Cabot's Cookery School officially opens in Aughagower

“Where is my big knife?” -  to step into Red Cabot’s world is not for the faint hearted. Full of energy and possibility, he was shucking oysters from Clew Bay when he spoke to The Mayo News.

The oysters had homemade breadcrumbs with some mixed with garlic and herbs added. They were among canapés of Clew Bay lobster with home-made garlic mayonnaise and Deerpark chives, Clew Bay dressed crab with wild garlic flowers were served on homemade bread to the more than one hundred people who came to the official opening of Cabot's Cookery School at Deerpark, Aughagower. 

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“It's a moment of great pride and happiness for the Cabot family and everybody who's working on this project to finally see the school being opened today,” he exclaimed.

“It's very much a family business, my wife, Sandra, works closely with the business, and it wouldn't be half the business without her. So we're delighted that the cooking school can be a showcase for local foods and local producers. It's a marvelous opportunity for Mayo to showcase the best it has. Mayo produce is amongst some of the best in the world.”

Red later gave a rallying cry to the many friends and family who filled the newly opened cookery school. He told them: “If you don’t have a dream, you have nothing.”

Among those attending were Mayo TDs, Keira Keogh and Paul Lawless, as well as Minister of State, Alan Dillon. Local businesses were also there in the shape of Cornrue's Patrick O'Reilly, JP Scott from Aughagower and Clew Bay Hotel's Darren Madden. 

Sunshine

The sun shone down on this bank holiday Friday as Liscarney stonemason, Hugh Kerins, expertly split rocks and crafted the stone wall leading up to the front door of the cookery school. 

At just shy of quarter past two, the Minister for Rural and Community Development and special guest, Dara Calleary, cut the red ribbon and Cabot's Cookery School was officially opened.  

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The cookery school offers classes in breadmaking, vietnamese street food, classic french cooking, Mexican cooking as well as the very enticing 'Bubbles and Chocolate'. It also has a specialised classes for teenagers to teach them the basic of cooking to help around the house. 

Self-styled ecumenical partners-in-crime, Rev Suzanne Cousins and Fr John Kenny, blessed the building.

Minister Dara Calleary is a college friend of Red’s and said it was the first time he had been compared to Paul Mescal, after Red had compared their time together in Trinity College to Mayo author Sally Rooney’s Normal People.

The Minister praised Cabot’s passion, commitment, extraordinary generosity and talent. He said he had been watching from Ballina to see how Red had been getting on in Westport.

“I always wondered how that amazing talent and that energy discipline itself for business and then today I got the answer. I met Sandra. What an extraordinary, beautiful combination of people, of talent, of ambition and of dreams.”

He also joked that there was no such thing as a free lunch after a €15 million request for funding from the South West Mayo Development Company.

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The Minister also revealed that he and Michael Ring have done cookery demonstrations at shows. He said Michael Ring was “very good with a cleaver, especially if you’re a political opponent” to laughter in the room. 

'Great achievement'

The former Minister Michael Ring said the opening was a “great achievement by a great family.” He explained he “never thought this day would come and I have no doubt this will be the most brilliant success. I am glad I had a small little part to play in it.”

Decrying the “many people in the public service that don't understand the private sector.” He continued “that there's some great public servants, and there's some that are not so great. And I happen to say the people that are good are very good, and the people that are bad are rewarded and put into another office.”

To a boisterous crowd, he regailed that “you’ll always be welcome in Aughagower. There used to be three pubs and a graveyard. They used to say, ‘you’re welcome dead or alive.’ And they used to say, ‘though preferably dead’, because they go to the pubs after the funeral!” 

MORE See www.cabotscookeryschool.ie