Today I wanted an early morning start as I wanted a proper crack at making good focaccia ... so into the kitchen at 8 a.m and off I went with the kenwood on the painful journey to focacciaville ... in between all that I had a busy day ... cooking was one part but also trying to secure everything we needed for our time traveling journey on Saturday (pit cooking) Some of you will have seen from instagram the messages that Annette (my teacher) and Rachel left for me as they couldn’t find me at various times throughout the morning 😝😇

Before then I had to make my focaccia, Thai chicken, galangal and coriander soup and some salt and pepper squid (a giant squid) I also fed my sourdough starter for the fourth day 😝😝

I was reasonably happy with the whole cooking and presentation aspect but I was annoyed with myself as I forgot to heat my plates and give my teacher a heads up I was ready for tasting (Amateur mistake! ) Anyway ... lesson learned!

The afternoon demo was with Rachel but before that we had a quick coffee demo with the guys from 010.ie ... who just happen to sell the coffee machine I have wanted for years ... let’s see if I can get off this island without buying one!

The demo was mostly Indian food and some of the dishes demo’d ...

Indian Spiced Pakoras, Mango Relish
Salad of Beetroot with Raspberries, Honey and Mint
Elderflower Sorbet or Granita
Mild Madras Curry, Fresh Spices and accompaniments
Aged Basmati Rice;
Cucumber Raita; Mint Chutney
Bananas with Coconut Shavings; Apples with Lemon Juice
Diced Mango with Lime Juice;
Hot Chilli Sauce,
Tamarind Chutney,
Beetroot and Mustard Seed Raita
Pomegranate and Grape Raita;
Indian Breads – Poori, Naan, Chapatis, Paratha Bread, Poppodums
Summer Green Salad
Indian Yoghurt Drinks – Sweet Lassi and Salty Lassi
Pears Poached in a Saffron Syrup
Agen Stuffed Prunes, Rosewater Cream
Srikhand
Poached Apricots
Agen Chocolate Prunes

After demo we had some real stuff to do! We had received permission to dig a big pit in one of the gardens and to cook in it! We had also arranged for some food to be contributed by the school, mostly left overs that we could turn into magic on Saturday! We intend to cook four or so lamb shoulders in the pit for 10 hours tomorrow !!!!! Early start!

Tonight a few of us dug a 2.5 foot pit in the ground, laid it with rocks, started a decent fire in it and kept it burning most of the night ... this happened to coincide with BiBis leaving drinks so we had an audience while we sweated our £&£& off digging the pit! 🤣

Tomorrow we will get up around 6 a.m to restart the fire and let it burn down ... we’ll then throw the lamb in ... covered in hay and see what magic can happen over the course of the day ... We also have a load of sides to prepare so it will be a busy day!

Fingers crosses! 🤔🤫😊

Day Fifty Four - Return to the Stone Age!