From past and present, staff at Ballymaloe House gathered last night to help the renowned matriarch of modern Irish cuisine, Myrtle Allen, blow out the candles ahead of her 90th birthday.

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.