavours and team work while being in numa. I've met very nice customers, great chefs and worked with a great and fun team.

I will miss everything from Numa but they are a great restaurant and it will be a great place for students that want to do pastry or hot kitchen the flavours work great together and the dishes are made with seasonal produce.

While doing these deserts I´ve learned new skills and recipies. 

This dessert has chocolate textures, pomgrenate textures and almond textures, with a brandy mousse.It uses milk, dark and white chocolate.

This is a very strange recipe but the flavours work really well together. It is a honey liquor and Parma ham pudding with caramel, cinnamon crumble, tangerine foam, honey liquor gel, fig sorbet and some dehydrated Parma ham as garnish, also some basil oil.

This one has a very abstract plating format. This is profiteroles, filled with peanut pastry cream, caramel, Caquelin, lime foam, raspberry gel, peanut praline and garnished with powdered sugar.

This recipe was inspired by the chef’s childhood meals of mashed banana, orange and biscuits. This is an orange tort, orange cream, caramelized orange gel, biscuit crumble, banana ice cream, banana crispy and apricot. This is a very sweet dessert but still very nice.

These were the last dishes that I made for my last week, I've done lots of things like pickling, fermenting, making brioche, bread, desserts, cakes, gels, coverts, starters, I also helped the cleaning woman with cleaning and putting the plates and pans in their place. I met great people and learned a lot from them and their cultures and I've enjoyed it all!

Thank you for reading!

Signing Off,

 Bruno Silva

NUMA, Portimão, Portugal  - Part 2

Hey everyone Bruno here,

I´m in the middle of my placement now, on my 5th week, so far, I've been doing well here.

I made bread today. In the Numa the bread is made fresh every, day except Monday.

I make sourdough bread, every day the first thing I do before starting anything is the bread dough. I also feed the sourdough starter. On Friday's we add some flavours to the bread, for example some weeks we add walnuts and sultanas and other weeks we add seeds. I´m also in charge of the amuse bouche, I have the choice of what the amuse is going to be.

I'm also in charge of the covert and cold plates, and of course the desserts. The best part is when I have to do a birthday cake or wedding anniversary cake. I can do some creative designs, if I want to. Chef Nuno encourages me to be creative and think of solutions to problems.

Doing all the preps and elements for the dessert dishes is very time consuming but very enjoyable. I have the possibility of making beautiful dishes.

I also get the opportunity to be a part of big events, and working with other professional chefs from the region.

The best part is we use up everything and there is no waste making the restaurant sustainable. Any food waste goes into the composter and that is used to put in the mini garden that the owners have.

These are some of the cake designs that I did. We use a square shape for birthday and a heart shape for wedding anniversaries. They are lemon cakes with pumpkin jam, and meringue coating that was browned using a torch.

This is one of the starters that I helped with while we were doing a tasting menu event.it was new for me because I never did a tasting menu. This was a great experience. I enjoyed the whole thing and being part of the process.

This the bread I make every day. It has a nice crispy crust and a soft middle. We use it for the coverts but there are some customers that actually order the bread because it´s so good. Seeing those orders made me so proud of my ability.

This is a starter plate that was made in one of the biggest events in Numa. It´s beetroot textures, with a goat cheese foam, bacon flavoured popcorn, and red pepper crispy. The event was a tasting menu with the collaboration of four great chefs in the region. It was really a onetime opportunity that I got to experience it was so big that there was even a filming crew. I t was exciting.

I can't believe how the time has flown since my first entry, but every day there is something new and exciting happening!

By Bruno Silva

NUMA - Portimão, Portugal

Hi Everyone,

So, for starters my name is Bruno Silva. I’m in year 3 of BA (Honours) Culinary Arts. I started my placement on the 5th of September in this Restaurant called NUMA. It is near the centre of Portimão, Portugal.

NUMA is a restaurant created and named after the owners Nuno and Manuela. It was their dream to open a restaurant. Numa has been open for 2 years and is going well.

Nuno is the executive chef, and he has dedicated himself to intense training in Cooking and Professional Pastry, learning the best confection techniques, choosing the best ingredients, and refining the palate. He worked in several renowned restaurants in the Algarve and the United Kingdom, where he improved the flavours, textures, and experience in a frenetic pace of restaurant cuisine, valuing the team that manage to share the daily challenges with him. He is also a certified trainer at IEFP in the area of Cuisine’s Chef. Chef Nuno is going to be my mentor while on placement.

