Pavlova so good it was sent in the post, and other West Cork recipes

Any funds raised from the sale of the cookbook will go into Bandon Grammar School's coffers

The new Bandon Grammar School Cook Book is available from the school directly and some local bookshops.

Forty-five years on from its last edition - when the cover was designed by one Graham Norton - a prominent West Cork school has delivered its second-ever cookbook, complete with a recipe for pavlova that was once sent through the mail.

Bandon Grammar School's last cookbook was published in 1977, with Graham Walker, as he was then, part of the cover design team, with the latest edition launched as part of a fundraising drive.

Heather Jennings, part of the school's parents' association committee, said the idea to resurrect the idea was born out of the pandemic lockdown, having found a copy of the 1977 version belonging to her mother-in-law.

"Initially we had plans to do a really new version, not like the old one, with calorie counting, student recipes, very modern, but as we went through it, it regressed more and more into the format of the old book," she said.

"It is the same essence, same recipes, tried and tested, and all the little stories behind it."

The 240-page book includes recipes from current and past pupils, teachers, and parents, including a berry pavlova from Shane Kingston in Dunmanway which was the original brainchild of his aunt, Olive Kingston, previously head chef at the school for 30 years.

According to the book: "While I was living in Thailand, she sent me a pavlova for my Christmas present. It arrived safely but not so sound. 

"All of the air had been sucked out of it due to the travel, arriving as a tennis ball-sized lump of chewiness. Ultimately, it is the thought that counts, and shows her constant generosity; a Christmas present that I will never forget her for."

The 240-page book includes recipes from current and past pupils, teachers, and parents, including a berry pavlova from Shane Kingston in Dunmanway which was the original brainchild of his aunt, Olive Kingston, previously head chef at the school for 30 years.

There is no recipe from Graham Norton, although Ms Jennings said he recently recorded a message for students on mental health and well-being.

As for the book, she said: "We are not going to make a huge amount of money out of it, it would primarily have been to create something for future generations. We could never top the old one but it was something the school could have again."

Any funds raised will go into the school coffers and it is available from the school directly and some local bookshops.