May 30, 2023
It’s finally here. The day we’ve been working towards all year. In a few hours time, a group of VIPs -including Michelin-starred chefs, food industry and culinary education experts - will walk through the gates of Airfield Estate. The Botanical Cuisine class of 2023 have been tasked with hosting an unforgettable dining experience for these most particular of guests at Airfield Estate. An event that showcases the knowledge and skills we have gleaned over the preceding year of our Botanical Cuisine education.
The theme we have chosen is “Úr” - taste the landscape. “Úr” is the Gaelic word for landscape, but it also means “clay”, “soil” and “fresh”. Each course of our eight course tasting menu is inspired by a different Irish landscape - from coast to mountain top.
It’s been a hectic 24 hours, with the team having to pull together to get every member across the finish line with preparations completed and the serving areas decorated. There have been hiccups. Spoilt eggs. Missing tablecloths. No lemons. Those with time to spare have stepped in to lend a helping hand here and there. Now, the sun is shining on Airfield’s gardens and fields. If we had time to listen we’d probably hear birdsong. But there isn’t a minute to spare as last minute garnishes are picked, dishes are laid out and food painstakingly plated at great speed.
The clock ticks on and before we can catch a breath, the first guests are arriving at the gates of Airfield. As introductions are made and old acquaintances catch up, guests are welcomed and the scene is set. Sarah Browne’s “oyscream” is the opening course, inspired by the Irish coast. On a bed of frozen seaweed, in a beautiful oyster shell, Sarah serves her oyster icecream. The drink she has prepared is a rose and gorse kombucha vinegar. Throughout the year Sarah has been
exploring a sustainable perspective on Irish seafood, and Irish oysters are an incredibly sustainable and nutritious ingredient that Sarah believes should be a greater feature in our menus. I take a minute to welcome the guests but I’ve no time to spare as I race to my own serving station as my course is up next.
The diners walk from the gates, along a windy path to the Botanical Cuisine allotment for their next course. This little corner of the Estate is where our class has been learning edible gardening with horticultural expert Paula Pender. In our little polytunnel and raised beds we have prepared beds, sown seeds and carefully watched our plants grow over the preceding months. Today, the garden is starting to spring into life with the first pea pods appearing and radish and carrot seedlings peeking through.
I serve my course next, inspired by the Irish Hedgerow, and I’m literally standing in a hedgerow as I serve it. It’s a strained yoghurt cheese with gooseberry sauce, hazelnut, fennel and Alexander seed dukkah, garnished with hedgerow leaves and flowers including a pickled Alexander flower and crispy blackberry leaf. The dish was inspired by my childhood memories, being sent from Dublin down to the farm in Kilkenny in the summer holidays. My granny would send us down the farmyard to pick gooseberries and then we would try and escape down the fields to play before we got given any more jobs! As we explored the farm we would snack on edible hedgerow plants like sorrel and blackberries. I’ve paired my dish with my own larch flower liquor and apple-juice spritz. The dishes I’m serving on have been custom made for the event by a good friend of mine, talented ceramacist Naomi Good. Naomi responded to my late night text a mere two weeks previous, asking her if she’d be interested in making some bowls for the day. We literally took the bowls out of the kiln the night before so it was just in the nick of time! I’m delighted to have such beautiful clay bowls for my dish, their earthy natural character is perfectly in rhythm with both the event and my hedgerow theme.
Marius’ dish is next up, celebrating the produce we’ve grown in our allotment, his theme is farm and community. It’s a fresh salad with an edible soil and as he stands right outside our polytunnel, it’s the perfect dish for the location. Literally no food miles involved!
Our guests are now on the move again, down to the Inspiration Kitchen where the next three courses will be presented. But first, they enjoy a walk through Airfield’s stunning gardens. The gardeners are hard at work planting out new seedlings and mulching beds. We couldn’t have choreographed it better. We’re greeted with the smell of wood smoke, my fellow student Gavin has the outdoor OFYR grill stoked and ready to fire his course any minute.
Deniz presents his dish representing the “urban” landscape outside the Inspiration Kitchen. He’s drawn his inspiration from the humble carrot, elevating this one simple ingredient into a complex and beautiful dish with many flavours from around the world. The group are then invited to enjoy Gavin’s trout with wild garlic, fresh from the grill. Gavin’s theme is “lakes and rivers”. Foraged ingredients have been a huge inspiration for Gavin throughout the year and his dish riffs on the many layers of flavour within wild garlic as an ingredient with fresh and fermented elements as well as a bright green royale. Stephanie’s dish is served next, her theme is “pasture” and its a fitting setting as we’ve passed Airfield’s hens pecking and sheep grazing on our way here. Stephanie presents a vegetarian scotch egg, made with delicate quail’s eggs and decorated with beautiful wild pasture flowers and home grown leaves from her garden in Cavan.
It’s time for our guests to explore Airfield’s grounds once again as their next destination is the ancient redwoods adjacent to the grand old manor house. Beneath the trees, Kieran presents his “mountain” themed dessert, inspired by his memories as a child exploring in the Dublin Mountains, just visible through the trees. Kieran’s dish is a heather honey tart with a nettle cream, paired with a pine kombucha. The group are then invited to enjoy their final course. Alicia’s theme is “forest” and she’s created a beautiful table display with foraged forest mosses and greenery. Her dish is a mushroom chocolate brownie with a forest flower syrup. The brownie was made using acorn flour she made in the first semester of Botanical Cuisine, a long process! Alicia has also brewed an acorn liquor to pair with her dish.
It’s hard to believe the last spoon has been downed and our guests have now finished their epic eight course menu. Looking around the forest, there are smiles, congratulations and very satisfied guests.
There is one last formality that with all the rush of the event, I had almost forgotten about. Charles Michel, internationally renowned culinary artist and innovator, had given us a number of incredibly inspiring masterclasses earlier in the term. Our group had taken part in the “Interpreting the Earth” Award, judged by Charles Michel, where we were challenged to “tell a story about experiencing and relating to the earth” with flavour in all its multisensory expressions as our canvas. Charles announces Stephanie as the very worthy winner of the award, for her dish which told the story of how “wild” landscapes are being continually marginalised by the march of conventional farming methods.
And just like that-The final bow for the class of 2023!
As we all gather for a class photo under the tree, it’s hard to believe it’s all over. We couldn’t be more different as a group of eight individuals, so many different backgrounds and perspectives, but this shared experience has seen us work very much as a team. It’s been a year of incredible access to some of the most innovative spaces and people in the Irish culinary landscape. We’ve met some very inspiring people along the way. We’ve been coached and challenged by a talented (and at times patient) team of lecturers. There will be enduring friendships and enduring ideas. I can’t wait to see what happens next.
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