RACHEL ALLENCook, broadcaster, teacher, writer.
Rachel Allen was brought up in Dublin and her early cooking experiences were with her sister, both pretending to be Delia Smith and each talking to the wall as they made biscuits. Encouraged by her family, Rachel went to the Ballymaloe Cookery School at the age of 18 and realised that she wanted to make food her career. After graduating, Rachel cooked at the renowned Ballymaloe House Hotel, returning first to test recipes and then to teach at the school. She worked as a caterer in Vancouver before returning again to teach at Ballymaloe. This is one of the premier cookery schools in the UK and has an international reputation. Students take residential courses and live in cottages in the grounds of County Cork, close to the coast. Rachel's philosophy on food is that good ingredients simply prepared will give great results. Her food reflects the demands of her own lifestyle - busy working mother entertaining at home, using good ingredients simply prepared but with her own individual spin that comes from many years of working in an internationally rated establishment. In September 2004 RTE, the national TV station for Southern Ireland, broadcast Rachel's first series Rachel's Favourite Food, that is currently being screened on BBC 2 each Saturday morning. It has also been seen in Australia, Italy, Africa and elsewhere. Rachel's Favourite Food, the book to accompany the series, was published by Gill & Macmillan. Rachel has now finished the follow-up book and the television series, both entitled Rachel's Favourite Food for Friends, which like its predecessor, was also aired BBC 1. Rachel's third book, Rachel's Family Food (Harper Collins) is due for release this September and the accompanying television series will be on screens care of BBC 1 once more. Rachel continues to appear as a regular guest on BBC 1's Saturday Kitchen. Rachel has written for many Irish publications including three years on Irish lifestyle magazine Image and now has a weekly column in The Sunday Tribune Magazine. She has also contributed to BBC Good Food magazine and AWT At Home magazine. Rachel lives near the school with her two young sons and her husband, another cook, who runs three restaurants in Cork. |
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