Darina and Rachel Allen on food, legacy and retirement
Janice Butler travelled to the beautiful haven of Ballymaloe in East Cork to spend a sunny day with Darina and Rachel Allen. They talk about food philosophies, embracing simplicity and passing on the legacy of Ballymaloe to the next generation.
You can't beat a day in East Cork, and you certainly won’t beat a day in East Cork on a glorious sunny spring day.
Not just any part of East Cork either; this beautiful April day is spent at the institution that is Ballymaloe – a name synonymous worldwide with trailblazing, hospitality, knowledge and dedication to real, home-grown food. Once a dream of a mother and farmer’s wife, Myrtle Allen, in 1964, she turned her home in Cork into a restaurant like no other.
Ingredients were grown on the family farm, foraged locally or sourced from producers nearby. Unusually for its time, menus were written on a daily basis, and traditional Irish recipes were celebrated. Myrtle’s enterprise influenced people's thinking on what a restaurant could be. In 1968, she was joined by a young, ambitious cook from Co. Laois, Darina.
Today, along with daughter-in-law Rachel Allen, her brother Rory O’Connell and many others, the vision of Myrtle is continued with the restaurant and hotel, the world-famous cookery school, farm and other projects. It is an energy-filled place, pushing forward the food revolution that has been taking place in the country.
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While the family has had its ups and downs over the years, often the subject of intrusive reporting, there’s a lot of love between Rachel and Darina. Rachel is married to Darina’s son, Isaac, and has three children: Lucca, Joshua and Scarlett.
Their day-to-day life is busy in the cookery school or with Darina’s latest venture, an organic farm school, so both Darina and Rachel appreciate a morning of glam and styling for our cover shoot in their gorgeous bloom-filled gardens.
Rachel, a big advocate for Irish brands and designers, asked if the stylist could use clothes from Irish designers, hoping to support them and show them off in style. As she puts it: "There’s so many amazing Irish brands out there and they’re beautiful. I like to support them as much as possible."
Darina, always forthright, informed and attuned, is pleasantly unfussy about food. A well-travelled food expert, she’s just back from a trip to India. She’s as passionate today about good food as she was all those years ago, when she arrived at Ballymaloe.
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At 76, there is no slowing her down. In fact, her latest start-up, the organic farm, set up in 2023, is already successful. People have been coming from far and wide to learn the principles and the practice of sustainable food production.
"It’s all part of that homestead movement, where people are leaving the cities and buying a little plot of land somewhere and taking back some control over their lives and being self-sufficient," she explains. "A lot of people who make that decision [and] don’t know where to go to learn the skills, so they’re coming to us. We’ve people flying from America for week-long courses, and we haven’t officially launched it or done much in the way of advertising. People are just coming across it on Instagram. It’s very hard work being self-sufficient, and expensive, so people need to be realistic with what they can do."
They’re both aware of the pressure on families and homes in Ireland to find the time to make home-cooked meals and do the right thing when it comes to food preparation and consumption. Darina is particularly concerned about the school lunch programme that has been under scrutiny of late.
"There’s definitely a problem there with the food provided, and a lot of people are opting out. So, they need to go back to the drawing board with that one and fast. It should be done in such a way that it enhances health, behaviour and concentration. I’ve been spouting about diabetes and obesity in children for years, but it doesn’t seem to matter. It’s terribly worrying and such a missed opportunity", she says.
"And I get it, being busy with children, juggling a job, we’re all trying to do the best we can, and it’s hard," adds Rachel. "Especially if you didn’t grow up with food being prepared at home. At least now, online, learning about good food is more accessible."
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Rachel reminisces about when her children were younger and she was probably at the busiest time of her career, with books and TV appearances. I remind her that I spoke to her not long after her daughter Scarlett was born, and she was doing publicity for a book.
"I think I spoke to you about a month after I had her," she laughs. "It was such a busy time. I was travelling over and back to London at that stage, and Scarlett was coming with me. It was insane when I look back on it," she says.
"It’s nicely busy now. I’m at the cookery school a lot now, and that’s what I love. I don’t tend to work at the weekend either, so I can get some time to myself and with the family."
They have the rhythm of the cookery school down to a fine art, with Rory, Rachel, Darina and six other teachers working with the students. "I count myself really lucky that Darina, Rory and I still love being at the school, along with the other teachers, and keeping it all going," says Rachel. "And it works; we’re all doing different things", she adds.
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"There’s a lot of very committed people here to keep it going," says Darina. "We’re just passing on Myrtle’s original philosophy and proudly adding to it with the same philosophy and ethos."
They’ll be hosting the second Ballymaloe Food Festival in May, which takes place at the Grainstore on the farm and is organised by Bree Allen (married to Cullen Allen, of Cully & Sully soups). The festival brings together some of the biggest names in the food industry for demonstrations, talks and workshops. They’ll both be on hand over the weekend and are excited to be involved.
"It’s not quite the Lit Fest that we did years ago, but lovely Bree Allen has been organising this one with her team, and we’re all involved in doing some demonstrations and there’s lots of really exciting guest chefs and loads of other things going on, lots of chats and workshops. It’s really gathered momentum, so this year is the biggest and best so far," gleams Darina.
"There’s something for everyone; demonstrations, workshops or just have a walk around with the kids," chimes in Rachel.
Speaking of Ballymaloe as a beacon of Irish food, the duo are confident of its future, with lots of enthusiasm from the next generation to of the extended Allen clan to take up the baton.
"All my children are definitely interested in the business," says Rachel. "Scarlett, especially, has shown an interest. She’s in transition year this year, so at the moment she’s been working in the bakery and she loves it. I would love it if she did eventually get involved with it," she adds.
"Some of them at least will get involved and I think they realise the importance of it. But how fortunate are we to have found something to earn a living so we could continue to live on the farm that we love and create employment in the local area?"
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There’s a real sense from both of these food experts that they’re very grateful for what Ballymaloe has brought to their lives and their families. As Darina says, giving them a place to live and work with a purpose. Darina, while she insists she’s doing slightly less work these days, has no intention of retiring anytime soon. She’s finding a balance between work, travel and a sprinkling of relaxation.
"I’m fortunate to still have a good deal of energy," she remarks. "Some people really look forward to retirement, but I just want to gradually do a little less. Retirement is not one of the words in my lexicon. There’s so much more I want to do and so much more I need to do. I feel very strongly about passing on the skills, not only of cooking, but of course, the farm too," she adds.
Rachel, too, is at a new stage in her career and life. The children are older, she has fewer demands on her time when it comes to publishing books and filming TV series. She says the death of her good friend, author Emma Hannigan, in 2018 from cancer, gave her a new perspective on life.
"At the end of the day, life is just very simple: you just want everyone to be well and happy. I like my private life to be private. You work hard, but for me, it’s the simple things that matter," she pauses."Just to enjoy the happy moments and freeze them in your mind."
For more on the Ballymaloe Festival of Food, see ballymaloegrainstore.com.
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