Within just a few months of opening, Patrick Ryan has gone from zero to hero in terms of profile. One second we hadn’t heard of him, and now he’s writing in the Irish Times, featuring on morning radio, popping up everywhere on Twitter. And his cookery school is running at full capacity.
This would be impressive if Patrick and his partner Laura Moore were operating from a premises in central Dublin. But, it’s even more impressive when you consider that their school is on an island just off the coast of West Cork. Even without a boat ride, West Cork isn’t the easiest place to get to. Drive to Cork, and you still have sixty miles further and a good 90 minutes at least left to drive. To say this school defies the rule of Location Location Location is an understatement, but perhaps Patrick chose wisely when he settled his Bread School on Heir Island.
Mr Ryan may be new to Ireland, but he has some pedigree as a cook and writer in the UK. In his short career he has already run a bakery in Bath, made a BBC TV series and has a book published by giant publishing house Murdoch Books. This guy is driven, and so, despite his youth, there is a wealth of experience and knowledge that he can teach. Bath’s loss is definitely West Cork’s gain.
Loads of experience in communicating and baking are just one of the reasons why the Firehouse bread course is so good. Ryan and Laura are simply the most generous teachers I’ve ever come across. For example, they only take six students at a time, and each person cooks a different bread, in fact, three different breads. This means you come away with over twenty recipes and techniques in just one day’s baking. It also means people of different experience can work alongside each other without any element of feeling your neighbour is doing a better job than you are. That’s clever teaching.
At the close of the session, they lay all the breads out on the table, and you realise just how much you’ve learned. My favourites were pumpkin and cheddar scones, the pizza and baguettes and, of course the joy of making a real sourdough loaf. When you leave, in another generous touch, they give you a little baker’s lame - the razor knife for carving your own signature on your loaf — and a large scraper which, you discover, is just about as essential as the bowl when it comes to making dough.
After baking for a day here - you get it. Simple as that. You can make bread: sourdough, pizza, sodas, flavoured breads, sweet doughs and many many more. You also have a good understanding of a pizza oven (they have a brick oven, built by Hendrik Lepel in which we cooked both pizza and our sourdough loaf). And you’ve made a few friends along the way.
www.thefirehouse.ie
Day courses run 10.30am-5.30pm at a cost of €110 per person, which includes bread, dips, pizza and a magnificent lunch.
The Roaringwater Lodge accommodation is very much recommended if you want to extend your time on the island.
Picture shows Sally's first wood-fired pizza!
