Ballymaloe Cookery School

Growing up, I had the good fortune to visit Ballymaloe almost every summer. My family would stay in the cottages that were used the rest of the year as student housing for the Cookery School. We had access to the freshest, most delicious food, in the most beautiful surroundings. We stopped going when I was about ten years old.

I visited again once more in 2007, right before I produced my biggest project to date at the time, The Chronoscope. I don't remember much from that family occasion, except a powerful feeling of peace I got from the place, my tense muscles uncoiling as I turned the corner into the grounds of the farm where the school, gardens and accommodations are nestled.

Nathalie had the wonderful luck of being gifted with a prize for a course, accommodation and meals for two in Ballymaloe this year, and we chose a subject we knew nothing about: seafood. We had both intended to take a lot of photographs of the food we'd be working with, but the course was impressively intense, so what follows is a more reflective post than I'd expected. I hope fish-centric culinary photos are to follow, now that I've upskilled, but you'll have to do with this trip down memory lane with me instead. If it's any consolation, I think the school in Shanagarry, Co. Cork is one of the most beautiful places in Ireland.