COOKING in Ireland didn’t begin with Myrtle Allen but when it comes to evaluating the very best of modern Irish cuisine, it is near impossible not to establish some link back to the pioneering spirit of this East Cork farmer’s wife who transformed herself into a Michelin star chef.

The organisers of the Ballymaloe Literary Festival of Food and Wine, which is running throughout this bank holiday weekend, say it will bring some of the world’s best known chefs, critics, commentators, kitchen gardeners, foragers, and wine experts to East Cork.

SANDOR KATZ described himself as a DIY food activist and fermentation revivalist.

HERE in Ballymaloe we are so excited about the first ever Ballymaloe Literary Festival of Food and Wine taking place in Ballymaloe House; at the Grain store and Ballymaloe Cookery School.

Barack Obama’s pastry chef and the co-founder of the world’s best restaurant are among a galaxy of global culinary giants on the menu for a major national festival next month.

IN RECENT weeks I have featured a lot of supermarket wines because that’s often where the bargains are to be found. However this is not always the case as I found out when I walked around two of the larger O’Donovan outlets in Cork with Gary O’Donovan.

If by any chance you have a few book tokens left over from Christmas presents, I’ve got some brilliant suggestions for worthwhile cookbooks to track down. For the growing number of cake-makers, Annie Bells Baking Bible published by Kyle books is a real gem. Recipes are triple tested so really work which can’t be said for every book.