Ballymaloe cookery school 3 month course

duploelabs

Just curious if anyone here has done it or, like me, thinking of doing it?

detoxkid

Would LOVE to do it, but it is so expensive. There was something about it in yesterday's IT- it costs over 10k:eek:

duploelabs

yeah, bye bye car if I do it but am sure it'll be worth it. anyone else any opinions/experience?

susanroth

10k??? I would love to do it as well but at that price forget it, it can't be worth it! also i am not that impressed with rachel allen so would be dubious bout it!
I thought you could do a weekend course there and it costs 500€ maybe you could start with that

govinda

Was looking into it myself earlier this year but couldn't justify the cost :-( Came across this blog from a previous student, gives a good idea of whats involved:

http://83daysatballymaloe.blogspot.com/2009/09/day-1-last-time-i-visited-ireland-i-was.html

duploelabs

susanroth wrote: »

10k??? I would love to do it as well but at that price forget it, it can't be worth it! also i am not that impressed with rachel allen so would be dubious bout it!
I thought you could do a weekend course there and it costs 500€ maybe you could start with that

Why are you dubious about Rachel? Can't stand her television program but surely that doesn't impact on her ability as a teacher

susanroth

well yeah she can probably teach just fine but i find her recipes very boring and wouldn't want to spend that much money on lessons from her. her voice kinda wrecks my head as well.

duploelabs

okay so, back to my original question, anyone actually done the course?

Seaneh

You could get a college education with an accepted certificate over 2 years for less.

Place is such a rip off.

Seaneh

duploelabs wrote: »

Why are you dubious about Rachel? Can't stand her television program but surely that doesn't impact on her ability as a teacher

She is not a chef, shes not even a terribly good cook.

She is just the wife of the son of a semi-famous tv chef.

duploelabs

Seaneh wrote: »

She is not a chef, shes not even a terribly good cook.

She is just the wife of the son of a semi-famous tv chef.

Actually Darina was the daughter in law of the of the person who ran Ballymaloe at the time, just as Rachael is now. But I'm just getting pendantic...

Is anyone going to answer my question?

corcaigh07

ive heard bad things about it, i did a 16 week failte ireland full time cookery course lately and the chef said in that course, most of the time, the ballymaloe course isnt very hands on. i would fully recommend the failte ireland course i did provided you're unemployed.

joolsveer

corcaigh07 wrote: »

ive heard bad things about it, i did a 16 week failte ireland full time cookery course lately and the chef said in that course, most of the time, the ballymaloe course isnt very hands on. i would fully recommend the failte ireland course i did provided you're unemployed.

I'm self employed in a non catering sector. Would this disqualify me from the failte ireland course? It sounds like a great course on their website.

duploelabs

corcaigh07 wrote: »

ive heard bad things about it, i did a 16 week failte ireland full time cookery course lately and the chef said in that course, most of the time, the ballymaloe course isnt very hands on. i would fully recommend the failte ireland course i did provided you're unemployed.

Sounds great, where are you working now?

corcaigh07

joolsveer wrote: »

I'm self employed in a non catering sector. Would this disqualify me from the failte ireland course? It sounds like a great course on their website.

Yea for the course i did, it would but it came down to Bantry as part of the whole economic/welfare/recession situation we are having so Im not sure if the welfare rule applies to the full-time centres. It was a great experience and a very well funded course, this is coming froma guy who wasnt very interested in food before the course. Im now looking for work again and would think about going to 2nd yr Cookery in 3rd level now(course allows me to skip 1st year if i did go for it)

EDIT:Just checked the website joolsveer and yes, i would say that you would be ineligible. You could give them an e-mail and explain your situation to be sure though.

curly from cork

two friends of mine have done the ballymaloe course.one last year , once just finishing up this week. neither of them chefs just a love of food. both HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT . their days were full , busy and very hands on. they are now both painful about anyone using stock cubes or tins of anything !! they loved darina but found all the chefs great. let me know if you want to ask anything more specific and i ll try to get the answer for you.

kerash

Seaneh wrote: »

She is just the wife of the son.

Whos father is a registered sex offender, yay! lets give them money :mad:

B00MSTICK

My friend did a months course at the Dublin Cookery School in Blackrock and loved it. It's much cheaper than Ballymaloe.

He's now working as a Cook 3 in the Four Seasons, although he had previous experience.

duploelabs

curly from cork wrote: »

two friends of mine have done the ballymaloe course.one last year , once just finishing up this week. neither of them chefs just a love of food. both HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT . their days were full , busy and very hands on. they are now both painful about anyone using stock cubes or tins of anything !! they loved darina but found all the chefs great. let me know if you want to ask anything more specific and i ll try to get the answer for you.

Nice one

duploelabs

kerash wrote: »

Whos father is a registered sex offender, yay! lets give them money :mad:

brilliant logic there

katiemaloe

HI, I am usually hanging out in the photography forum, but being a passionate foodie, thought I might have a look here too!

