“Such is the impact of more than half a century of cooking and teaching it’s likely you’ve used a recipe, watched a programme, read a food article, tasted bread or eaten in a restaurant with links to, or inspired by, Ballymaloe”

I’m in my home kitchen listening to this week’s @bbcfoodprog (whilst experimenting with a stuffed pork fillet recipe for our family tea), in which @dansaladino interviews @darina_allen from @ballymaloecookeryschool.

Darina’s was my second cookery book, rekindling a love of cooking after a post-university hiaitus when I lodged and didn’t have a kitchen. In 2009, after reading a Guardian feature about the publication of “Forgotten Skills of Cooking” I immediately ordered it – and it’s been to hand ever since.

Many of the dishes I serve today are inspired by this book, with its roots in pre-1960s farm kitchen traditional cooking with quality local ingredients.