David Prior, ex-Chez Panisse, travel eater / writer wrote this article about Mrs Allen and Ballymaloe for the Wall Street Journal Magazine.
In an extract he quotes Mrs Allen as saying “Serving guests simple Irish food made with our farm’s produce in my home seemed logical,” but David goes on to write.. but at the time it was radical.
In an era when Irish cuisine was considered at best a synonym for bland and at worst an oxymoron, Allen’s kitchen smashed stereotypes.