Dorothee Clarke - Cookery Therapist
Dorothee Clarke teaches vegetarian wholefood and Macrobiotic cookery. She moved to Ireland from Normandy in 1979 and cooked in Lios Dana Natural Living Centre, Inch, Co. Kerry, from 1986 to 1991 while studying Shiatsu Massage, Macrobiotic Cooking and Yoga. She has been teaching in Cork for the past 8 years.
Her next Course 1 starts on 28th. September to 2nd. November 2010 for 6 weeks, followed by Course 2 from 9th. November to 14th. December 2010 also for 6 weeks. Contact Tel. 021 7331690, email: dorotheeclarke@natural-health.ie for further details.
Full course- 210 Euro
1 evening- 40 Euro
COME HUNGRY- WE EAT WHAT WE COOK!!!
***** Page last updated Monday 19/07/2010 at 15:15. *****
Course 1: commences 28th September to 2nd November 2010, Tuesday evenings 7:00 - 9:30 (6 weeks)
Course 2: commences 9th November to 14th December 2010, Tuesday evenings 7:00 - 9:30 (6 weeks)
(There is no need to have attended Course 1 before attending Course 2.)
All classes are held in Fionnuisce, Heron Court, Market Quay, Bandon, Co. Cork.
You can attend individual classes at 40 Euro per evening - contact Dorothee for details.
You can book in for the full 6 weeks for 210 Euro - deposit of 60 Euro required.
Dorothée Clarke moved to Ireland from Normandy, France in 1979. Over the next few years she developed an interest in wholefoods and vegetarianism. After meeting Anne Drechsler (Hyland) in 1986 she began the study of Macrobiotic Food - how to prepare balanced and nutritious food in tune with one`s constitution, the environment and the seasons. She cooked in Anne`s Kitchen, Annascaul, and then moved on to Lios Dana Natural Living Centre, Inch, Co. Kerry, where she cooked with Anne from 1986 to 1991. She worked alongside, and learnt from, many visiting cooks of diverse backgrounds but all with their own take on wholefood cooking and nutrition. She began teaching in Dublin in 1986 and moved to Cork in 1987 where she held intermittent informal classes for several years. Since 2002 she has been teaching her style of wholefood cooking in three courses through the year - Autumn, Early Spring and Late Spring. Macrobiotics is the inspiration behind her style but there are many other varied influences. The objective continues to be to guide people into achieving a more balanced and healthy diet.
To this end the classes are informal. Each revolves around preparing a simple and balanced 2 or 3 course meal using grains, pulses, nuts and seeds with plenty of fresh vegetables and fruit - no meat, dairy or sugar are used. You can assist if you wish, or simply relax, watch and listen as the meal is prepared. We then eat what has been cooked. This is an opportunity to raise questions and discuss, around the table, aspects of the food and cooking methods. Recipe leaflets and fact sheets are provided. Recipes are chosen to illustrate cooking methods and the use of unfamiliar ingredients. The emphasis is on the practical aspects of the meal preparation while explaining the reasons behind the choices of ingredients and cooking method.
The following will be covered in Course 1:
*Cooking methods for dried pulses - the protein
*Cooking methods for a wide variety of grains - the carbohydrate
*The importance of vegetables - all those vitamins and minerals
*The nutritional value and use of seaweeds - those vital , elusive nutrients
*Making and using pickles - providing lactic acid, enzymes and bacteria for a healthy gut flora
*Where to find sufficient Calcium, Iron and Vitamin B12 - again, those vital nutrients
*What oils to use - avoiding cholesterol, getting omega 3 & 6
*Eliminating ready prepared meals - reducing salt, sugar and other additives
*Reducing the Glycemic Load - using fibre filled unrefined carbohydrates
*Adjustments for the seasons - using locally grown, in season vegetables and fruit
*Nuts and seeds - providing all sorts of valuable additions to nearly any dish
*How all this becomes quite simple once a few basic guidelines are followed
*And much, much more ...............
Course 2 will expand on Course 1. Each night will cover a different topic.
This new course is:
*Designed to suit anyone, with or without cooking experience. No need to have attended Course 1 first
*Those who have already done Course 1 will find a new set of recipes
The recipes will include more:
* Soya products - Miso, Tofu and Tempeh
*Seaweed dishes - Sushis and more
*A fish dish
*The deserts are, as usual, deliciously full of guilt free ingredients
Basis for article published in West Cork People on 5th.February 2010
"A healthy recovery with Macrobiotics"
From eating a conventional diet that I felt unhappy with, says Dorothée, I became a vegetarian in my early twenties. With a lack of knowledge, a stressful lifestyle and living on a low budget, I was overloading myself with dairy products and lots of raw foods and was generally eating a rather unbalanced diet. Knocked out with a serious kidney infection, a friend came to my rescue. She introduced me to the Macrobiotic diet and philosophy. Through her I realised that my existing diet did not particularly suit the damp Irish climate or my constitution. With her practical help I began to learn how to achieve a balanced diet and set myself on the road to true recovery.
