How Ballymaloe began: 30 years of culinary excellence

As Ballymaloe Foods turns 30, Joe McNamee hears how it all began — from one recipe in Myrtle Allen’s cookbook

Three generations of the Hyde family as Ballymaloe Foods celebrates 30 years in business this month.  Pictured are Yasmin Hyde and her daughters, Maxine Hyde and Rose Callaghan and her granddaughter baby Cara Callaghan. Ballymaloe Foods is this month marking its 30th anniversary. Picture: Clare Keogh

Back in 1990, Yasmin Hyde, a mother of four young children, was looking for a steadier source of income to make up for the shortfalls that come from the rather more precarious business of buying and selling horses. Having grown up surrounded by food, it made sense to look at that area and, as it happens, her mother had a very nice recipe for tomato relish.

Now, a lot of mothers have handed down undoubtedly good recipes over the years, and but Yasmin’s mother had form in this regard: her mother was Myrtle Allen and the recipe came from Myrtle’s Ballymaloe Cookbook.