THE theme of this year’s MAD Symposium, held in a red circus tent in Copenhagen, was guts — this was interpreted in a variety of ways from intestines to raw courage by the speakers.

A COUPLE of days in London is fun, but I was commandeered to go by my publisher and my long-suffering editor, to finish my latest book, 30 Years of the Ballymaloe Cookery School.

LAST time I was in New York a friend told me about a Smorgasburg.

THREE or five times a year we invite guest chefs to the Ballymaloe Cookery School to teach a course and give us a taste of their food.

IT’S heaven to be able to eat outside in the evening.

WE’VE just said goodbye to our summer batch of 12-Week Certificate Course students and I’ve just been paid perhaps the best compliment I’ve got when one chap told me: “I’ve learned so much and had so much fun I feel I owe you money!”

THE REVIVAL of interest in baking has enticed people into the kitchens who might never have been seduced by a pot of stew or even a tagine.

FOR vegetable gardeners this time of the year can be immensely frustrating as well as rewarding.

IN THE US something very interesting is happening, it’s virtually a grassroots revolution.

I CAN’T believe I’m queuing in the rain with another hundred-plus people to buy a ‘cronut’ at Dominique Ansel bakery in Spring Street in New York.