This weekend, Ballymaloe's Rory O'Connell will join the impressive foodie lineup at the Folly Festival in Cullohill, Co Laois. We caught up with the TV chef to find out more.
Running in association with Electric Picnic, the 2024 Folly Festival will take place in the intimate venue of Nancy's Yard this weekend, nestled beneath the towering ruins of the historic Cullohill Castle.
As well as performances from musical acts like Darren Kiely and The Scratch alongside other firm favourites including Roísín O, Dea Matrona, Oscar Blue, and Jessica Doolan, there will be a variety of activities taking place, with the Folly Festival Mountain walk, painting demos, panel discussions and cookery demonstrations all on the agenda.
On Saturday, 6 July, chef Rory O'Connell will be showing fans how to create a delicious feast made from locally-sourced products.
Aptly called Coming Home, the segment will be a celebratory homecoming for O'Connell as his mother, Elizabeth, took over the local pub - The Sportsman - when he and his sister were in their teenage years.
"It's a small community doing amazing things," he says of his hometown. "We grew up very happy - thank God - and care-free in Culohill and we roamed freely, running up Culohill Mountain - which is essentially a hill, but it's a wonderful hill."
"The object of my visit is to give a cookery demonstration and to highlight, as much as possible, food from Co. Laois."
A passionate advocate for self-sufficiency, O'Connell believes it his responsibility as a chef to encourage home cooks to shop sustainably sourced ingredients.
"There is a renewed interest in people growing grains in Ireland again," he explains, "so we're producing our own oats, and some bakers are either growing their own wheat for flour, or collaborating with local farmers to get their own wheat. There are very exciting things happening in those micro-production areas."
On Saturday, O'Connell hopes to "inspire rather than to terrify" home cooks by creating a menu that is as accessible as it is delicious.
With strawberries in season, he plans to create a strawberry muesli made with Merry Mill oats followed by an omelette made with Garryhinch Exotic Mushrooms and a side of grilled sourdough bread from the local bakery, Mueller & O'Connell.
The main course will consist of a summer salad complete with buttermilk dressing ("we've got delicious buttermilk in Ireland"), lamb koftas, apple syrup ("from Co. Kilkenny, but we'll let them away with that"), roast hazelnut, and a dash of chili oil.
Chili, says Rory, should be grown all over the country: "I'll be hoping to inspire people to grow their own chili because we can grown chilis really well in Ireland.
"At the end of the growing season, you can pick them off the plants and dry them. A lot of households could be self-sufficient for chili for the entire year. It's amazing when you think about it."
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"Food security sounded vague and abstract a few years ago," he continues, "but I don't think it's a vague or abstract notion at all anymore."
"Some parts of the world, sadly and tragically, are becoming too warm and too hot and lacking in water to produce food. We complain endlessly in this country about rain, but my God, we can grow food."
"What also ties into that conversation is how we have been flippant in terms of the respect that is due to our vegetable growers," he says, going on to say that the people in these roles are "crucial to us and our daily lives".
In 1985, Rory and his sister, Darina Allen, founded Ballymaloe Cookery School. A huge success, the school now offers a series of courses including lessons on running an organic farm.
"We've got a farm school now where we try to share skills that we have on the farm, which is organic, on a sort of micro-level. All with a view to producing really real, clean, nutritious food. The joy and the health that brings to our lives - that's what we're all about."
For more information on the Folly Festival, click here.
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