I came to this placement as it is one of the best restaurants in Portimão.

I decided to come to Portugal because I'm from here, but I've never experienced actually living here. So, I took the opportunity to gain experience more about my culture and its cuisine.

At the beginning I was nervous because I never collaborated with the owners of an establishment, but Nuno and Manuela are very welcoming.

I was put in the pastry section of the restaurant, and I love it. The platings are beautiful and different and the meals are traditional Portuguese foods made differently. I've learned a lot just in the first week and I keep learning new techniques. I also do the cold starter plates and the amuse bouche.

This is one of the plates I did, it´s a cold starter, seasoned fish, oyster, cucumber, caramelized orange, cucumber gel, orange gel, Parma ham, and a nori crispy in a coral design

This is one of the Amuse Bouche I made, it usually changes all the time, this is seaweed, tomato gel, on a seared sardine with mash potato and squid ink on a toasted brioche slice, this is a sustainable dish because we use item from dishes that were used and create a new item for customers to enjoy while they wait for their meal.

One of the desserts we serve, this is a modified version of a traditional dessert. This is a white bean and almond mille foils with lemon curd and dill gel, decorated with powdered sugar.

 These are just some of what I did so far. I can't wait to see what is in store for me for these coming days!

by Bruno Silva

The Glorious Gleneagles: Part One.

Week 1-4: The Strathern and Private dining. 

Hii everyone, Sarah here, my blog is going to be a reflective piece, as that’s how I felt it would better express my time here, so let’s begin.The first week arriving in Scotland was amazing. The views were just breathtaking with the people being  lovely as ever. The architecture here is beautiful. I spent the first few days looking around in Edinburgh, getting used to the area.

           

Before being in any restaurant I was given a very detailed induction that stretched over two days. This was a full briefing of how the hotel operates and what your role will be. The first day was mostly looking around and getting comfortable with the place, because it’s massive. 

We were given our badges which are cards we use to tap and activate rooms/ doors around the hotel, uniforms and where to get them each morning. I thought this was great, every morning you would exchange your whites for fresh ones only having to wash your trousers. Everything here is very efficient. Day two was just for chefs, taking us through kitchen safe procedures and how to use certain machines. 

Finally actually getting to the kitchen.

I started in the strath my first few weeks at Gleneagles. It is a fine dining/ rosette type of restaurant.  I was put on the garnish section which was extremely prep heavy, as every dish on the menu practically had a garnish and side coming from me. At the beginning they just left me in the section on my own which was very intimidating but looking back it was helpful, you won’t always get help in every kitchen you are in so having them throw me in the deep end was beneficial.Working here was brief but an experience, I learned so many new techniques and flavour combinations that I can make my own, working  with some very intelligent chefs was also refreshing. Seeing how different people use different ingredients and why is something you learn heavily in the strath. 

A week after I arrived a special was put on, allowing me to work closely with the sous chef to have the components to complete the dish. It was a grouse dish and this was the garnish.

 I had no idea what grouse was until I was preparing for this dish.Now that I do, I have an idea of what flavour notes can pair nicely with the bird, in this case it was blackberries, mushrooms and bread. This was a joyful moment to start my time here. This was my little peek into the fining world which I enjoyed, yes it was hard work but worth it.

The level of respect they have for one another in that kitchen is admirable. They each recognise what each member brings to the table.

Apart from work I spent my first few weeks here exploring my area. There’s a little village called Auchterarder that’s 30 mins on foot, away from the hotel but there are buses that do go that route as well. It has a lot to offer, there’s a supermarket, clothing in shops, pharmacies, restaurants and pubs. It's a cute little place.

 

Private Dining 

This kitchen specialises in catering for functions, it’s a plated service type of kitchen.When I started we had a south Asian wedding, this required us to prep canapés, starters and mains for 400 guests over the course of 3 days. I’ve never in my life been more intimidated. It was a challenge, but I loved every second. I can't lie, there were times where I thought I wouldnt be able to cope. A part of PD was being in the cold room which was like a big fridge also called the plating suite. This is where you would plate the starters and mains. Obviously this was my least favourite part of the job as I  was always cold.

