I managed a French artisan bakery up until it went out of business due to the recession almost 3 years ago now. To say it was artisan is almost an understatement. Everything, and I mean everything was made from scratch and the viennoiserie (croissants and danish) were better than anything you could get in this country and to be fair, on a level with what you could get in France. We had a team of French pastry chefs and bakers and they were a real eye-opener as well. In my naivety I thought it was the Irish who had the reputation for being the alcoholics of Europe - that was until I met the French. I would say that 70% plus of our staff had a drink problem. However, that is a novel for another time!
We used very expensive ingredients including French flour, primarily Farine de Ble type 65 (wheat flour), but also siegle (rye). We used all unsalted butter, whole eggs, cream and Belgian chocolate. This, in addition to all products being handmade including the croissants, rolled by hand, made the product very expensive. Obviously in the downturn many business cut back on their expensive supplies. We had problems with customers dragging their heels paying up and this in turn led us to not be able to pay our suppliers. Every month was a nightmare, towards the end, trying to negotiate cheques from our accounts office in order to release supplies from suppliers who had our account on hold. I had to continually juggle and also shop around for better prices which ended up taking up so much time, it began to take up a large part of everyday.
We operated 3 separate sections, bread, viennoiserie and dessert. Breads included baguettes, Bretonne baguette, country bread, boule, couronne and brioche. Viennoiserie was croissant, almond croissant, pain au chocolate, pain au raisin, fruit etoile, torsade and apple chausson. Desserts were fresh fruit tarts with creme patissiere, lemon tart, chocolate tart, cheesecakes, mousses including feuillantine chocolate, opera, profiteroles (piece montee) and nicest of all La Religieuse. And this list is only a fraction of what I can remember.
We supplied primarily Dublins' - 4 and 5 star hotels. Some of the executive head chefs were the bain of my life but some were really great to work with as we often made desserts to order. We also supplied cafes, restaurants and coffee shops. Our delivery vans were on the road before 4am and most deliveries were completed by 10am. The bakery operated 24/7 and we had 3 different shifts. If I had occasion to go in at night to check something, it was like a whole other world. A bright hive of activity with the most amazing smells wafting out. There is nothing like the taste of a freshly glazed pain au raisin or a crusty baguette.
When I travel now to France, which is several times a year lately, I still compare bakery goods with "ours" and very often they fail to live up to standards; as even in France they have started to cut back on the quality ingredients (butter in particular). I can always taste the difference in croissant. But sometimes you find a small bakery in a town that produces the same sort of amazing tastes we did. And that is heaven and something the French really excel at.
One day I hope to sit down and write in more detail about the experience of managing the bakery and dealing with the French because, when I used to tell friends the stories, they all said you really should write a book. The only problem is people reading it would think I had made it up!
Thursday 12 January 2012
Tuesday 3 January 2012
The Real Reason People are Anti-Hunting
The furore that erupted over "that" photo of Rachel Allen today, prompted me to put forward my theory about the real reason people are anti-hunting and field sports. I should say firstly that I hunted with the Meath Hunt for a good number of years as did both my children from quite an early age. During that time I was able to observe the type of people who hunt in this country and the type of people who are vociferous in their opposition. I have overheard some of the "antis" comments while they were demonstrating against the hunt and the vast majority were more against their perceived bias of the participants than any real empathy for the fox.
The people who hunted were from every walk of life - farmers, professionals, titled and manual workers. Everyone who hunted had both a love of, and respect for the countryside. Most were into hunting for the joy and freedom of galloping through fields and the excitement of clearing huge ditches, drains, stone walls, gates and barbed wire. The feeling of being at one with your horse as he shivers in anticipation when the hunting horn is sounded. I always remember my daughter's pony used to get so excited when we arrived at a hunt he was often in a sweat before he even got out of the horse box. Every horse loves hunting with a passion. I only ever "saw" one fox caught in all the years I hunted and I didn't even witness the actual killing as the hounds caught him in gorse bushes. In contrast I have seen hundreds of foxes killed on the roads. I have seen foxes lead hounds on a right merry dance as one sauntered up one side of a ditch with the hounds in full cry on the other side hunting in the wrong direction.
The anti-hunt lobby have been vocal at their perceived cruelty of hunting. However the fox is classified as vermin and therefore the population must be controlled. The fox is a natural predator as are the dogs that chase him. The people who hunt are not a rabid, bloodthirsty mob. I never met one person who expressed a wish to see any fox killed while on a hunt. The only sentiment ever expressed was that we got a good chase which led us over decent country (by country they meant good jumping).
The hunt members are very far removed from the idle-rich landed gentry with their nose-in-the-air. They are, for the most part decent, hard-working people who love horses and animal and outdoor pursuits. They are considerate of road users, land owners and each other.
I have always wondered why the anti-hunt lobby don't turn their energy into doing some good for animal welfare and employ their energies against intensive, factory-farming which inflicts real cruelty on animals. Intensively farmed animals in this country have probably the worst life imaginable. Instead they concentrate their energy on an animal that has for the most part a natural, wild life and against the people they perceive to be something that they are not.
