A game of scones How JR Ryall, BA Natural Sciences (2010), became Ballymaloe’s King of Desserts T he chef and writer insists it isn’t a crown he wears, but the career of JR Ryall in east Cork’s food fortress sounds a little like a royal saga: a long path to the leading role, the weight of a legacy, family ties and much history. Where did When it comes to Irish cooking, there’s a They’d harvest apples, potatoes, cabbages, cauliflowers, both for export and domestic sale – and for their guests. They had a herd of Jersey cows and pigs whose blood would end up in home-made pudding. The palette of ingredients that the journey start? dialogue with tradition Myrtle used spoke of the area – and of I was born in 1987 and grew up on that I try to keep up the ingenuity that went into Ballymaloe. The first patrons were surprised to be my family’s farm in North County presented with things like Irish stew and Cork. I always had a keen interest in Irish apple cake, dishes that were very ‘home food and how things tasted, something that my cooking’. Vernacular things, but she elevated them family encouraged me to explore. One of my earliest by using the freshest produce. memories, from when I was four years old, involved a visit to the Ballymaloe Cookery School. My aunt Evelyn took me on a Wild watercress from streams found its way onto Allen’s plates; tour of the property and at the end I met the school’s founder, I credit Myrtle with innovating an early version of foraging Darina Allen. Her warmth that day, and her generous gift of a for fine dining, like Denmark’s Noma. The farm & restaurant cookbook, sowed a seed with me and I aspired to be a chef. combination was arguably a proto ‘farm-to-table’ concept of When family friends discovered I was so interested in food and learning how to cook, I began to receive gifts of baking the kind now made famous by the likes of California’s Chez Panisse. books. I loved trying out new recipes, experimenting and My admiration for Myrtle – who died aged 94 in 2018 – goes pushing the boundaries, and baking became my ‘thing’. I would deep. We became friends over the years. spend hours in the kitchen, making special cakes for family celebrations and for friends. I carried on working at Ballymaloe through my last two years of school. When it came to working out what to do after, my I went to school in Midleton College, Co Cork, and began career guidance counsellor said to me I should study food working at Ballymaloe aged just 15, starting an association science. I went a different route, however, finding Natural that led to being Head Pastry Chef today. Science in Trinity broad enough for my curiosity. The course The story of the place has a fascinating beginning - in Myrtle and Ivan Allen’s private home, in the ‘60s. They commercialised it as the restaurant, and everything grew from that. On the had a structure that left specialization until the final years. The Food and Drinks society and the Trinity Arts Festival were good sources of fun. first night, it just had three tables. Gradually they converted In college I kept going back to Ballymaloe: weekends, summers. bedrooms upstairs and the house slowly became a hotel. Then, This would translate into a first fulltime role as Head Pastry when the word got out about what was going on here, people Chef, the same title I have today. wanted to learn this elevated vernacular food that Myrtle was pioneering. In many ways my work life and personal life are intertwined. I’ve been very fortunate in that I have always been able to do A cookery school in a separate property developed, followed the things that make me happy. I know this is not the case in by half a century of building appreciation for Irish food and every profession. Outside of the kitchen, my passion is traveling classic technique. and experiencing new cultures. I love to explore new places. From the perspective of contemporary Ireland, it can be hard to appreciate how much of an outlier the venture was. Ivan was a progressive horticulturalist who visited the Netherlands and Scandinavia to see what new modern technologies were Wherever I go I always find myself gravitating to food markets, local eateries and galleries. I’ve never been one to sit on a beach, but I do love to sea swim. In fact, when I’m at home, I try to swim most days at the nearby strand in Shanagarry. being used, which he then came back and implemented. He I’m also very interested in design. At one point I thought was growing some of the first tomatoes in Ireland, for instance. architecture could have been an interesting career route for
Share
Download PDF file