In my fourth week, I was put in the position to lead some functions, this was just making sure everything was prepped, organised and presentable. which was a great confidence booster knowing that the Chefs thought I was able to do this. 

These were some of the dishes,

This kitchen really helped me work on my technical skills, repeating the same action multiple times until you finally perfect it. I also worked on BBQ’s up at the shooting lodge for VIP’s, which was very fun. It was weird  seeing familiar faces you see in movies and having to act normal.

     

We had a taste of Scotland event, this is where a piper comes in to tell the stories about Scotland and haggis, I got the privilege to carry out the haggis twice for it, got to white a white hat and all. It was a strange experience but enjoyable, and got me out of my comfort zone. Our biggest week in PD was catering for 2000 people for our Google event. Having to continuously count and remember different ingredients, plates, additional dietaries and allergens.  Working in this kitchen greatly improved my organisation skills, having to work with an exact number you need to work on reducing waste and using up all of what was ordered. I had a wonderful time in this kitchen, having built close bonds with the chefs and feeling appreciated every time I came into work, they really took care of me.

Until next time, S.A.

Final Days In Belfast - Ben Roche

Final Days in Belfast

 

As my final days here in Belfast draw to a close, I want to use this final blog post to discuss the time I spent here in Belfast and how much I enjoyed working as part of the kitchen team at the Grand Central Hotel. I arrived here the 26^th of September, part of me was nervous, but I was also full of excitement. I was looking forward to working as part of a progressive and creative team as well as developing my skills as a chef. I found myself working mostly as part of the team in the Grand Café. After a swift introduction to the starter section, I was quickly trained in on the garnish section; a fast-paced section, responsible for garnishes and sides for the main course dishes, and for cooking the hot starters.

 

While here I learned many new recipes and great techniques. From making the most delicious and smooth pepper sauce to coming up with ideas for specials during the week I both enhanced my cheffing skills and became more creative in my work. My attention to detail and ability to season dishes has also developed rapidly while I have been here.

 

We enjoyed a quiet period between late October and early November. The Belfast Christmas markets began on November 19^th – and we knew all about it. We found ourselves with all hands-on deck, busy all day, every day. During my time off here however, I enjoyed exploring what Belfast had to offer. I tried a lot of coffee shops around the city, and I think my recommendation for the best cup of coffee around would have to be Napoleon coffee, just minutes away from the hotel. I dined at many different establishments around the city such as Deane’s Eipic and while I walked around the city on my day-to-day excursions, I gained a more in-depth knowledge of Belfast’s and indeed, Northern Ireland’s history.

 

I also went further afield, taking a Paddy wagon bus tour to the Giant’s Causeway, which included a number of other stop offs. If I were to offer anyone advice on where to go for their placement, I would certainly recommend Belfast and the Grand Central Hotel. So far, myself and multiple other SETU students have gotten on extremely well here working with Chef Damian Tumilty and the rest of the team. I would certainly consider coming back to work here in the future.

My last days in Barcelona

 Last Days In Barcelona

This is Panos again from Barcelona. December has just arrived and the city is fully decorated with Christmas lights. The streets are busy and the city is as lively and festive as ever. The weather remains pleasant and people are still sitting outside enjoying their coffee and tapas. 

My study placement has almost come to an end. It is hard to believe how fast the time flew by. It feels like I arrived here yesterday. I had an amazing time in Barcelona. It is a fabulous place. It doesn´t matter what part of the city you are at, there is always something interesting and worth seeing nearby.  

The international placement is truly a once in a lifetime experience and I am already looking forward to my work placement.  I explored a big part of the Catalonian region and discovered a lot about the local food scene. Catalonia has a lot of bakeries and pastry shops. The ones who like pastry will definitely love Catalonia. I was lucky enough I was able to taste some of the best desserts/pastries in the country. From Hoffman´s pastry shop to Canal´s award winning croissants and Jordi Roca´s most famous ice-creams. I feel I have learned a lot just from sampling the work of some of the best chefs in their field. I am going to miss Catalonia but I hope to come back some time in the future.  I am excited to be moving forward and can´t wait for the fourth and final year of my degree.