Taste for LIFE

JR Ryall, pastry chef at Ballymaloe House, on picnics and poached eggs

What was your favourite childhood meal?

My mother always cooked delicious meals for us growing up. Nothing was ever complicated. My favourite thing was her legendary lemon meringue pie.

What is the meal you will always remember?

I have a lot of fond food memories. One that particularly stands out is a breakfast picnic on the cliffs near Ballycotton. It was in 2016, the day after Litfest — a festival we used to run at Ballymaloe. Some of the international speakers stayed on after the festival and we all ate in the sun, sitting on the bouncy grass. It was heaven.

What was your defining food experience?

Cooking with [Ballymaloe founder] Myrtle Allen. She understood flavour better than anyone I had ever met before I came to Ballymaloe. She taught me how to taste in a new way; I will always be grateful to her. What is your comfort food?

A soft poached egg on toast. What do you drink?

I seldom drink when I’m at home, apart from the very occasional glass of wine. When I’m out, Guinness is my tipple of choice, and for something stronger, I drink good Irish whiskey.

What’s the first dish you ever cooked?

I can’t actually remember! There were two kitchens in the house where I grew up. I spent a lot of time in my great-aunt’s kitchen, baking with her. One of the first things I made was probably a buttery cake sponge in that kitchen.

If you could only eat three things for the rest of your life, what would they be?

Irish butter, eggs and soda bread.

What is the most appetising smell in the world?

Freshly baked bread in the morning.

Bread is the first thing we bake in the pastry kitchen at Ballymaloe each day and the smell is always so enticing.

How important is food to you?

My love of food has shaped my life. I have always cared about what I eat and I have always enjoyed cooking. Baking was my childhood hobby and I certainly didn’t realise then that the attraction of the kitchen would be so influential on my career decisions, albeit I took a somewhat unconventional route to becoming a professional cook. My passion for food has encouraged me to travel the world, and it has influenced most of the big decisions I have made in my life.

You can go anywhere and have anything to eat with any one person. Where, what and who?

I would have lunch at Zuni Cafe in San Francisco with my good friend Diana Kennedy, who earlier this year celebrated her 97th birthday. Diana is the best company, and I love spending time with her. We’d have to have Zuni’s dazzlingly good roast chicken to share. What’s always in your kitchen?

I always have fresh cream in the fridge so I can put a drop in my coffee every morning. Try it, it’s the best.

Are you careful about what you eat?

Yes, I avoid processed food. I like to know where the food I eat comes from and how it has been produced.

JR Ryall is the head pastry chef at Ballymaloe House, part of Ireland’s Blue Book — the collection of country house hotels, manor houses, castles and restaurants located throughout the island of Ireland, see irelandsbluebook.ie In conversation with Chloe Brennan