Myself and my daughter hunting St. Stephen's Day, Kells, 1999
Fox Hunting Meath Hunt Rachel Allen Anti Hunt Lobby Fox and Hound
The people who hunted were from every walk of life - farmers, professionals, titled and manual workers. Everyone who hunted had both a love of, and respect for the countryside. Most were into hunting for the joy and freedom of galloping through fields and the excitement of clearing huge ditches, drains, stone walls, gates and barbed wire. The feeling of being at one with your horse as he shivers in anticipation when the hunting horn is sounded. I always remember my daughter's pony used to get so excited when we arrived at a hunt he was often in a sweat before he even got out of the horse box. Every horse loves hunting with a passion. I only ever "saw" one fox caught in all the years I hunted and I didn't even witness the actual killing as the hounds caught him in gorse bushes. In contrast I have seen hundreds of foxes killed on the roads. I have seen foxes lead hounds on a right merry dance as one sauntered up one side of a ditch with the hounds in full cry on the other side hunting in the wrong direction.
The anti-hunt lobby have been vocal at their perceived cruelty of hunting. However the fox is classified as vermin and therefore the population must be controlled. The fox is a natural predator as are the dogs that chase him. The people who hunt are not a rabid, bloodthirsty mob. I never met one person who expressed a wish to see any fox killed while on a hunt. The only sentiment ever expressed was that we got a good chase which led us over decent country (by country they meant good jumping).
The hunt members are very far removed from the idle-rich landed gentry with their nose-in-the-air. They are, for the most part decent, hard-working people who love horses and animal and outdoor pursuits. They are considerate of road users, land owners and each other.
I have always wondered why the anti-hunt lobby don't turn their energy into doing some good for animal welfare and employ their energies against intensive, factory-farming which inflicts real cruelty on animals. Intensively farmed animals in this country have probably the worst life imaginable. Instead they concentrate their energy on an animal that has for the most part a natural, wild life and against the people they perceive to be something that they are not.
Fox Hunting Meath Hunt Rachel Allen Anti Hunt Lobby Fox and Hound
Sunday 1 January 2012
New Years Thoughts and Resolutions
If I could find the magic way to lose weight whilst still being able to enjoy my food and wine then wouldn't I be onto a good thing? Every year I make a resolution that this will be the year I get back to my ideal weight so as to be able to wear all the clothes I can't bear to throw away, but to date I have not managed to. It's not that I am obese or even hugely overweight but I do need to lose a few kilos. I am fit and I eat healthily although I do have a sweet tooth. When I was younger my friends used to wonder how I was so slim despite the fact that I ate probably twice as much as they did. One even told me that one day it would catch up with me and she was right. It has caught up with me now.
I can't say that I want to get fit because as I said I am reasonably fit. I have two dogs who torture me if I don't walk them. It's not as if they haven't plenty of space to run about and exercise themselves but they never seem to bother and only charge around the fields if I am with them.
I want to try to raise pigs this year and have made a resolution to do this although I am dreading getting too attached and not being able to bring myself to kill and eat them. I am a real soft touch when it comes to animals. Even a wicked rooster who used every opportunity to attack me; when he eventually got killed I couldn't bear to eat him. It just seemed wrong especially as a few hours before he was running around my garden.
But my primary resolution has to be the desire to finally take an idea I have and turn it into a business opportunity. I suppose I am bit scared to take the plunge and feel a bit like a sky diver standing at the door of a plane trying to decide to jump. I know that once I jump I will probably be fine but it's just getting the courage to make the move. My grandfather was a supreme entrepreneur and I often wonder why I did not inherit that gene. I wish he was alive to ask him had he similar doubts but he died at the age of 45 from a heart attack. But in his short life he certainly lived - built up a business, went broke and built the business back up again. My father tells a great story that when the second world war broke out he knew that petrol would be rationed so he dug two holes in the garden for underground tanks and filled them. However, the government then issued a directive that the only cars allowed on the road were to be driven by doctors and priests. He was one of the few people who actually had a car at the time so he would have been very obvious on the road.
My grandfather on the left
I can't say that I want to get fit because as I said I am reasonably fit. I have two dogs who torture me if I don't walk them. It's not as if they haven't plenty of space to run about and exercise themselves but they never seem to bother and only charge around the fields if I am with them.
I want to try to raise pigs this year and have made a resolution to do this although I am dreading getting too attached and not being able to bring myself to kill and eat them. I am a real soft touch when it comes to animals. Even a wicked rooster who used every opportunity to attack me; when he eventually got killed I couldn't bear to eat him. It just seemed wrong especially as a few hours before he was running around my garden.
But my primary resolution has to be the desire to finally take an idea I have and turn it into a business opportunity. I suppose I am bit scared to take the plunge and feel a bit like a sky diver standing at the door of a plane trying to decide to jump. I know that once I jump I will probably be fine but it's just getting the courage to make the move. My grandfather was a supreme entrepreneur and I often wonder why I did not inherit that gene. I wish he was alive to ask him had he similar doubts but he died at the age of 45 from a heart attack. But in his short life he certainly lived - built up a business, went broke and built the business back up again. My father tells a great story that when the second world war broke out he knew that petrol would be rationed so he dug two holes in the garden for underground tanks and filled them. However, the government then issued a directive that the only cars allowed on the road were to be driven by doctors and priests. He was one of the few people who actually had a car at the time so he would have been very obvious on the road.
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