The chef at the Irish manor asked a visiting American student to pick some carrots from the garden.
But the student came back empty-handed and said, “I couldn?t find any carrot trees.”
Baltimore International College President Roger Chylinski likes to tell this story to demonstrate the importance of having American students travel from the urban campus in Baltimore to work in the kitchen of a 250-year-old estate nestled in the Emerald Isle countryside.
“For a lot of these students, it?s a real eye-opener to learn how to make meals from scratch,” he said. “We can offer the spectrum of how it?s done, from the farm to the guest.”
Starting next year, all BIC students will be required to travel to the Park Manor House, a fully operational hotel in County Cavan, to graduate.
“It?s just a really awesome experience,” said Matt Walker, 23, of Havre de Grace.
Walker and Cassondra Takemoto, 22, of Rockville, completed five weeks of training in Ireland last week.
“I?ve never worked in a kitchen where they had their own herb garden,” Walker said. “It?s helpful in a pinch. If you run out of parsley, you don?t have to take it off the menu for the night.”
The pair learned that European chefs are more adventurous, even opting to put white pepper on tables ? something Americans probably wouldn?t accept.
“Americans aren?t ready for it,” Walker said. “We are a young culture, and Europeans have been cooking a lot longer.”
Takemoto valued the experience of working in a real kitchen for the first time, where she hustled to make sure meals were served hot for customers.
“In a lab, you don?t have the pressure to get six orders out,” she said.
In addition to working, students are given free time for tours of Ireland and the rest of Europe, said Joey Dempsey, the hotel?s managing director and chef.
“Students mature in Ireland, and a whole new world is opened to them,” Chylinski said.
