Last chance to see...

LitFest has started! What a brilliant night we had at the opening party last night! It was so great to see so many there - a fine mix of locals and people who have travelled from far and wide, all drawn by their passion for food, wine and words. But it's not too late to join us, there are still a few tickets available (at the time of writing!!) to some of the events on Sunday and Monday - it'd be so great to see you there!

From aromatic Thai delicacies with celebrated chef David Thompson, to Madhur Jaffrey talking curry. From the Grassroots of the Edible Food Revolution to the guru of  fermentation Sandor Katz. There is so much not to be missed.

We have the Evolution of Food Writing with John McKenna and Matthew Fort and a treat of Irish fictional culinary heritage from Maria Edgeworth's books.

If you work in hospitality or are thinking of running a restaurant then you won't want to miss Nick Lander, Tom Doorley, Hazel Allen and John McKenna talking straight about the restaurant business.

Come for a walk on the wild side with celebrated gardener Alys Fowler and David Tanis will guide you round our glasshouses.

If you're into wine you simply must come to Jancis Robinson's literary conversation and wine tasting on her master work: Wine Grapes. 

Our action-packed long weekend finishes with Fusing Culinary Cultures, as some of the biggest names in world food, including David Thompson, Madhur Jaffrey and Claudia Roden are joined by specialists from Scandinavia, UK and Australia to discuss the modern phenomenon of fusion food and global eating.

Don't miss this opportunity to feast your mind... and body with all these delights! The sun is shining again - may it shine on us all weekend!

Did I tell you about... ?

I know I have been talking about LitFest now for weeks - and you know what, I STILL haven't covered everything. Can you believe it?! That gives you a sense of just how much good stuff and exciting people we have lined up for your enjoyment. So I wanted to let you know about a few more events that are close to my heart, before we dive head first into the weekend. 

One very special event is Dorothy Cashman's Old Books to Treasure. Dorothy is a food historian and past graduate of the Cookery School. The weekend is all about food writing, but you don't have to be published to be a food writer. Most of us have treasured books of family recipes, with stains and jottings in them, which document what we have cooked, eaten and loved over generations,  and markers of how tastes have changed. So bring yours along to show Dorothy, she is eager to unearth some hidden gems, in a sort of Literary Antiques Roadshow. This is a free event, held in the beautiful Blue Dining Room of Ballymaloe House.

John Bowman is a giant in the field of broadcasting and a personal friend for whom I have immense admiration. Presenter of the RTE's Questions and Answers for 21 years, I am delighted to have him chair what is sure to be an enthralling Question and Answers session on Food and Wine on Saturday evening, with a hugely knowledgeable panel of Jancis Robinson MW, Margaret Jeffares, Margot Slattery, Nick Lander, John Wilson, Michael Kelly and myself. Whatever your burning food and wine questions, this is your chance to grill the panel and get answers. Or you can catch him on Monday when he chairs a discussion on Food Programmes on Television - are they entertainment, educational or empowerment. He will be joined by Ella McSweeney, John McKenna, Martin Shanahan, David Hare and myself.

And if you've ever wondered how Ballymaloe started out nearly fifty years ago, be sure to attend food historian Regina Sexton's event on Early Food Writing of Myrtle Allen, or grab this rare opportunity to enjoy a sumptuous afternoon tea with her on Saturday or Sunday, and hear her talk about life at Ballymaloe.

The sun is shining, sky is blue, and spring, though it has been slow to come is finally in the air, so we're anticipating a glorious Bank Holiday weekend here. Many congratulations to the winners of yesterday's giveaway, The Baking Batchelor and Maire, I hope you have a wonderful time at LitFest.

The excitement builds for LitFest (and a giveaway).

Only a day and a half to go until the LitFest kicks off. There's a frenzy of activity everywhere. Make sure you read to the end because I have a really exciting giveaway for you!

I've just been over to the Big Shed where the FRINGE events will take place, it's crazy over there. A couple of the lads are making twenty "banqueting" tables out of recycled pallets with drills and nail guns. There's a huge chandelier made out of the oak staves from the whiskey barrels. Camilla's kids corner looks so exciting with balloons, bunting and coloured baubles of all shapes and sizes - she's got so many fun things planned throughout the weekend. A barista area and several restaurants are popping up as we speak. Lolo's papier mache cow is watching in general amusement over the proceedings. The graffiti artists are in their element with acres of bare wall to adorn. I was just overwhelmed by the excitement, everyone is just having the best fun, working together with the music blasting out.

And then to the main event. Stephanie Alexander has just arrived in from Australia. I met her this morning and understandably her body-clock is topsy-turvy and she was wide awake at 4 o'clock this morning, and had had breakfast and been out for a walk by the time I phoned her at Ballymaloe at 8.30. Madhur Jaffrey and her husband, Sanford, are on their way down from Dublin Airport as we speak. Several others will arrive later on in the day.

