Ballymaloe's next generation: ‘My mum and grandma are two of my biggest inspirations’

While plenty of youngsters are not exactly sure what career they want to pursue when they are preparing to leave school, this is not the case for 17-year-old Scarlett Allen.

When she completes her Leaving Cert next summer, she plans to follow in the footsteps of her celebrity chef mother Rachel, her grandmother Darina, and her great-grandmother Myrtle Allen.

When she does, it will ensure an unbroken matriarchal line of excellence in the culinary arts for four generations at Ballymaloe House and Cookery School in Shanagarry.

Growing up beside the cookery school at Ballymaloe, Scarlett was always imbued with the ethos of Slow Food; cooking with fresh, local and seasonal ingredients.

Her privileged upbringing spent in such a beautiful environment, with immediate access to good fresh food, is not lost on her.

She knows that growing up and eating such delicious meals prepared by a family specialising in the transformative alchemy of raw ingredients into taste sensations is something not enjoyed by everyone, and she feels very grateful.

“I realise how lucky I am to have grown up in Ballymaloe right next to the sea. I really enjoy swimming, and I sometimes go along with my mother, who is a regular swimmer.

“Being able to go to the greenhouse to pick food with my grandmother, Darina, is something I have been doing since I was very small, and I was always given little jobs to do by my parents as they were preparing supper.

“Some of my earliest memories are of picking and shelling peas and eating them as I went along. It was definitely always a case of ‘one for the pot and one for me’,” she laughed.

“My granny and my parents all taught me the difference it makes eating things which have just come from the ground, or cooking with fish that has just come from the sea, and I have always enjoyed learning about food from them.”

Scarlett says she is always looking to try something new.

“I love eating everything, and even as a child, I’ve never been a fussy eater. My parents always encouraged me to try everything, and even now if I go out to eat with friends, I always look through the menu to find something I have never tasted before, and that’s what I’ll choose.”

The Cork teen said that, growing up, her favourite days were the ones where her mum was doing photo shoots.

“She might have prepared up to eight different dishes for the camera, all looking so beautiful.

“On my way out in the morning, I always remind her, ’Don’t forget to save some for me,’ and I’m always excited to get home and have a taste, her food is so yummy.

“I’ve learned so much from my mum, and one of my favourite things to do is baking alongside her.”

Scarlett has put all the knowledge acquired from her family to good use and has teamed up with her cousin and best pal Tamsin Allen to give cooking demonstrations at festivals throughout the country, which she really enjoys. Next up is Savour Kilkenny on October 25.

“My mum and grandma have always been two of my biggest inspirations. I’ve always been impressed by their work ethic and how much knowledge they have.

“I would just love to have all of that too, to be just like them. I don’t even know if that’s possible, because they know so much.

“Anytime my grandma talks about food, I’m always amazed by how much she knows, and how she makes it sound so easy. I would love to be able to do that too,” says Scarlett.

The Cork teen plans to take time out after school to travel and learn more about cooking in different parts of the world.

“I’d love to go to Vietnam and learn some cookery over there, and I would also love to do ski season somewhere like France or Austria.

“My ambition is to just cook and travel, and then come back home and work alongside my mum at the cookery school; that’s the dream.”

Meanwhile, her mum Rachel has been busy devising the menu for Irish ferry company, Hibernia Line, which commenced a new direct ferry from Ringaskiddy to Boulogne-sur-Mer in France earlier this year.

Rachel says the French city is a wonderful place with some amazing cheese and wine shops, and is a handy drive into both Belgium and the Netherlands.

“It’s a great opportunity to showcase fantastic Irish food, and I use only all Irish dairy and meat.

“I switch up the menus to reflect seasonal ingredients, and now autumn is here I am working with the great chefs on the ship, concentrating on serving good, hearty food.”

Rachel says that it’s been a different experience devising a menu for a sea crossing “because at times the ship could be rocking or moving, so I did not want to have lots of pots and pans rattling on the hob.

“It’s easier to manage things like stews, which work really well as they can be started on top and then put into the oven. I have a great beef and Guinness stew, and also a lamb shank with haricot beans, and a glazed ham with parsley sauce. And of course there are always lovely buttery mashed potatoes.

“I think that if you have really good food, everyone will enjoy it, and it will appeal to all taste buds whether you are from Ireland, France, or anywhere else.”

No doubt Scarlett will be taking in all of her mother’s sage advice and adding it to her already growing knowledge of what makes food special.