Thursday 8 May 2014

My Food Heroes Come to the Kerrygold LitFest

One of the most exciting parts of the Kerrygold LitFest is getting to bring absolute food heroes of mine here to Ballymaloe. Some are less well-known to many here in Ireland, but who are living legends in their fields, so I want to take a little time to properly introduce them to you.



This is a once in a life time opportunity to see Diana Kennedy (do read all about my visit to her in Mexico last year), who is, I'm sure she won't mind me telling you 90 this year. Diana is one of the most iconic food writers in the world, branded the Julia Child of Mexican cooking, having written the standard works on Mexican food and has been decorated for her services by the Mexican government. She's electric, she has such a presence and a wealth of knowledge to share. She doesn't do cookery demonstrations any more, so we were very fortunate to persuade her to come all the way over from Mexico to join us. Don't miss her, rush to the website and book now.

STOP PRESS - news just in, Diana has just won the James Beard Life Time Achievement Award! We are soooo delighted for her!



Maggie Beer is a well-known Australian chef, she has written nine books, has her own TV series as well as making appearances on the Australian Masterchef. She is the incredible woman behind the verjuice revival and has established in Australia a similar thing to what we have here at Ballymaloe: she's all about simplicity and great produce. Don't miss her. She will be involved directly in two events at Litfest: as Guest Chef for Saturday lunch in Ballymaloe House (now sold out) and doing a Cookery Demonstration on Sunday at the Ballymaloe Cookery School for which there are still a few places left.


We all know that Middle Eastern cuisine is hot right now, due to the Ottolenghi effect (his demo and pop up dinner are completely sold out, but there is still room in the Grain Store to hear him speak, along with Sami Tamimi and Ariana Bundy). 

Whilst you'll all no doubt be familiar with the names of the Ottolenghi boys, you might not know Ariana, author of the simply beautiful book Pomegranates and Roses, who I especially invited to give us a taste of exquisite Persian food. She will be doing a fragrant Cookery Demonstration alongside our own Rory O'Connell on Saturday afternoon at the Cookery School.


Meet Ariana Bundy TV Chef and author of 'Pomegranates & Roses: My Persian family Recipes'

This is only a tantalising taste of the multitude of demonstrations, workshops, talks, meals and readings that we have planned for the weekend of the Kerrygold Ballymaloe LitFest of Food and Wine, we look forward to seeing you on the weekend of the 16th of May.