Bill King
Bill completed the Ballymaloe 12 Week Certificate Course in 2010 and explains why he chose to do the course and what he is up to now.
I did the September 2010 course, I had done a couple of short courses and decided that the 12 week was the one for me. As I was likely to face redundancy the time was right to get new skills and prepare for a new career.Eventually I got my redundancy and took some business courses to prepare myself for setting out on my own, and some further courses in baking, notably with Richard Berthinet.I run a micro-bakery from home, offering a range of organic breads and also some sourdoughs – I have a starter from Declan Ryan of Arbutus Bread, and the amazingly popular Soda Breads for which I use only Irish ingredients including the buttermilk which I buy and then freeze on our regular trips over. My breads are available at the monthly Llanyrafon Manor Market, and I have a regular weekly client group as well. I also teach small baking classes at home. I have been pleased to get involved with some community groups teaching bread making and with our local community farm where I do Pizza making with mums and children. Best of all I have done some hands on demos at our local Newport Food Festival.The practice of baking regularly at Ballymaloe reignited my interest in breads and the business classes persuaded me that I could do something for myself afterwards. After a year I am now moving into a shared unit and will put in two smallish ovens to cope with increased demand and to supply a catering company on a regular basis. The most helpful part of the course was the support from the teachers, without which I would not have gained the confidence to bake as a profession.When at Ballymaloe I started a blog which as a little more popular than I imagined, last September one of the team from the McKennas Guides said “OH! Your that Bill, from the Ballymaloe Blog, we all read it every day”. I now write about local food be it in Ireland, Wales or Italy at www.localandgreat.blogspot.com