The Ultimate Cookbook

The Ballymaloe Cookbook is THE cookbook that began a food revolution!

2014 is a special year for Myrtle Allen as she turns ninety and celebrates fifty years of her award winning Ballymaloe Restaurant in East Cork. To celebrate, Gill & Macmillan have revised and updated her classic recipe collection, The Ballymaloe Cookbook, which will be launched on Friday 16 May at The Kerrygold Ballymaloe Literary Festival of Food and Wine.

When Myrtle Allen opened a restaurant in 1964, writing new menus everyday based on what seasonal food was available from her farm and what fresh fish came from the boats in Ballycotton, it was the catalyst for our great Irish food movement. Ballymaloe went on to become a culinary empire and Myrtle the most influential person in Irish food and hospitality, both at home and abroad.

Over the years the restaurant at Ballymaloe House has won hundreds of accolades, including a Michelin star. At the heart of this success are fresh, locally available ingredients, cooked simply. In 1977, Myrtle was convinced to write down her best recipes in the first edition of The Ballymaloe Cookbook, allowing budding chefs and enthusiastic cooks to learn the secrets of her craft. The Ballymaloe Cookbook became an instant classic and remains so. In fact, the recipes in the book are still used religiously today by all chefs working in the Ballymaloe kitchen.

Now with a modern design and updated with new recipes, it remains current, fresh and accessible. The Ballymaloe Cookbook is an important cultural and culinary milestone in the history of Irish food. One cannot be considered a true foodie unless this book is part of their collection!

Check out our Facebook page for your chance to win a copy of The Ballymaloe Cookbook