Ballymaloe literary festival: culinary stars, TED-style talks and cooking with fire

A galaxy of culinary stars will descend on Co Cork next weekend to do cooking demos, talk about their books, give opinions on a range of food and drink topics, and engage with festival-goers at the Kerrygold Ballymaloe Literary Festival of Food & Wine (May 20th-22nd).

There's a new strand to the festival this year, with a symposium addressing the topic Our Food – What's The Story, in the Grainstore. You can buy half-day, full-day or weekend tickets for this smorgasbord of TED-style 15-minute talks, film screenings, readings and live music.

Among the big names taking part are Argentinian cooking-with-fire expert Francis Mallmann; Eric Werner and Mya Henry from Hartwood restaurant in Mexico's Yucatán peninsula; Claire Ptak from Violet bakery in London; writer Prue Leith; chef Jeremy Lee; wine writers Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson; and writer and horticulturist Mark Diacono of Otter Farm in Devon.

Two free events have been added: a fermented drinks talk on Sunday morning, and a Bord Bia/Taste Council session Engaging Young Food Entrepreneurs on Saturday morning.

The fringe festival programme and access to the food stalls and entertainment in The Big Shed costs €5 to attend (children under-12 free), and don't miss Irish Times columnist Jim Carroll's Banter sessions and John Bowman's Questions and Answers – Food & Drinks Special, in the Garden Tent.

For last-minute leads on accommodation, car pools and lifts, check Litfest Facebook forum. For full programme details, see litfest.ie

LITFEST ONLINE

Marie-Claire Digby will be reporting live from Litfest next weekend at: irishtimes.com/food and twitter.com/mcdigby