Eating their words

'Dare to dream" could have been the theme of last year's inaugural Ballymaloe Literary Festival of Food & Wine, when a star-studded line-up of food and wine writers from across the globe converged on the Co Cork hotel and cookery school for a weekend of demonstrations, debate and, of course, dining, in the company of 8,000 festival-goers.

“When Darina calls, you don’t say no”, was a common refrain from participants, who included the Thai food expert David Thompson, who flew in from Bangkok to join Madhur Jaffrey, Claudia Roden, Jancis Robinson, Matthew Fort, Thomasina Miers and countless other stellar names on the programme for the weekend.

This year, the dream just got bigger, with René Redzepi of Noma restaurant in Copenhagen, founder of what has become known as New Nordic Cuisine, jostling with TV presenter, author and restaurateur Yotam Ottolenghi for top billing in a three-day programme of events that will take place on May 16th-18th .

Other big names signed up this year include Diana Kennedy, often described as “the Elizabeth David of Mexican cooking”, Australian cook and food entrepreneur Maggie Beer, TV presenter and writer Simon Hopkinson, and chef Rowley Leigh. The wine world will be represented by Lilian Barton of Château Léoville-Barton and Spanish winemaker Telmo Rodriguez. Chefs and authors Ross Lewis, Paul Flynn and Clodagh McKenna head the Irish contingent, along with Darina and Rachel Allen and Rory O’Connell.

“We didn’t quite manage to break-even, however it was very close,” Darina Allen says in relation to the €200,000 it cost to stage last year’s event. “The budget has increased substantially this year as we need more infrastructure on site, shuttle buses and bank machines, which all cost money. Also, last year, so many people rowed in and worked so hard on a near voluntary basis, but this year we want to make sure everyone is paid for the enormous effort and work they put in,” she says.

Tickets went on sale in January, and some events are already booked out. “Not surprisingly the Ottolenghi demonstration and pop-up dinner, and the René Redzepi events flew out the door, selling out within minutes. Maggie Beer’s lunch in Ballymaloe House, Giana Ferguson’s event about her soon-to-be published book, Myrtle Allen’s Cookery Archive, and Extreme Greens – Understanding Seaweed with Sally McKenna, also sold out very quickly,” Allen says.

However there are still plenty of events with availability, and the fringe programme at The Big Shed, adjacent to Ballymaloe House hotel, where there will also be art installations, live music and local producers selling food, will be open to all. "People still have the opportunity to book for Sami Tamimi, Yotam Ottolenghi and Ariana Bundy discussing the food of the Middle East; tickets for the conversation between John McKenna and René Redzepi are still available, as is Tim Hayward's talk about his book, Food DIY . And Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton of Canal House Publishing in the US will be giving a fascinating talk about The Business of Books," Allen says.

Daniel Klein and Mirra Fine of The Perennial Plate , a James Beard award winning online weekly documentary series "dedicated to socially responsible and adventurous eating" will present two screenings of short films they have travelled the world to make, and Susan Boyle will perform her one woman show A Wine Goose Chase , which blends wine tasting with storytelling.

See litfest.iefor more information.