Easter is nearly upon us.

Get your orders in to avoid disappointment.

The hot favourites for this Easter, Organic Gravadlax and Traditional Smoked Salmon.

Our little ones have also been busy painting their eggs for Easter and check out Marek’s egg painting of the Smokehouse, so cool…

Smokehouse

Animal Eggs

Happy St. Patrick’s Day.

Here are some of the highlights of Connemara’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Clifden and thankfully it was beautiful and sunny.

Click here to view gallery....

Tages-Anzeiger – Thursday, 11 March 2010 by Ingrid Schindler

Reisen – Travel

Ingrid Schindler visits Connemara and the Connemara Smokehouse on a recent trip to Ireland.

The vast open spaces, picturesque half-wild ponies and pirate hideouts on remote islands – in Connemara, Ireland shows of it’s romantic side.  In Connemara the spring begins in February. On the Sky Road, which blooms “of Connemara” metropolis Clifden, a small town with two churches and numerous pubs, leads to the islands in the extreme west of Ireland-ten, the yellow broom, and the fuchsia wear thick buds. The gorse is always the first thing to bloom, on the narrow road straight to the Panorama-weather kitchen curves over the Atlantic.

Ingrid Schindler Tages-Anzeiger – Donnerstag, 11. März 2010 Frühling in Irland

Smokehouse by Ingrid Schindler

Brian grabs from wild salmon, Ballyconneely is on the label. This is the smokehouse the Roberts, because of their love for quality and old world craftsmanship as “guardians of the smoked fish” or even “Food Heroes” apply, such as fish chef Rick Stein says of the BBC. The salmon is delicious, Pinot Grigio as well.

An einem Felsentor ist Zeit für die Rast. Brian packt Wildlachs aus, Ballycon- neely steht auf dem Etikett. Das ist die Räucherei der Roberts, die wegen ihrer Liebe zu Qualität und alter Handwerks- kunst als «Hüter der Räucherfische» oder gar «Food Heroes» gelten, wie Fischkoch Rick Stein von BBC sagt. Der Lachs schmeckt köstlich, der Pinot Gri- gio ebenso. Dazu gibt es Sandwiches mit frischen Atlantikkrabben, gefülltes Pou- let mit Tomatenbrot und Erdbeeren zum Dessert.

Graham Roberts by Ingrid Schindler

In the car 10 miles from Clifden to Ballyconneely, where  Roberts smoked seafood and fish (Connemara Smokehouse). www.smokehouse.ie

Eine Traumstrecke im Auto sind die 10 Kilometer von Clifden nach Ballycon- neely, wo die Roberts Meeresfrüchte und Fische räuchern (Connemara Smokehouse). www.smokehouse.ie

Organic Matters Magazine Mar/Apr 2010
Graham Roberts talks to Cáit Curran about running a family business on the Atlantic Seaboard…
Irish smoked fish products enjoy a well deserved international reputation as world leaders. This is hardly surprising when you look at small family enterprises that continue to turn out a quality product, year after year.
One of the most dedicated I’ve met is the Roberts family, based near Ballyconneely, Co. Galway. Their Connemara Smokehouse set up in business just over thirty years ago and continues to produce great quality smoked fish today. Graham Roberts attributes his success to a family tradition of quality. “My father was a fisherman so I grew up with catching and handling fish”, he says. “My wife, Saoirse, and I took over the business from my parents nearly twelve years ago but really I’ve been involved since a very young age.

PIONEERING PRODUCTS

Wild and organic salmon makes up a large portion of the smokehouse business and they have recently diversified into smoked tuna which, according to Graham, is a wonderful product, now carving out a name for the company. “My father and I began line fishing for tuna some years ago and decided to start smoking it. Rick Stein promoted the tuna and served it in his restaurant and it became a big success”, In addition to salmon and tuna Graham and Saoirse also produce smoked mackerel, traditional split kippers, smoked eel and a smoked tuna mousse. Always innovative their salmon range includes traditional cold smoked, gravadlax marinated with salt, sugar, dill and Irish whiskey, roast smoked salmon and honey roast smoked salmon. “The hot smoked started by accident and w were the first to produce it.” Graham says ‘We spend a lot of time trying a particular recipe and tweaking it that bit until we get it right”. Winning the BIM best new product award for their organic honey roast smoked salmon in 2003 indicated that they got it just right.

