Rachel Allen

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 from the school she cooked at the renowned Ballymaloe House Hotel, eventually returning first to test recipes and then to teach at the school.

She worked for a while 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 which are in the gorgeous countryside of County Cork, close to the coast.

Her 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 Rachels first series Rachels Favourite Food, thats currently being screened on BBC 2 each Saturday morning, and has also been seen in Australia, Italy, Africa and elsewhere. Rachels Favourite Food the book to accompany the series was published by Gill & Macmillan. Rachel has now finished the follow up book and her new TV series both called Rachels Favourite Food for Friends. Her third series, Rachel’s Favourite Food At Home, looks set to continue the success of her previous shows and can currently be seen on BBC 1. The accompanying book to the series, Rachel’s Favourite Food At Home (Harper Collins) is now available. Rachel also is a frequent guest on BBC 1s Saturday Kitchen.

Rachel has written for many Irish publications including 3 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 Ballymaloe with her two young sons and her husband, another cook, who runs two restaurants in Cork.

• Celebrity Chefs, Food and Drink