Rachel Allen was brought up in Dublin and left home at 18 to study at the world famous Ballymaloe Cookery School where she still teaches, as well as being a busy TV chef, author, journalist and mother.
Rachel’s style of cooking is above all practical – simple but delicious food, ideal for family and friends. Her influences are both regional and global. The BBC described her as an “Irish cooking queen” and Good Food Magazine believe she “has put Irish cooking on the map in recent years”.
In 2017 Rachel is the new co-presenter and judge on Channel 4’s My Kitchen Rules, broadcast September 2017. An established TV chef, Rachel has also hosted 14 of her extremely popular television series’, broadcast in over 30 countries, as well as presenting Market Kitchen on the Good Food Channel in 2010.
Her BBC series’ attracted two million viewers, and Rachel’s is the highest ever rated show on Good Food Channel. Her first show to be broadcast in the USA was Rachel’s Favourite Food for Friends in 2010 on the PBS Network. It has since been picked up by 24 of the top 25 PBS Channels and 88 of the top 100 channels across America, achieving 40,000 broadcasts in the year. Her more recent programme catalogue is airing on The Cooking Channel, and ‘Easy Meals’ aired on TLC India in March 2014.
Rachel’s international reputation ensures a busy schedule, with event appearances including Taste of Dublin, Emirates Literary Festival Dubai, Gourmet Abu Dhabi, World Gourmet Summit in Singapore, and work with brands such as Carte D’or in Turkey. Her brand work in the UK and Ireland includes Panasonic, VeryCook, O’Brien’s Sandwiches, Waitrose, RHS, and Avon.
Her hugely successful licensing deals have included tableware, candles and textiles with Tipperary Crystal, and small electrical appliances, oven and bake ware with Ultimate Products. In 2013 Rachel launched her own range of cakes and dessert flavoured confectionery.
Rachel is the author of 15 bestselling cookery books, selling over two million copies worldwide. ‘Coast: Recipes from Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way’ in 2015, ‘Recipes from My Mother’ in 2016, and the latest title ‘Home Baking’, published by Harper Collins in October 2017.
She has written for numerous publications, including three years on Irish lifestyle magazine ‘Image’ and a current weekly column for The Irish Mail On Sunday Magazine, as well as being a regular contributor to Olive, Delicious, and BBC Good Food Magazine among others.
In 2017 Rachel opened her first restaurant, ‘Rachel’s’, serving simple, naturally produced and delicious tasting food from the local Cork area.
Rachel lives in her seaside home on the farm at Ballymaloe in County Cork with her husband Isaac, sons Joshua and Lucca, and daughter Scarlett.
