19 October 2010
A VISIT TO BALLYMALOE & DARINA ALLEN
I have been long time fan of Darina Allen. I first met this passionate Irish cookbook author and cooking school owner on a culinary trip to Oaxaca in 1993 where I was impressed with her good sense and total obsession with great fresh food and thought I would love to visit her and see her life’s work in Ireland. Over the years we’ve met up again at various food events in America and with her husband Tim, she visited us at Omaha a few years ago. I was even more impressed when she spent over five hours at the Saturday Matakana Farmers Market and learned the stories of every farmer and food producer.
So on our recent trip to Europe I finally, after 18 years of wishing, got to visit Ballymaloe Cookery School and Ballymaloe House . Our short Ryanair flight from Gatwick took us to Cork where we picked up a dinky rental car but then took 2 hours to drive the ’40 minute’ trip to Ballymaloe due to a complete snarl up on the local motorway. As an Aucklander I felt right at home!
Everything about our visit was impressive and gorgeous and even better than I imagined. Darina Allen first arrived at Ballymaloe House as a young student cook to work in the hotel, a beautiful traditional country house hotel with picture book grounds. She stayed, married owner Myrtle Allen’s son Tim, and together over the past forty years they have created a very fine cooking school on the neighbouring farm. The Allens are totally committed to organic produce, and their extensive gardens provide not only the school, but also the value added produce sold at their stall at the local weekly farmers market in the nearby town of Middleton.
Tim showed us around the farm and it seemed like we were walking for hours passing through fields of fresh vegetables and herbs growing outdoors, huge glasshouses of vegetables, by flocks of fine poultry that lay dozens of eggs daily and a tame family cow. Tim had recently made his first batches of cheese in the little dairy he’s built on the farm, and we were privileged to be the very first to taste this lovely farmhouse style tangy delicious cheese at splendid dinner with the family our first evening. Joy!
The gardens were worth the trip alone. Tim manages the property, as well as keeping a firm hand on the administrative side of the business. As well as the aforementioned veggies, there are large herb gardens all contained by neatly clipped buxus hedge, a wonderful maze that children can get lost in, extensive flowering borders complete with an inspired shell house that must have taken the shell artist months of work (Tim called it Darina’s folly)and lots of grassy meadows with wonderful old trees.
Students come from all over the planet to study. The mainstay of the school is the twelve week cookery course which gives everyone from beginners and home cooks through to professionals a thorough grounding in cookery. Graduates go on to open their own restaurants and cafés, and a Ballymaloe certificate is highly prized. I was astonished to see that almost all the 60 students can be housed on site in lovely little cottages while they study. They cook each morning, share the spoils from their work over a leisurely lunch and in the afternoon attend a demonstration by Darina, her brother Rory or Rachel Allen (Tim and Darina’s daughter –in-law and a world recognised star cook in her own right) where they learn the tips and skills that will provide the next day’s practical cookery session.
But that’s not all. Casual students can attend week long courses, or pick one day classes out from a programme that includes themed sessions and appearances by culinary stars. There’s a café, well stocked shop with cooking utensils, local foods and gorgeous culinary gifts. On Saturdays Darina’s youngest daughter Emily creates a pizza café at the school and locals flock to enjoy thin crisp crusted pizzas with the freshest of salads picked freshly from the garden.
The family working together ethic is strong here, and up the road at Ballymaloe House, Myrtle Allen, now in her eighties, runs the perfect country hotel with the sprightliness of someone half her age. Every detail is spot on; the reception rooms and bedrooms are charming, the gardens relaxing and a splendid table is offered of deliciously local country cooking at breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s hospitality in the true sense. Many of Myrtle’s children, grandchildren and great grandchildren are gainfully employed here or learn life skills on the property. Both are model businesses, providing employment for family, friends and many locals in a time where Ireland is depressed and suffering economic woes. I could have stayed forever!