The Ballymaloe Cookbook does indeed originate from the restaurant at Ballymaloe House, County Cork, a working farm more than 400 years old.  The Ballymaloe Cookbook contains the restaurant's finest recipes and ingredients: farm fresh eggs in a real Irish breakfast, a full or light lunch graced with herbs and greens, traditional afternoon tea, dinner highlighted by shellfish still warm from the waters of Killmare Bay.
 
Ballymaloe House with Myrtle Allen and Darina Allen
Cooking at Ballymaloe
 Myrtle Allen's Cooking at Ballymaloe HouseDarina Allen's Ballymaloe Cooking School Cookbook
Myrtle Allen and her husband, Ivan, bought the Ballymaloe property and moved to the farm.   Mrs. Allen single-handedly made Ballymaloe famous.  During the "period of shortages," Mrs. Allen studied and practiced cookery, making use of local products.  In 1962 she became an advisor for the Irish Farmers Journal and opened a restaurant at Ballymaloe.  Shortly, Myrtle and her daughter-in-law Darina Allen opened the Ballymaloe Cookery School. The awards flooded in, and Myrtle published The Ballymaloe Cookbook.

Eventually her enthusiasm for Irish food led her to hold events in Brussels, New York, Amsterdam, and Paris.  Her restaurant LaFerme Irlandaise was rated among the top ten foreign restaurants in Paris.  The Ballymaloe Cookbook contains 100 of her most successful recipes.

Together, Myrtle and Darina have advanced the reputation of the foods of their homeland, and through the farm concept promote sustainability.  Don't miss The Ballymaloe Cookbook!