Chef to Barista

My trip to Brisbane this week was a great success.I am now a qualified Barista. After a 3 and 2 hour course and lots of coffee making I finally received my certificate.

A small room with 5 coffee machines greeted us with the smell of coffee everywhere. Ten coffee addicts took part in the Barista Basics course.

The first hour was spent learning about coffee, the characteristics, roast, colour size and type, origin etc. We perfected the setting of the grinder, highly important as this sets the flow of water through the coffee, it should be between 25 & 30 seconds. The pour of the espresso is the first thing to master. The rich thick creme is a must for all coffee.

Pedro Ximenez Sherry Vinegar

Today I received my bottle of Pedro Ximenez sherry vinegar. A very special sherry vinegar.

Sherry vinegar or Vinagre de Jerez is a gourmet wine vinegar made from Sherry and is produced in the province of Cadiz in Spain. Cadiz is situated within the so called “sherry triangle”. The “sherry triangle” is the area between the city of Jerez de la Frontera and the towns of Sanlucar de Barrameda and El Puerto de Santa Maria. Most sherry vinegar .

Red Onion Confit

This is my second entry in Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted this time by Chris from Mele Cotte. Chris you do have lots of entries I am going to need a holiday to get to see them all. Sorry that I missed out last week with the founder of the Weekend Herb Blogging event Kayln hosting.

They Call Themselves Chefs

What is with you young boys out there, I say young only because I class myself in the old school regime. Today I herd that yet another chef did the ‘walk out’ in service. Now that’s just great. It seams to be a common thing these days.

Firstly, I do know that some employers have absolutely no idea, that most don’t pay well and that they want you do be at there beck and call. Now that I have agreed with you so called chef’s out there, let’s get this straight. How ever much you are in a mess, for what ever the reason, what justifies the right to drop tools and just go…..