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with her mother-in-law’s help of course. “We started out in 1983, teaching afternoon classes to about nine students,” recalls Darina. “I’m glad we started small because it gave us the chance to find out what we really wanted to do with the school.” And what she created was something truly unique – a school that attracts students and chefs from all over the globe who come to cook using produce from the surrounding farm and the local food-producing community: fruit, vegetables, herbs, eggs, home-cured hams, beef, lamb, artisan cheeses and much more. “I think what makes us so special is that we are a cookery school in the middle of an organic farm,” says Darina. “Most of what we use is our own produce or locally sourced. Our students regain a sense of connection to their food. They can help out in
“We have the climate and resources to grow the best food in the world,” says Darina, adamantly. “We have wonderful soil and plenty of rain. We should try to produce real food that delivers on its promise of taste. We have it and we should flaunt it.” Darina is prepared to go even further than that. She admits that Irish cuisine may not be internationally respected but thinks this situation is unfair. Instead, she maintains that Irish cooking may rank with the best in the world. “So many people think we have no culinary tradition worth talking about,” she says. “But there is far more to it than bacon and cabbage and Irish stew.” She goes on to cite from a seemingly endless list of examples – countless potato dishes with infinite regional varieties, an encyclopedic range of breads and cakes, vegetable dishes – what she describes as “the sort of wholesome, comforting dishes that nourished our ancestors for generations and are just as delicious today.” The Allen family believes wholeheartedly in the value and potential of Irish food. Darina and Myrtle have inspired the third generation in their family to follow in their culinary footsteps. Darina’s daughter-in-law Rachel is the latest Allen to have a cooking show of her own and unsurprisingly, she too promotes the use of locally sourced fresh food cooked simply and deliciously. This is the sort of food that has always been served in Ballymaloe House and these are the sorts of dishes you can learn how to cook in the Ballymaloe Cookery School. Over the years, many famous visitors have savored the taste of such delicacies. Hugh Grant, Liz Hurley, Jude Law, Sienna Miller and Lady Sarah Ferguson are just some of the celebrities who have sampled the fare. Both Myrtle and Darina remain committed to the cause. Myrtle continues to supervise the kitchens and the guesthouse. “I need to be here just in case something happens,” this sprightly 80-year-old says. Meanwhile Darina is kept busy running the cookery school. Both are actively involved with small food producers, groups and organizations that promote the use of highquality ingredients. Together, they continue a mission that started 60 years ago – a mission to bring the best Irish food and traditional Irish recipes to a wider and more appreciative audience. So, have you rethought your idea of Irish cuisine? You may still find bacon and cabbage on many menus but these days, it’s more likely to be home-cured bacon accompanied by locally grown cabbage, a tasty parsley sauce and the flouriest of organic potatoes. And it’ll be up against the likes of mutton pies, freshly grilled mackerel and homemade scones with damson jam and cream. You can thank Myrtle and Darina Allen and the many generations of cooks that went before them for such simple IA deliciousness.
“I love a good Irish stew,” says Myrtle,
with gusto. “Then there’s brown yeast bread, an Irish breakfast, good floury potatoes, apple tarts…
All of these are good things.” the garden, feed the hens, milk the cows, butcher the animals – it all adds an extra dimension.” As well as reintroducing students to the source of their food, Darina also aims to teach them the importance of using topquality ingredients. “That’s the main thing I want them to learn,” she insists. “Shopping (or sourcing your ingredients) is the most vital step of all. If you’ve got fresh, natural, local and seasonal food, all you need to do is cook it simply and it will taste wonderful. If you don’t have that, you’ll need to be a magician to make it taste good.” This is an attitude Darina has also brought to bear on her cooking programs and in her cookbooks – which go under the title of Simply Delicious. Simple food that is also delicious – there couldn’t be a more apt description. Darina and Myrtle may have spearheaded the revolution in Irish cuisine but many more have followed. This is a development that gives them cause for hope for the future.
For more information about the cookery school (where courses are held throughout the year and where afternoon demonstrations are held most days), visit www.cookingisfun.ie For more information about Ballymaloe House (restaurant and guesthouse), visit www.ballymaloe.ie DECEMBER / JANUARY 2008 IRISH AMERICA 41