LOCAL EXCELLENCE

Graham is happy to defend his use of wild salmon. “We liaise constantly with the Marine Institute and I trust their judgement totally. Fishing for wild salmon is the most heavily policed occupation. Draft nets give the fish a fair chance and when the 32 day season ends or once the catch quota is reached, fishing stops.” Graham believes that the decline in salmon stocks is not purely down to over fishing. “Yes, there is a problem with the wild stocks but the fall in numbers is more complicated than that. It has a lot to do with the loss of traditional food sources for salmon.” He made an exciting discovery when filleting a freshly caught salmon. He found tiny crabs in the intestine of the salmon, contrary to accepted science that salmon do not feed on the return journey to fresh water. The crabs turned out to be a rare species whose home ground at sea could be identified, thus giving an indication of where and at what level the salmon had fed. This gives Graham hope that salmon are adapting when their traditional food sources are not available and it may signal a comeback for the species.
Likewise, on the question of farmed salmon, he has definite opinions. “We get asked a lot about farmed salmon. The perception is that it is all bad but, just as there are good and bad livestock farmers, there is good and bad salmon farming. It is important to know where you are sourcing your product. We source our organic salmon from Clare Island off Co. Mayo. Most smoked salmon in shops in Ireland comes from Norway or the Faroes. It is half the price and it shows in the quality.

SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS

Quality is a word that Graham gets passionate about. He feels that poor quality imported smoked salmon gives the process a bad name. “It puts people off when they try a slimy, rubbery product and it is more difficult to convert them back again.”
Getting people to try his products gives Graham a real buzz. “I love to see the effect it has on people when they try something new. It’s great to see them eating fish and enjoying it. You have to take the longer view on quality. We source the best quality locally and that has spin-off benefits for the local economy. At the end of last year we won the Best Use of Sustainable Local Fish award at the Good Food Ireland Awards.”
Having confidence in his ability and product is vital to Graham’s business. “Sometimes I forget how lucky I am and the grounding I’ve had in my work. Combining my fathers experience and my own, we have a hell of a lot of years in the business. That knowledge gives you a feel for the process that can’t be taught to a beginner. There is no other smokery that I know of when the owner handles and fillets every fish in person.”

INTERNATIONAL MARKET

The bulk of business at the smokehouse is done through mail order. “The French market is really good for us, “Graham says. “We were featured on some international TV programmes and documentaries and that helped business a lot. An appearance at the BBC good food show with Rick Stein opened a lot of doors as well. There German market is building nicely and we are getting more customers at home and in the UK.”
It doesn’t hurt that Ballyconneely is the holiday home choice of many wealthy Irish and international professional. Anyone fishing locally has the option to bring their fish to Graham and Saoirse for smoking and they also open for tours in summer.
Saoirse has the main responsibility for marketing, but as anyone running all aspects of a business knows, finding time for everything is almost impossible.
“Physically, we can’t expand and you lose quality when you get too big,” Graham says. “We have four small children and it’s important to find time for family a activities as well. In a small business it just wouldn’t make sense to employ someone to do what you can do better yourself. We never get complacent. Even though we have a top quality product, we can alway improve and it’s good to be open to ideas.”
Maintaining a sustainable business and a future for their children are Saoirse and Graham’s priorities. “I’m lucky that I enjoy what I do and where I live, ” he says. ” I’m never going to be wealthy, just making a living, not a killing.

This month Slow Food Galway had their bi-monthly gathering Winter Bash at ArdBia/Nimmos.We enjoyed a warming venison and barley stew in the welcoming environment at ArdBia/Nimmos on the Spanish Arch.

The theme of the evening: What is a Slow Food?

Here people had to bring along a food product that you think embodies the principle of Slow Food (not a cooked dish)Here Graham brought a sample of his Wild Irish Smoked Salmon and everyone got to sample it at the end. It was a lovely evening enjoyed by all. Other items to show and tell: Red Cabbage, Onions, Eggs, Fairtrade Teabag and Garlic.

If you would like to become a member of Slow Food  Galway and take part in these social evenings. Please contact: Kate O’Dwyer (087) 931 2333 or kateomalleycat@yahoo.com

Also check out the national SlowFood website for Ireland to see what other conviviums are doing.
http://www.slowfoodireland.com/

Graham & Saoirse@Slow Food Galway

Graham Talks about his Product

Connemara Smokehouse Wild Irish Smoked Salmon