Ballymaloe Cookery Course: Revised Edition

by Darina Allen

Ballymaloe is one of the world's best cookery schools and Darina Allen, its co-founder and main teacher, is in a league of her own. Every student who has gone through her school has begged her to write down her recipes and thoughts, tips and shortcuts, and here they are in this definitive teaching book, which has everything to inform and inspire you to become adventurous in the kitchen. Ballymaloe Cookery Course explains 1,175 recipes, 370 variations and more than 100 basic skills, from making pastry to the art of carving, from preserving lemons to making delicious home-made pasta, from culturing creamy yogurt to butterflying a leg of lamb: the simple instructions given by one of the world's great cookery teachers will inspire you to prepare and enjoy the art of fresh produce and fine food.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Reference, Nonfiction, Ireland, Food and Drink

2659 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Darina Allen established Ballymaloe Cookery School in 1983 with her brother Rory O'Connell. Author of over 10 books and presenter on 6 Television series, her main passion and her daily task is to impart her knowledge to the students at the Ballymaloe Cookery School.

Darina Allen is Ireland’s best known cook and a best-selling author who presented nine series of her cookery programme, *Simply Delicious*, on television in Ireland. She is a passionate and committed teacher, and her awards have included:

Good Food Ireland’s Cookery School of the Year 2012/2013
José Navarro Foundation Award at the Green Awards 2011
IACP Cooking Teacher of theYear 2005.
A tireless ambassador for Irish food both at home and abroad, Darina has been instrumental in setting up the Farmers’ Market Movement in Ireland. Slow Food is a passion for her, and she is the councillor for Ireland in the Slow Food Movement and President of East Cork Convivium of Slow Food. Through the East Cork Educational Fund, she runs a programme for local primary schools to help local children learn about food from garden to plate.

In 2013 she helped launch the Ballymaloe Literary Festival of Food and Wine which plays host to a stellar line up of chefs and writers and has very quickly become an unmissable event on the international culinary calendar.

Dubbed "The Julia Child of Ireland" by the San Francisco Chronicle, Darina has written a number of best-selling, award-winning books including: 30 Years at Ballymaloe (Winner Cookbook of the year for the Irish Book Awards 2013) | Forgotten Skills, winner of the André Simon Food Book of the Year and Listowel Food Fair Book of the Year Award in 2010 | Easy Entertaining, winner of the 2006 Chefs and Restaurants Award from the IACP | Irish Traditional Cooking | Ballymaloe Cookery Course | A Year at Ballymaloe | Healthy Gluten-freeEating* (with Rosemary Kearney) | the Simply Delicious series of books to accompany her TV series of the same name.

She holds many positions in leading food organisations including:
Member of Taste Council of Irish Food Board
Chair of Artisan Food Forum of FoodSafety Authority of Ireland
Trustee of Irish Organic Centre
Patron ofIrish Seedsavers
Member of Eurotoques (European Association of Chefs
Guild of Foodwriters in UK and Ireland
IACP (International Association ofCulinary Professionals).

Reviews

[^ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The format of this book is eminently helpful: each master recipe is followed by variations; i.e. the master recipe teaches technique; the following associated recipes then ring the changes (some quite exotically so). The recipes I’ve tried have a) tasted good, b) looked good, and c) not raced beyond my technical ability. This is what shopping for food is all about: not having a written list of absolutes, but instead applying one’s knowledge to buy whatever is of highest quality for the lowest agreeable price.

My only quibble about this book is its size and weight. Had I been the publisher I would have published it as two volumes, slip-cased. More expensive? Yes; but so much easier to handle. I’d have saved money by cutting out the glossy lifestyle photographs, only keeping the (fewer) photographs which explain a technique, or the assembly of the finished dish. Actually, come to think of it, this book minus the informational-junk photographs and double-spaced text of the chapter/section introductions would very likely make for a nice usable single volume!

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Doesn't matter if you're a novice or accomplished cook/baker. This book covers most of know cooking and baking techniques. It explains all the different food ingredients as well, and advises how best to cook/prepare and use them.
Different theme chapters have always a "master recipe" which covers given topic, and is followed by variations of it. The cookbook contains some traditional Irish recipes, as well as classic French dishes. It's great for everyday cooking and as a reference for making more elaborate dinner or baked goods.
It is a compendium, almost an encyclopedia. It is also a reference book for all taking part in Ballymaloe 12 weeks cookery course.
I highly recommend it to everyone who wants to become a better cook/baker or just want to know how to do the basics.

[Siobhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christmas present from my parents

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Currently acting as my cooking bible/encyclopedia and will no doubt continue to be for many years to come!

[Linda McAllorum · Rating 5 out of 5]

My go to cook book for the base of all recipes!! It's my bible!

[Brien · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a thoroughly wonderful cookbook. Hundreds of recipes, thoughtful descriptions. Ventures well beyond Irish cuisine, but masters it nonetheless. My edition is titled “Darina Allen’s Ballymaloe Cooking School Cookbook.”

[Karen Cotton · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute gem of a recipe book

Love cooking, so many recipes - new and traditional that I'm going to be making. Impressive and easy to follow.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is very comprehensive (along the lines of 'mastering the art of French cooking'), but I didn't find the recipes to be that practical. The recipes generally have a lot of ingredients, and where they ventured into ethnic territory they were a little bland.

Techniques are explained clearly, and they give good instructions for selecting produce, wine and pantry staples. I didn't give this more stars because it's not a book I think I would refer to often. If you have 'the joy of cooking' or 'how to cook everything', you probably won't either.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The only cookbook you need to buy if you only buy one. Even if you are clueless about cooking this book is the best. I have given it as a gift to a divorcing father who said it turned him onto cooking! It is comprehensive, well illustrated and has good basics like food prep, carving, temperature charts etc. Keeps it simple but has a huge range in here. I think it's one of the classics - use it all the time.

[Gill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best cook book I've ever bought, always has the answer and the recipe for the classics plus some great variations on them. Easy step by step instructions and is way ahead of all those celebrity chef books (which I also have).

[Paul Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Better and more contemporary than Delia as an all-rounder on everyday cooking