A while back I took a spin through Ireland, mostly County Cork, learning about the Irish dairy industry, which meant meeting some of the nicest people I've ever known, and eating endless amounts of butter. One particularly pleasant experience that involved both nice people and lots of butter was an afternoon spent with Rachel Allen and her husband, Isaac, whose mother Darina Allen runs the nearby Ballymaloe Cookery School.
Rachel is well-known in the food world for her own work as a cookbook author, product designer and television celebrity, and together with Isaac she also hosts magnificent meals in their airy seaside home. I came to this magical place with a group of food writers to cook and eat with Rachel and Isaac, and they were kind enough to allow me to share with you some of the more intimate corners of their kitchen.
Have you ever walked into someone's kitchen and it's breathtakingly beautiful and at the same time, you notice something like a utensil drawer stuffed to the gills, or some crumbs on the counter from breakfast? You instantly feel at home. That's what happens in this kitchen.
The home was designed by the couple and built on land that came as a wedding gift from Isaac's father. "We knew what we wanted," Rachel said, "A great big kitchen that would be the heart of the house." Done.
The main room has enormously high ceilings, an open-shelved expanse against one wall bookended by a fridge on the left and a wall of ovens on the right with the deep farm sink and a gigantic Aga stove in between. A center island contains a cooktop and a place for by-standers to rest their cups of tea and glasses of wine while they watch Rachel and Isaac go.
At the time I was working on my second book, Good Food To Share, with an eye on making food that's approachable enough yet special enough for people you love. Rachel, who has written six books, and Isaac have the same aesthetic and spirit in their cooking and so I watched them closely.
I remarked to Rachel that the space had such an easeful feeling; it is open, airy, bright, there's no sense of crowding and tension. She was eager to show me her "other side" which was just around the corner through a small door. The pantry has an extra oven, laundry air-drying on wires and a wall of pantry foods bowing with weight. I like a person who can giggle at themselves, and this is what Rachel did as she proudly showed off her mess.
Back in the more composed part of the house, teatime was in full swing and Isaac insisted we all drink ours with cream and muscovado sugar. Then the couple sent us on our way with little parchment paper wrapped Chewy Seedy Oat and Apricot Bars.
More Rachel Allen:
Rachel Allen's website
Rachel Allen on Facebook
Favorite Food at Home: Delicious Comfort Food from Ireland's Most Famous Chef (Amazon, $16.07)
Related: Cookbook Author Diane Morgan's Timeless Kitchen
(images: Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan)
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"The home was designed by the couple and built on land that came as a wedding gift from Isaac's father."
Dear Dad: if you're reading, THIS is what I want for my wedding gift...
Please and thank you, love forever and always, Lauren E.
I would also keep my eggs on the counter if I had a cute egg container like theirs!
Lovely kitchen.
OK, perfect...and now for a tour of the rest of their house?
Please share the recipe for the scones and the rhubarb crumble - yum!
I wish we could leave our eggs out in the U.S., but unless they come to you from a chicken rather than a store, we cannot. The egg industry washes the protective coating that keeps bacteria out away, since we don't like "dirty" eggs. Our loss.
I've seen some of Rachel's shows on the Cooking Channel so what a treat to peek into her real life kitchen. I love all that openness and space, and how great is it to have a pantry space like that to stash everything and hide the mess (though it's really not all that bad).
...and I love those teacups and plates Rachel is standing in front of!
Such a lovely, warm woman and such a lovely, warm kitchen!
Please share the recipes for the potato thyme soup and the chewy bars. Loved the kitchen pot.
THAT is a wonderful kitchen IMO....it looks like an environment, not a strictly utilitarian space, but a warm, cozy, environment. It's the most difficult thing to design with restraint. This is a great example. I'd probably want to see a few rugs scattered about but otherwise, ove it.
Oh, they cook on an Aga! We happily cook on an Aga. Surely that means we are practically related.
I was lucky enough to spend almost two days with Darina Allen at Ballymaloe Cookery School and cannot begin to tell you how fabulous this experience was. Save your pennies and go! We also enjoy watching Rachel on PBS here in Charleston, SC. .
I visited Cork in November and have also been lucky enough to visit the Ballymaloe Cookery School since a friend of mine was staying there. Amazing and really motivating to say the least.
the city is really pleasant as well. For some tips where to go for good food and drinks check out my blog:
http://kitchendesires.tumblr.com/post/12075909633/cork
BTW: Loving the new Kitchn format!
love
Marijn
I love Rachel Allen and have googled "Rachel Allen's Kitchen" many times in the hope that someone has gotten pics of the whole thing - you get little glimpses in her videos, so THANK YOU!!!!
I spent the summer at Ballymaloe Cookery School in 2006, it was such a special experience. Rachel and the whole team down there exude this creativity and flare. Everything is higgildy piggildy in the most beautifully gorgeous way. LOVE the kitchen!
sidespitting.blog.com
Perfect kitchen! And that egg holder is SO cute!:)
Love the open-plan country / modern look. lem2grace - Rachel's buttermilk scone recipe produces the yummiest scones imaginable... Might have to go and make some tonight! :-)
So adorable! I love the relaxed feeling of their kitchen environment. And that Thyme and Potato soup looks delicious.
You can find the recipe for Chewy seedy oat and apricot bars (and many more) on Rachel Allen's website :
http://www.rachelallen.co.uk/recipes_september.html#r1
I just accidentally picked up her mothers cookbook from the library this week! What a coincidence that there is a post on her daughter. I adored her mothers book, now I need to go back and find her daughter's!
Candace Elise: You don't mean her mother-in-law Darina, do you? If you DO mean her mother, could you let me have the name of the book please? (sorry, this is a bit off-topic, but at least it's on-topic for the Allens and food!)
I too remember being awestruck on my visit to the Ballymaloe Cookery School kitchens a few years ago. It's interesting, the common elements I see --- not just the lovely pottery, but also the feeling of functional chaos. Focus on the food and cooking first, and the decor (not-so-distant-)second makes for such a lovely warmth and energy. Of course, that came in the first place from the people in it --- not just the Allens, but the rest of the cooks/teachers in there. (And while I'm wandering off-topic, may I recommend a stay at Ballymaloe House, still presided over by Isaac's grandmother Myrtle, who was so important to popularising traditional Irish food as modern restaurant cuisine.)
I'm loving that shot of higgledy-piggledy utensil drawer --- because in this case it implies the owners use them often enough that they actually KNOW what's in there! (In another case, the lack of crisp separations might imply it had not been opened in a while.) It actually reminds me of grandmother's huge, old-fashioned Indian kitchen, with no counters, no cabinets, just one tiny meatsafe where the sweets and yogurt lived... and yet all the half a dozen women in that kitchen, all together, knew exactly where to find what and you never got a sense of 'lost' or 'misplaced' or dangerously positioned articles.
Thanks, Kitchn, for a double-layered dose of nostalgia.
That's a great kitchen. If I had as many people and as frequently cooking and cleaning in it, a kitchen that size would be fabulous. I wouldn't be up for maintaining a space like that on my own though.
Wouldn't buy an AGA - big unreliable hunks of metal. Even the regularly serviced ones have frequent temperamental breakdowns. AND I've heard they don't make back boilers for the newer versions anymore? Is this true? We use a Stanley for cooking, radiators and hot water. It's superb and it's lovely bottle green colour.
Also, Ballymaloe relish is the best thing to come out of Ireland in God-knows-how long.