Cooking at the Castle

On a peninsula northeast of Dublin sits a small fishing village called Howth (pronounced hote). It's a beautiful little town that has a lot to do: eat seafood, feed seals, walk along the cliffs, see a ruined abbey, and much much more. Tuesday night we had a team-building activity which involved taking a cooking class at Howth Castle.

It was a wonderful experience. We broke into two teams of eight and began cooking a four course meal under the guidance of a chef. The chef taught us how to cut, mince, stir, reduce and refresh. Our menu consisted of:

Mediterranean Feta Salad with Pomegranate
Parma-wrapped Chicken Breast with Ricotta Stuffing
Mushroom and Truffle Oil Risotto
Chocolate Truffle Torte

When we were done cooking, we sat down at the table and enjoyed the fruits of our labors. In addition to the fine dinner, we were treated to some legends of Howth Castle by it's current resident - a direct descendant of the builders of the original castle in the 12th century. The legends include a story about a female pirate abducting the heir to Lord Howth because she was offended by the gates being closed - a breach of hospitality. The heir was returned on the promise that the gates would never be closed and that the dinner table would always be set with an extra setting for an unexpected guest. The table is still set with the extra setting over 400 years later. Additionally, a new set of gates were built that could never close.

An intriguing and fun event - fun was had by all! The meal seemed all the more delicious because we prepared it.

Tipping in Ireland

Whenever other Americans come over to the project, there's usually a point where we end up going out to dinner. For me, it's a way to connect with people whose customs are more familiar to me. When I ask them who won The Game, they can tell me that the Bears beat the Packers, not that Man-U got a result against Liverpool. whenever we're out, there's always one question that get's asked, regardless of who's picking up the bill. How much do you tip over here?

For anybody who's curious, here's the answer: 0-10%. Tipping isn't expected over here the same way it is back in the States. That is one reason that it seems more expensive to go out to eat. Their waiters/waitresses get paid a better base wage, which is reflected in the cost of your dinner. However, if you feel you've gotten excellent service, you can give them a 10% tip. I usually won't tip at the bar (when I go up to buy drinks), but will usually tip at a sit-down restaurant. Typically 5-10% depending on the service. Bon Appetit!

Crypts, Stacks, Food & Flicks

I had a day out today that should make my father proud. I've apparently inherited his ability to fill a day of travel with more things to see than are humanly possible - yet still keep the trip under budget.

10:30am - Marsh's Library 2.50 euro
Marsh's library is a library in Dublin that came highly recommended from my Frommer's guide. The library is old (founded 1701), small and you can't take pictures of anything. However, I found the exhibit they had on old medical books quite interesting. Some of the books dated back to the 13th century. It's interesting to see how medicine and surgery have developed over the years. More impressive, though is seeing medical books that have diagrams drawn by Remmbrandt before he was a famous artist.

11:30am - Christ Church Cathedral 6.00 euro
The Cathedral was built in 1030 AD but has been rebuilt once since then due to a collapse of one whole wall. Though it is now part of the Church of Ireland, it was built before the division of Christianity into its various sects. It is an absolutely beautiful building with wonderful stained glass windows and ornate stone and wood carvings. The crypts are pretty neat, too.

1:00pm - Fish 'n Chips @ Leo Burdocks ~10.00 euro
Leo Burdocks is a famous chip shop in Dublin. There are two locations, one on Liffey St. and the one I went to that is right across from Christ Church Cathedral. The fish was great and the chips were plentiful, but there's nowhere to sit and enjoy your meal. On a sunny day, you can probably set yourself down somewhere on the Christ Church grounds, but it was wet outside. So I found a pub that had a beer garden with an awning. Nobody was outside, so I was able to enjoy my fish and chips in peace, unlike my experience in Monaghan.

1:30pm - Chester Beatty Library FREE!
This library had two large exhibits: Muraqqa' and Sacred Traditions. The artwork in the Muraqqa' exhibit was beautiful (taken from books dating from 17th century India and Iran), however the history was not all that intriguing to me. The Sacred Traditions exposition, however, mesmerized me. It was a wonderful exhibit on three of the major religions of the world: Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity. I love getting a more worldly perspective and found a place to do that here in spades. Wonderful exhibits, and it's free! Also there is a wonderful garden outside the library that looks up on Dublin Castle.

3:50pm - The Other Guys ~ 10 euro
After the Library, I got a ticket to see the new Will Farrell/Mark Wahlberg movie. It was freakin' hilarious. I recommend you go see it. It was an interesting perspective seeing the movie with an Irish audience. I found there were a couple of jokes where I was the only one laughing (because the Irish apparently don't know who Ralph Nader is - well at least not this audience).

6:30pm - Fries & a Shake @ Eddie Rocket's ~ 10 euro
Eddie Rockets is what we'd consider a revival 50's diner. You know the type: red vinyl seats, waitresses in pink uniforms, and mini jukeboxes on the table. It's one of my escapes to Americana that I can get while I'm over here. The food was good, but expensive.

8:20pm - Inception ~ 10 euro
This is the movie that's been out for awhile with Leonardo Di Caprio in it. All I can say is that it was a phenomenal movie. I don't go out to the movies to often . . . mostly because I don't like paying 10 euro (that's about $14 US) to see a movie that will cost $4.99 on Comcast in six months. However, this one was worth the price of admission.

It was quite a busy day and I know that my father would approve - with optional criticism that I paid too much for the movies. I did end up cutting one thing from the schedule, but we'll put that one onto the itinerary for another day. So what did I learn today? Chiefly that there are a lot of old books in Dublin and that the Irish don't know who Ralph Nader is.

The Butcher

The last three nights Beth and I (and to some extent RJ) have been eating meat that we bought from a butcher shop. Butcher shops are much more common over here and have (what I perceive) better prices than you'd find at a butcher shop back home.

I'm curious if this has to do with the perpetuation of mass distribution in the US, or if it is more of a cultural thing. Here, there are two butcher shops in the local mall. The smaller towns are likely to have one or two butcher shops along their main streets.

Needless to say, the meat is much better than the frozen stuff that we're accustomed to buying at the grocery stores back home. Then again, we rarely buy food from the butcher counter at the local Jewel.

So, we're enjoying good, fresh meat on a daily basis. Maybe this weekend, I'll stop by the fresh fish market where you can actually see the fishermen carry the fresh fish from the boats to the store.