In May, I went up to Dublin with Kate (The Chefess) and Margaret for a mini girls’ weekend. Well, mini weekend. We’re not mini girls. The focal point of the getaway was dinner out on the town and learning a few new cooking tricks through Thai Day Cooking Class at SABA and Fab Food Trails. It was my first night away from my son ever.
The idea started back in January when I won a voucher for the class plus a copy of the SABA Cookbook in this competition Caroline (aka Bibliocook) shared on the Irish Food Bloggers blog.
We stayed at The Gibson. Great location for the Luas.
Saturday night, before dinner was the time for drinks at the bar in The Gibson. The natural light there is wonderful for pre-dinner cocktails on a summer’s evening. I had an appletini. Mojitos were also enjoyed.
We had reservations and dined at Eden. I wore a dress and impractical footwear and my purse did not hold a baby bottle or spare diaper. It was very exciting!
We drank wine. Margaret and I were grateful that Kate offered to choose which wine. So handy dining with a professional!
I started with Eden’s Seasonal Beetroot Risotto served with wilted baby rocket, goat cheese & candied walnuts. I’m a sucker for anything beetroot.
Classic steak and chips – or as Eden calls it Panfried Prime Irish 8oz Sirloin Steak served with homemade chips, roasted red onion, green beans & black peppercorn sauce. I was kicking myself for bringing the tiny purse about now because I left my Old Bay Seasoning in my big purse. I love Old Bay on French fries. Er, I mean chips. They wisely placed the chips atop the green beans as to not let them be soggy from the peppercorn sauce.
Margaret and Kate were equally well nourished with their dishes…
The starters:
The mains:
Roast Rack of Lamb with Mini Lamb Pastie served with carrot mash, curly kale, roasted root vegetables and rosemary & garlic jus.
Panfried Fillet of 4oz Irish Beef with Braised Daube of Beef served with celeriac mash, wilted greens, button mushrooms and baby onion jus.
A little post-dinner tweeting.
Then we shared a cheese plate and petite fours before returning to The Gibson to rest up for our early start and big Fabulous Food Trail Sunday at SABA.
The emphasis of Thai Day was on planning, shopping and storage of ingredients as well as empowering us to improvise with recipes and make them our own. Arriving at SABA, the plaques are placed to impress.
We were seated at a large communal table with the other ten or so ‘students’ for the day and given bottles of water and tea or coffee to start things off.
SABA’s Executive Chef Taweesak Trakoolwattana “Tao” introduced himself and gave us an overview of the day. Then we were served breakfast, a bowl of conch (a traditional Thai and Vietnamese breakfast). It was pork (pictured) so when we were asked about food allergies I spoke up and had mine with chicken instead. Wish I could eat this every morning, the chicken version, that is. It’s like an Asian answer to porridge.
As we finished our tea, Tao explained how simple it was to prepare, much like other things he was about to teach us. Simple, as we know, can shine if using fresh quality ingredients.
We learned about typical ingredients as well as what Tao uses at SABA. He detailed which brands were the best and why as well as history on the ingredients and what they behave like in different cooking circumstances (like always cook this before eating it or it tastes bitter and stuff like that). With each and every ingredient, from soy sauce to raw eggplant, we tasted so we would know what fresh quality ingredients should taste like.
These are two types of eggplant.
This medley has spicy peppers but the minced shallots and other ingredients tone down the heat so it has a lovely depth of flavor. I’ve since made this blend at home to use when I cook chicken in my wok.
There were four or five demonstrations! All but one had volunteers involved in the process, engaging us to learn by doing.
I volunteered! Here I am helping Chef Tao. Major concentration going on!
Then we eat got to taste the dishes from the demonstrations as they were done. Each and every one of them!
I was most impressed with the ease and flexibility with which dietary needs and allergies were addressed. I’m so used to feeling awkward or blamed for having a food allergy but during Thai Day it was just one of those things. It wasn’t like they were offering to make something special to accommodate my allergy then pausing as if waiting for me to say ‘Oh no, I can just eat around it.’ No, on Thai Day my food allergy was immediately accepted and it was as if it was a handy opportunity to demonstrate how to make the dish with a variety of ingredients. I loved that!
Then, Tao took the group on a tour of the local Asian grocery store so we could identify what ingredients to use and how.
Then to the Irish shop Fallon & Byrne to learn how to substitute ingredients and what would NEVER be in Thai or Vietnamese cuisine.
On a side note, I was delighted to see Old Bay seasoning at Fallon & Byrne – and shocked at the price. €7.45 for a tin?! That’s double what it costs at the grocery stores in Maryland. Please note: This is NOT a traditional Thai or Vietnamese ingredient.
After our walk, we had worked up an appetite which was fortunate because it was time for our late lunch. Again, we sat together at a communal table and enjoyed several courses of SABA’s finest.
The Thai Day was amazing, educational and delicious. Tao was an enthusiastic and patient teacher with an obvious passion for food. Worthwhile!!! If you want to check it out for yourself, here’s the info on the Fabulous Food Trails website.
Having a little spare time between shopping and our train, Margaret and I met up with Kate again and a friend of hers for a refreshment. I had a lemonade at Powerscourt because it is the same café that was the first stop on my honeymoon several years ago. A very sentimental glass (it was actually served in a jar) of lemonade.
The day ended with a return to the Asian market for a few things I couldn’t live without. Carefully chosen items but I did splurge on imported graham crackers. I met a fellow Corkonian through the day who had driven up and he kindly offered to bring my heavy groceries in his car. Which was nice since I had the train to contend with.
Later that week after I had gone shopping at the local Asian grocery store in Cork City Centre, I made a Thai dinner inspired by what I learned during my Thai Day at SABA. It tasted as good as it looks.
Also while in Dublin, I knit on the train and visited This Is Knit plus Avoca, but those will be covered in another post because this one is already very lengthy with plenty of photos. Plus I suspect you are hungry and want to go eat some Thai food right now.
What is your idea of a perfect overnight getaway? Would your girls’ weekend include a cooking class or more cocktails and shopping?
These dishes look absolutely fabulous, what a great course, and
certainly a must do.
It was such fun. Really an enjoyable getaway. Can’t wait to do it again.
Looks like it was a delightfully tasty weekend! All of that food looks amazing
It was! Mmmm.