Darina Allen: Recipes from students' pop-up dinner at Ballymaloe Cookery School

From mussels to meringues, here's what was on the menu

The Ballymaloe pop-up dinner concept was Food from Here, a celebration of the bounty of fresh produce in season.

We’re just about to say au revoir to another group of students, who have been with us here since September last. Fourteen nationalities this time, now winging their ways back round the world to South Africa, Jordan, Panama, Luxembourg, Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, Norway, Netherlands, US, Israel, France, Portugal and of course Ireland and UK. They’ve absorbed the food culture and learned a multitude of culinary skills while they were here and leave with their heads swirling with ideas and dreams, plus a determination to make a difference, not just in food but also in environmental and regenerative farming, wherever they go.

They are keenly aware that every bite of food we eat has consequences to our health and every euro we spend can make an impact for better or worse, depending on the decisions we make. They will be snapped up by restaurants, catering businesses, artisan bakers, cafés, gastro pubs and food magazines. Some will start their own business; one is determined to start a food truck. Another, a doctor, will go back to their practice, determined to spread the word to their patients about the connection between nutrient dense food and health and the mantra that our food can be our medicine.