I started by eating only brown rice for a few days and then gradually introduced cooked vegetables, and then lentils, beans and sea-weeds. I avoided fruits, especially raw ones, until my condition improved. Cooked foods create a warming effect and help with digestion. Within a few weeks I experienced not just better digestion, but also increased energy, sounder sleep and a sense of well being and happiness that I had never felt before. I eliminated sucrose and that made a huge difference to my mood and energy swings. I gave up drinking my much loved ordinary tea which has an acid forming effect on the body. Looking back on it I feel the tea affected my nerves. I started to drink Bancha twig tea (a very alkaline tea, also rich in calcium) and other tasty and satisfying herbal teas which were free from caffeine. I found myself becoming a much calmer person.
It is not sufficient just to have a varied diet. We need an understanding of the effects of all the various foodstuffs on our metabolism – how they affect our minds as well as our bodies. Excesses of meat, dairy products, sugar and processed and refined foods seem likely to be implicated in many of the developed world`s burgeoning health problems. We have to know how to achieve a wholesome and nutritious diet using unrefined and basic ingredients. We must understand how to cook and serve these foodstuffs to satisfy our modern palates. We even need to re-educate our over stimulated taste buds. Macrobiotics showed me the way to achieve all these things.
Twenty five years on, it is without doubt, that I consider food as my best medicine. Following Macrobiotic principles I count on it and trust it to sustain and protect me. I cook with love, passion and dedication realising its importance to my wellbeing and that of my family. The change to Macrobiotics has been, for me, most beneficial for my health and my daily life and I am confident that it helps me to better understand who I am. Through the Macrobiotic diet and philosophy I found a wide range of principles as to how we can eat to help us feel satisfied while properly nourished in order to sustain us and to protect us from many diseases and ailments. By following the Macrobiotic way we can cook sustaining foods to feed our brains and our bodies in very diverse environments with differing climates, throughout every season. We help ourselves to function to our full potential and live long and healthy lives with a great appreciation of the world around us. We reduce our demands on the world`s food resources by eating less meat and dairy produce. By eating locally grown produce we reduce those un-needed food miles. Each season`s produce provides the best sustenance for that particular season so by eating food in season we achieve a better overall natural annual balance.
From my practical experience, which is forever expanding, I always say to people attending my classes, to take time with any changes they make. Each individual has their own unique path to travel, defined by gender, genes, age and constitution and driven by differing desires and reasons for the changes. Results can be difficult to detect and many only become apparent in the longer term. I can safely say that from my experience with Macrobiotics, perseverance will be rewarded.
Some comments from previous participants:
"I absolutely loved the course and found the food delicious and the theoretical part very interesting."
"This has added another dimension to my life."
"Thoroughly enjoyed the course. I am more confident in cooking Macrobiotic foods. Would definitely recommend this course to friends."
"Excellent course. Very informative and has given me a very practical grounding in nutritious vegetarian cooking. I will recommend this course to everybody I meet!"
"Very informative and extremely enjoyable. Has helped no end in de-mystifying preconceived ideas I had about lentils/seaweeds etc."
"I was very pleased with the course overall and would have no hesitation in recommending it to any of my friends."
"A very good introduction to healthy eating. Good tips which hopefully will continue for me."
"Excellent presentation and food."
"Very, very enjoyable, well prepared and extremely well presented classes. I have recommended your course to friends."
"I really enjoyed the course and loved the delicious food. The information and knowledge gained on the course is invaluable."
"I completely enjoyed the course. It was a lovely way to spend an evening and has given me inspiration to cook."
"Very intimate and homely. Easy to ask questions. Nice small group. Most enjoyable. Thank you."
"I enjoyed the personal approach you took immensly and felt very welcomed to the class. It was very enlightening and inspiring for a person who has refused to cook all their life."
"Enjoyed every moment and every morsel of food!! You were so thorough and explained everything in such detail. Hope I will grow healthier as a result!! Good health and thanks to you."
Here are a few snippets of information:
**Gomasio is a condiment made from freshly ground toasted sesame seeds and sea salt. Its wholesome taste brings vegetables to life while reducing the amount of salt used. The seeds contribute valuable Calcium.
**Adding seaweed to beans during cooking brings out the sweetness of the pulses while making them more digestible and adding significant amounts of Calcium along with other minerals.
**Quinoa is a "grain" high in nutritional value and abundant in protein. It has all the essential amino acids contained within it. Being gluten free it is a wonderful addition to a coeliac diet. It is also high in the minerals Calcium, Iron, and Magnesium. It is incredibly easy to prepare.
Dorothée`s cookery classes offer a variety of ways to improve your diet while introducing a whole range of new and exciting ingredients. Everyone is sure to learn something new and bring home with them many useful and health enhancing tips.
You will find it considerably cheaper to eat without meat and dairy in your diet. In time you will probably reduce your medical expenses and increase your vitality and general health. What more could you ask.....
Contact Dorothée by phone at: 021-7331690
by Email at: dorotheeclarke@natural-health.ie
To contact Dorothee Clarke, please call on : 021 7331690.