I did the Ballymaloe course 5 years ago. It does cost a lot of money but I can safely say it was one of the best things I ever did. I learnt so much, and still am learning all the time. Its a very intense, hands on course. The whole place is just oozing good food and passion. It changed my whole way of thinking about food.

I initially did it just because I loved cooking and wanted to learn more and expereince something different. I had no plans of becoming a chef, though I did continue to work with food for a few years afterwards (just to soak up some practical experience) I find cooking to be one of mhy favorite things to do, an absolute pleasure.

A few things to consider about the course....
-you have to allow that you aren't working for 3 months so need enough to live on during this time.

-you also have to pay for uniforms, knives and accomodation. Though the knives are such a good investment to have.

-its really intense, and there is a lot of cooking and eating! You eat a 3 course lunch every day, that you have been cooking all morning. Bliss!

-I met so many people from all over the world. 50 strangers thrown together with most of them living in a courtyard of cottages. You're just bound to make new mates, and lots of dinner parties Lots of nights out in the two local little pubs too.

-you can get involved in so much more than just the cooking. Farmers market stall, cooking in local restaurants at the weekends, the farm, the organice gardens. You can get as much as you like out of the course.

-You do get a bit spoilt there with all the gorgeous home grown organic seasonal ingredients. Its so not like that when your cheffing with a boss screaming about costings!

Basically, if you can afford it, I can't recommend it enough. I had an amazing time there and didn't want to leave. Changed my view on food and cooking and lots of other things too. Darina is a remarkable woman and can only be admired for her non stop enthusiasm and knowledge. Rachel and Rory are good too, though I can see why people find Rachel a little annoying. She is a nice girl though. The other school staff are really lovely too- such a nice atmosphere. Feel free to ask if you're curious about anything else....

PS I kind of feel the whole Timmy thing is kind of irrelevant to the OP's original question.

Mr Magnolia

katiemaloe wrote: »

PS I kind of feel the whole Timmy thing is kind of irrelevant to the OP's original question.

I agree, take it out of Food & Drink if you want to discuss this please folks.

duploelabs

23 posts, only a handful of answers that were relevant, and one pretty inflammatory comment.

Mods hang your head

kerash

Mr Magnolia wrote: »

I agree, take it out of Food & Drink if you want to discuss this please folks.

It is wholly relevant, Tim Allen was 'disassociated' from Ballymaloe because of the effect his conviction had on the business including Cooking courses in Ballymaloe.
I was a huge fan of Darina before this but the actions of her and the company after the case sickened me and have tainted my opinion of the Ballymaloe brand, my post may have been blunt but that's the truth of the matter and I have to say it has affected my opinion of anyone or thing that carries the Allen name to sell themselves and their produce.

I would never consider paying Ballymaloe for a jar of sauce or a cooking course.

duploelabs

kerash wrote: »

It is wholly relevant, Tim Allen was 'disassociated' from Ballymaloe because of the effect his conviction had on the business including Cooking courses in Ballymaloe.
I was a huge fan of Darina before this but the actions of her and the company after the case sickened me and have tainted my opinion of the Ballymaloe brand, my post may have been blunt but that's the truth of the matter and I have to say it has affected my opinion of anyone or thing that carries the Allen name to sell themselves and their produce.

I would never consider paying Ballymaloe for a jar of sauce or a cooking course.

but it was in NO way relevant or pertinent to the question at hand and your statement was only to service a personal grudge you have against one member of a family business

kerash

duploelabs wrote: »

but it was in NO way relevant or pertinent to the question at hand and your statement was only to service a personal grudge you have against one member of a family business

Yes I consider that it is relevant and quite pertinent in making a decision to attend cookery classes or buy their products. It's my opinion it's based on fact. I couldn't comprimise no matter how well recommend the course is.

I'm always interested in Cookery Schools - if I had the money to attend I'd like to go and it's great to read about them and peoples experiences. However I wouldnt consider Ballymaloe.

To answer the op, I never done it, and wouldn't think of doing it because of the reasons I've mentioned.

Mr Magnolia

duploelabs wrote: »

23 posts, only a handful of answers that were relevant, and one pretty inflammatory comment.

Mods hang your head

/for shame.

Use the report or the PM function, don't discuss moderation on thread.

kerash wrote: »

It is wholly relevant, Tim Allen was 'disassociated' from Ballymaloe because of the effect his conviction had on the business including Cooking courses in Ballymaloe.
I was a huge fan of Darina before this but the actions of her and the company after the case sickened me and have tainted my opinion of the Ballymaloe brand, my post may have been blunt but that's the truth of the matter and I have to say it has affected my opinion of anyone or thing that carries the Allen name to sell themselves and their produce.

I would never consider paying Ballymaloe for a jar of sauce or a cooking course.

And you've had your say so leave it at that.



All, no further warnings.

Hermy

I rarely post here but I do like to read the various food threads.
However I'd like to comment on this particular thread if I may.

Regardless of what forum or context the Allen name is mentioned, I think it's hard to ignore the issue of Tim Allens crime. Even though he is no longer involved with the Ballymaloe cookery school his past has left a stain that will live long in the memories of those familiar with this sordid affair.