Darina Allen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Darina Allen | |
 |
|
| Born | 1951 Portlaoise, County Laois, Ireland |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Irish  |
| Occupation | Chef and TV Personality |
| Known for | Leading the Slow Food movement in Ireland |
| Spouse | Tim Allen |
Darina Allen, (born 1951 in Port Laoise) is an Irish chef, TV personality and founder of Ballymaloe Cookery School in Shanagarry, County Cork, Ireland. A graduate of the Dublin Institute of Technology, she is the author of several successful books on the topic of Irish cuisine. She is a leader of the Slow Food movement in Ireland and instrumental in establishing a network of farmers' markets in the Cork area. She lives on her organic farm, Kinoith, in Shanagarry. Allen has been voted Cooking Teacher of the Year by the International Association of Culinary Professionals.
She has also written a number of cookery books including:
- Simply Delicious
- Simply Delicious Christmas
- Simply Delicious in France and Italy
- Simply Delicious Fish
- Simply Delicious Versatile Vegetables
- Simply Delicious Meals in Minutes
- Traditional Irish Cooking
- A Year at Ballymaloe Cookery School
In January 2003, Darina Allen's husband Tim Allen pleaded guilty to possessing 977 pornographic images of young children. He was caught as part of the Gardaí's Operation Amethyst which tracked internet users who paid for child pornography with credit cards. Tim Allen was given community service, put on the sex offenders register and ordered to pay €40,000 to a children's charity. The perceived leniency of this sentence provoked a good deal of public discussion.
Although there was considerable sympathy at this time for Darina Allen, there was also a sense of dismay at her seemingly inadequate public responses to her husband's activities. In the aftermath of the arrest, family representatives sought to make distinctions between different 'grades' of pornography; and to be unduly concerned with protecting the Ballymaloe 'brand'. As RTE News noted at the time: "There was nothing organic or natural about what Tim Allen was accused of..."
Following Tim Allen's conviction, the Ballymaloe cookery school announced that he was no longer involved in the business.
Darina Allen's daughter-in-law Rachel Allen is also a television chef.