Of course some events are already sold out  but there are still lots of opportunities to attend events in the Grain Store and Carrigaun Room. My co-director at the festival, Rory O'Connell, thinks that David Thompson's  demo here at the School and talk in The Grain Store on Thai Food are not to be missed. His name is not so well known over here as Madhur Jaffrey and Claudia Roden, though many of you will have seen him as a mentor on Masterchef 2012. I have been a huge fan since I ate at Darley Street Thai in Sydney over ten years ago, and more recently at his Michelin starred Nahm in Bangkok, and we are so excited to have him over here for the weekend.

Apart from all the mega-stars coming from all over the world for this festival, which has already caught the eye of the New York Times, Herald Tribune and Malaysian Times... I am so proud to have so many rising stars: Take Three Past Students and New Voices in Food, many of whom are past students at Ballymaloe Cookery School. I'm so excited about this that I'd love to offer a pair of tickets for each event. To be in with a chance to win you need to:

• Be able to travel to Co. Cork this weekend for the event.
• Leave a comment below: tell us what you're most excited about LitFest, and which event you'd like to win tickets for. 
• Entries close at 7pm tonight, Thursday May 2nd, British Summer Time. Winners will contacted by email, so be sure to choose a commenting option which provides us with your email address - these will NOT be used for future marketing). 
• The prize is a ticket for you and a friend, for the stated event, either (Take Three Past Students (demo) or New Voices in Food (talk). Not including travel or accommodation.

I look forward to seeing you there!

Edible Education at LitFest

As many of you may know, another thing close to my heart is food education. I am so excited that we are bringing together many of the leading lights in food education on the Sunday morning of the Literary Festival in the Grain Store.

I will be joined by Bill Yosses, the White House Pastry Chef, who helped Michelle Obama develop an educational garden at the White House and Stephanie Alexander, celebrated writer and restaurateur  from Australia, who for the last 11 years, has been devoted to the development of a primary school kitchen garden program. 

If you're concerned about what exactly in our food these days, especially after the recent horsemeat scandal, then the workshop, Digesting Unsavoury Truths with journalists Joanna Blythman, Ella MacSweeney and Suzanne Campbell is sure to illuminate.

And there'll be plenty of ways that everyone can get involved with learning about food, from seed to fork in The Big Shed, where growers, producers, seed sellers and chefs will be there as well as lots of fun activities from crafts to nature trails to engage foodies of all ages in learning more about where what we eat comes from, and how we can get involved in making it more sustainable. Including Michael Kelly with his GIY roadshow.

We hope you will leave fired up and inspired to join the revolution... or start one of your own!

Heaven for Wine-Lovers at LitFest

The Ballymaloe LitFest is not just a food festival, oh no, it's a Festival of Food and Wine and we have a  great line up of wine experts, producers and tastings, which has been curated by our wine lecturer at Ballymaloe Cookery School, Colm McCan. Whether you are a wine professional, fancy yourself as a wine buff, or just enjoy a nice glass of vino on a Friday night, there's something for everyone. And it doesn't even stop there. Oh no! We have  whiskey producers, and port and sherry tastings. I can only give you a sniff of them here, so do check out the full listings on the LitFest website and do come along, it'll be great to see you there. I can hardly believe how fast it's coming up. It's THIS weekend!!!

On Saturday, Irish Times wine columnist John Wilson and President of the D.O. Rias Baixas Juan Gil De Araujo Gonzalez De Careaga will be talking, and tasting a selection of  Albarinos, followed by Albarino and Shellfish in Ballymaloe House. The Ballymaloe kitchen will be cooking the freshest of our local shellfish to accompany these beautiful wines.

If you count yourself as a relative beginner in the world of wine, you can catch two of Ireland’s best known wine writers, John Wilson and Tom Doorley talking about wine books in general, with a particular nod to the books of Maurice Healy, Ireland’s first wine journalist. There will be a tasting of some wines featured in his books, and simple tips on the secrets of wine tasting.

Mary Dowey, one of Ireland’s much loved wine writers, will present a talk and tasting on ‘GOING NATURAL - NEW TRENDS’ along with Pascal Rossignol, (guest wine lecturer at Ballymaloe Cookery School, and award winning Le Caveau wine specialist) with a focus, and tasting on new trends in the wine world, with an emphasis on topics including ‘Natural’ Wines; Old Vines; Sulphur, and Biodynamic Wine.
On Sunday, Mary Dowey will also present a wine talk and tasting ‘Spice Mixes’  - wines to go with spicy dishes from range of different cuisines.

And if you're into wine, then you will know that Sunday evening's literary conversation and wine tasting with one of the world’s best loved and most respected wine writers, Jancis Robinson MW, is not to be missed. We're delighted to have her discussing her definitive title, Wine Grapes accompanied by some, but not all, of the 1,368 vine varieties to taste!

There are lots of other wine & drinks events as well taking place throughout the weekend. Talk and tasting, on Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey from Midleton Distillery, served alongside Irish Farmhouse Cheese and there will also be a presentation and demonstration on everything to do with barrels and the ancient craft of cooperage by Ger Buckley, Master Cooper, Midleton Distillery.

John Bowman  will chair a ‘QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS’ SPECIAL ON FOOD AND WINE  - a debate on food and wine issues with an expert panel.

