Today we started off our theory day as normal with Cheeses & biscuits of the week.

The Irish cheeses were hard from West Cork - Desmond & Gabriel. We also had some Dutch cheese brought over by one of our fellow students. These were also hard cheeses, one goats cheese, one with cloves and cumin & a gouda type cheese.

Then would you believe we had another wine tasting, this time before 10am! First we tasted a Chablis from Burgundy, France & got to compare it with the same wine from a bottle that was corked. We tried a Chateau Montelena from Napa Valley, California. The stopped for a quick coffee break.

Then we learned a little about Italian wine. Italy is very complex with hundreds of different grapes varieties being used and thousands of different vineyards. We tasted Pieropan Soave Classico & Palazzo della Torre. At this stage hunger was setting in and wine was going to my head but still time for one more before lunch. We moved on to Spain briefly with Bodegas Resalte de Penafiel - my favourite of the day!

After lunch we had a presentation by Tom Duane (apologies if the name is spelled wrong!) on game. Pheasant, duck etc. When they can be shot, how to pluck & prepare them.

A quick look through some notes on Freezing & Spices - for us to study for the final exam.

Then off to Ballymaloe House for a tour & some afternoon tea. We even got to meet Myrtle Allen who spoke words of wisdom, should we decide to move on to a career in cooking.

Long but good day!