Called "The Julia Child of Ireland" by the San Francisco Chornicle, Darina Allen runs the world-renowned cookery school at Ballymaloe in County Cork, Ireland, which she founded with her husband in 1983. She runs the highly regarded three-month diploma course as well as various short courses, including the Forgotten Skills series, upon which her book, Forgotten Skills of Cooking, was based. That book has been shortlisted for the 2009 Andre Simon Food and Drink Book Awards.Darina is the award-winning author of Irish Traditional Cooking, Ballymaloe Cookery Course, A Year at Ballymaloe, Healthy Gluten-free Eating (with Rosemary Kearney), and Easy Entertaining, which won the 2006 Chefs and Restaurants Award from the IACP. She is Ireland's most famous TV cook, having presented nine series of her cooking program, "Simply Delicious," on television around the world.Darina founded the first Farmers' Markets in Ireland and is a tireless campaigner for local produce. She was awarded the Cooking for Solutions Conservation Leadership Award - Chef of the Year 2008 by the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California. She is also a natural teacher and was awarded the IACP's 2005 Cooking Teacher of the Year Award.