Winemaker Pierpaolo Rapuzzi will present ‘A SPECIAL CORNER OF ITALY – FRIULI’ - a wine tasting of indigenous Italian grape varieties from this special corner of north-east Italy, with Pierpaolo Rapuzzi of Ronchi di Cialla, a key Friulian producer, located in the commune of Prepetto, very close to the border with Slovenia.  The Rapuzzi family have been awarded for their work in rescuing endangered indigenous grape varieties.

John McDonnell of Wine Australia Ireland will present RIESLINGS TO BE CHEERFUL' a selection of styles of Riesling, both from Australia, and from other parts of the wine world, and also ‘Rewards of Patience’. There will be a talk and tasting on ‘DOURO VALLEY - STILL & FORTIFIED' with Maurice O'Mahony, Wine Alliance.  William O’Callaghan of Longueville House, Mallow will present ‘IRISH APPLE BRANDY and CIDER’. John Wilson, The Irish Times will present WINE and LITERATURE’ a light-hearted wine tasting, accompanying each wine with a quote from some literary source, including Shaw, Fields, Colette, Rabelais and Pablo Neruda!

In The Big Shed there will be a wine and drinks area, with a dedicated section for talks and tastings. There will be a selection of drinks including a line-up of the finest Irish Whiskey from the award winning local Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard, Midleton Distillery, as well as a selection of  wines with ‘Irish wine making connections’ from the Ballymaloe wine cellar, beer from Irish Craft Brewers from around Ireland, and a selection of Sherry

And on Sunday evening, TANGO & MALBEC' - talk & tasting on Malbec from Argentina with Tom Lynch, El Comandante Wines.

Do check out the full listings on the LitFest website.

A Food Writer's Paradise

If food writing’s your thing then you’re in for a treat at the Ballymaloe LitFest. We are focusing on every aspect of the literature of food and wine - from the craft of professional food writing, self publishing, history and the celebration of the art of writing.

On Sunday, two of the UK and Ireland's most respected food critics, Matthew Fort and John McKenna, will discuss the journey of food writing from cave drawings to digital recipe swapping. 

And talking of the digital world, as you will know I am still a relative beginner when it comes to technology and the world of blogging. So I'm delighted that we have a workshop led by some of the Irish pioneers who are taking food writing into the future. Bloggers Aoife Carrigy (Holy Mackerel. ie) and  Lucy Pearce (our resident blogging teacher at the Cookery School, whose next course is on May 18th) and Caroline Hennessy, journalist and co-founder of Irish Food Bloggers Association will be joined by the founder of Grow It Yourself , Michael Kelly to discuss the emergence of this new form of food writing.  

If you’ve always harboured dreams of being a food writer and were wondering about self-publishing I highly recommend heading along to Michelle Darmody’s workshop, followed by Rachel Allen, Rowley Leigh, Jancis Robinson and Nick Lander’s conversation on the Tyranny of The Deadly Deadline, which will give you the inside track on what it’s really like to be a food writer. Believe me it’s not nearly so glamourous as you might imagine – well, not all of the time!

In separate events, acclaimed chefs and authors David Tanis  and Denis Cotter will read from and discuss their award-winning books. And you can catch two of Ireland’s best-loved contemporary wine writers, John Wilson and Tom Doorley talking about wine books in general, with a particular nod to the books of Maurice Healy, Ireland’s first wine journalist. There will be a tasting of some wines featured in the books, and simple tips on the secrets of wine tasting.

And on Sunday evening in the Carrigaun Room there is a Literary Conversation and Workshop chaired by Professor of Modern English at UCC, Claire Connolly, entitled The Taste of Words: Food and Literature in Performance.

And if you just can't choose get yourself a day pass - or one for the whole fabulous weekend!

Sizzling Chilis and Aromatic Spices at LitFest

As you have seen from my blog over the past months I love to travel, and an integral part of every journey are the new foods and flavours I discover along the way. My recent trips have taken me to the aromatic marketsof Laos and the vibrant coast of Mexico, eating food in the paddy fields of Sri Lanka and the mountains of India. So I am delighted that we will be hosting a number of experts in far-flung cuisines bringing some spice to the LitFest proceedings!

We have Madhur Jaffrey, grand-dame of Indian cuisine, a long-time colleague of mine, giving a demonstration at the cookery school on Saturday morning. Her events tend to sell-out fast, so grab a ticket while you still can. On Sunday she is giving a talk in The Grain Store on our love of curry.

Then we have David Thompson, world-renowned expert on Thai food, and chef-patron of the world’s first Michelin Starred Thai restaurant, will be giving a cookery demonstration on Sunday morning. The air will be fragrant with the scents of chili, lemongrass and galangal and participants are guaranteed to be wowed at the final tasting! David is also giving a talk on Thai street food in the afternoon in The Grain Store which is sure to be a feast for the eyes and ears.

And if you're a fan of spicy food, but never know what wines to pair with it, then wine expert MaryDowey will demystify us on Sunday afternoon.

Also on Sunday, respected authority on Mediterranean food, ClaudiaRoden will be bringing us some Spanish sunshine, as she discusses her most recent book. 

Let's hope we have some sunshine for the weekend too!