Top of the class

WE’RE bursting with pride here at the Ballymaloe Cookery School these days: three of our past students have books in the bestsellers’ list.

Thomasina Miers second book, Cook, is flying off the shelves; the Irish Farmers’ Market Cookbook by Clodagh McKenna is also being snapped up as is my lovely daughter-in-law Rachel’s Favourite Food at Home, which was written to accompany her television series of the same name.

Rachel has been doing book-signings all over the country, and I met Clodagh in London last weekend, where she, too, was doing several signing sessions.

Thomasina, or Tommi as we call her, did a 12-week course with us in January 2002. Even then she was passionate about food and made regular forays to west Cork to visit artisan food producers and farmhouse cheesemakers. After the course, she made a beeline for Mexico, where she helped to start a large restaurant and cocktail bar in Mexico City. She has also cooked with one of my favourite chefs, Skye Gyngell, at Petersham Café near Richmond. Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall summed her up in this quote on her book: “Her food is delicious, and her recipes are an uncomplicated treat.” In 2005 she won the BBC Masterchef Goes Large and since then has had a meteoric rise as a food writer. Her first book, Soup, was also a runaway success.

Clodagh McKenna was at Ballymaloe two years before Tommi. Her rise to fame has taken a different route but is no less meteoric. She was particularly inspired by a visit to the Midleton farmers’ market, so she set up a stall selling fresh pasta and homemade pâtés and other goodies. She is also a passionate member of the Slow Food movement and editor of the Slow Food Ireland Guide. She writes a weekly column in a couple of newspapers and a monthly column in the Food and Wine magazine. She presented RTÉ’s weekly radio programme on food and has made regular television appearances. Clodagh has just finished filming her first television series for RTÉ.

In her farmers’ market cookbook she travelled to virtually every market in the country and interviewed many of the country’s food heroes, with ace photographer Jean Cazals in tow. Clodagh’s book is bursting with recipes for delicious fresh seasonal food.

Rachel O’Neill came to the Ballymaloe in January 1990 when she was just 18, and then fell for my eldest son, Isaac. She honed her skills in the kitchens at Ballymaloe House and the Crawford Café in Cork. Then, extensive travels in Asia and Canada increased her repertoire and added to her excitement about food. Today, she not only looks after our two handsome grandsons but also teaches at the cookery school, writes regular food columns for national publication, presents highly acclaimed television programmes which have been broadcast internationally and writes best selling cookery books. Her latest book, Rachel’s Favourite Food at Home, is full of tempting recipes and the media are tipping her as the Irish Nigella.

I have chosen a few of my favourite recipes from each of the cooks and am inordinately proud of all three.

* Cook by Thomasina Miers;

The Irish Farmers’ Market Cookbook by Clodagh McKenna;

Rachel’s Favourite Food for Friends by Rachel Allen.

All published by Collins, www.collins.co.uk