Join us this Saturday 5th December.
Come and see everything RUA have for Christmas this Saturday at the delicatessen on Spencer street, Castlebar.

Graham Roberts from Connemara Smokehouse and Enrico from Grape circus will be there giving tasters of some of their fabulous smoked fish and wines, and there will also offering samples to taste of Pannetone cakes, delicious seasonal cheeses and much more.

Check out the selection of  Christmas hampers and information about takeout food for Christmas and New Year.

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IRELAND OF WELCOMES – Aer Arann complimentary Magazine Winter Issue 09′

24 HOURS IN CLIFDEN

“Chances are if you’re visiting the West of Ireland, you’ll be visiting Clifden, County Galway. Here’s how to spend your 24 hours in the capital of Connemara”

Connemara Smokehouse
Whet your appetite by taking a guided tour of the by now famous Connemara Smokehouse. This family-run smokehouse invites visitors to watch as Graham or Nicholas fillet and prepare wild smoked salmon by hand.

This Smokehouse is also well known for its other seafood delicacies such as Smoked Tuna and Gravadlax (raw cured salmon) and the products are available exclusively at the smokehouse itself (or from their website). The traditional kiln used dates from 1946, where beech wood is burned to smoke the fish under Graham’s watchful eye.

Once you taste some of the smoked products on offer and see the process in person, it will start to become clear why Graham and his family have won so many awards. The Connemara Smokehouse has won a Best in Ireland Bridgestone award every year since 2003, Seafood Circle Awards for the last three years, an award from Bord Iascaigh Mhara (the Irish Seafish board) and is recommended by seafood expert Rick Stein in both editions of his Food Heroes book. Put that in your pipe and … you know the rest.

Tel: +353 95 23739
www.smokehouse.ie

Connemara Smokehouse will be attending Superquinn’s Artisan Festival this week in BALLINTEER  & BLACKROCK Dublin.

This event is where small producers are invited instore to promote and sell their products.

Connemara Smokehouse will be conducting a tasting session in Superquinn and BALLINTEER Thursday and Friday 1st and 2nd of October between 11am-7pm  &  BLACKROCK Saturday the 3rd from 10am – 6pm and Sunday the 4th from 11am – 4pm  and you are welcome to come along and meet Graham, the producer himself, taste our products and purchase if you feel so.

So if you are a fan of Connemara Smokehouse products take advantage on stocking up while Graham is in your area.

Connemara Smokehouse in Superquinn Dublin

Graham Roberts-Connemara Smokehouse in Superquinn

The first ever Leenane Food Festival is set to take place on the weekend of 26th & 27th September.

Set at the head of Killary Harbour, the land and the sea were the only options for sourcing food for local inhabitants for centuries. Their diet included small fresh lamb from the mountains, herring salted down for the winter, vegetables in season, mussels or dilisk for a treat – and all organic. What was standard fare for poor fishermen and farmers now seems like food nirvana to our palates weary of mass produced bland food.

On a small scale, a market remained for these traditional foods, and small producers continued to supply local markets. It has only been with health scares associated with mass produced food that attention turned again to our traditional small producers. Awareness developed of the quality and speciality of these products, and the food producers began to embrace new techniques and world flavours in recognition of our expanding tastes.

The region has many award-winning food producers, and the Leenane Food Festival intends to bring all together as a celebration of our food history and as an opportunity for foodies everywhere to get a real taste of Connemara.
The Leenane Food Festival aims to bring the flavours and quality food products of Connemara to all.

By supporting local suppliers, we boost the local economy and bring down prices through increased production. It is also better for the environment; less transportation usage and simpler production values reduce our carbon footprint!

There is food demonstrations from near and far such as one of Irelands top chef’s and Good Food Ireland member: Derry Clarke from L’Ecrivain Restaurant Dublin.

Another Good Food Ireland member and recent award winner for Best use of Sustainable Local Fish Award,
Graham Roberts of Connemara Smokehouse will do a Slicing demonstration and explaination on Smoked Salmon.

Local chef Rory Daly from the newly revamped Portfinn Lodge and Fjord Restaurant will be cooking up a storm and there is many more local chefs cooked into the mix.

Food Marquee will be stalled by Connemara Hill Lamb, Connemara Smokehouse, Carrowholly Cheese, John Walsh Pangar Ban and Connemara Honey and many more.

So make a weekend of it and come along and join in the fun.

Timetable of events and demonstrations by local chefs & producers as follows:

Saturday 26th
Delphi Lodge 12.30
The Blackberry Cafe 2pm
Connemara Smoke House 3pm
Composting workshop 4pm

Sunday 27th
Connemara Smoke House 12.30
Inagh Lodge 1.30pm
Portfinn Lodge 2.30pm
Celebrity chef Derry Clarke 3.30pm

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www.leenanevillage.com

Connaught Tribune 25th September 09′

A CONNEMARA – based food innovator- who specialises in smoking Wild Irish Salmon – has taken one of the most prestigious awards in the country for the quality of his produce.

The Connemara Smokehouse & Visitor Centre was nominated for awards in tree different categories, and emerged as winner for “Best Use of Sustainable Local Fish” at the Good Food Ireland Awards in Dublin this week.  The operation, run by Graham and Saoirse Roberts, is situated on the water’s edge at Bunowen Pier, in the heart of Connemara and between Roundstone and Clifden, with exceptional views of the Twelve Bens.

Graham Roberts’ parents John and Bridget opened the Connemara Smokehosue in 1979. When Graham was 16, he became actively involved and followed this with a course in the Fisheries Colege in Greencastle. Their wild salmon are caught locally with the organic salmon coming from Clare Island, and they also specialise in Irish smoked tuna and gravadlax.

Today a the grand age of just 34, Graham and his wife Saoirse run the business together and with four young children, they can rest assured that the Smokehouse will continue into the next generation.  They were among the operators who earned such a plaudits for the quality of their food at the showcase with coincided with the Volvo Ocean Race sotpover in Galway earlier this year – which meant a re-union of sorts for them this week because the special guest at the awards on Tuesday night was Green Dragon skipper Ian Walker.

Connemara Smokehouse wins Best use of Sustainable Local Fish Award

The awards were presented during a lunchtime “Artisan Picnic” which served up locally made produce supplied by many of Good Food Ireland’s 250 members at the K Club in Co. Kildare yesterday.

The Connemara Smokehouse was nominated for three awards and walked away with the “Best use of Sustainable Local Fish”.

It’s a great recognition of all the hard work that we have put in and it highlights the measures we have taken to work towards a sustainable future.

We would like to Thank all of our customers and friends for all their support and encouragement and we would like to thank and congratulate Good Food Ireland on the wonderful sucess of the Artisan Picnic and Awards Cermony, also for all the hard work put in by Margaret, Sue and Melina, as well as everybody else involved.

Good Food Ireland is a club of memebers from the food and hospitality industry who are commited to using Local Irish Food, with the overall aim to drive the domestic and international tourist to places where they can get a genuine Irish Food experience with members including Fishermen and farmers to chefs, restauranters and food producers.

Good Food Ireland operates as a not for profit organisation with strict membership criteria and is driven by a Steering Group. All 250 members are committed on a voluntary basis to the development and growth of consumer awareness of the organisation.

The objectives of the awards are to highlight places committed to Local Irish Food so that consumer can find out and make informed choices on where to go, eat out or stay. Good Food Ireland is the only all island organisation that brings together a club of like-minded committed people across all sectors of the hospitality and food industry. High standards are vital in today’s environment and the awards honour those memebers who epitomise the philosophy of Good Food Ireland and can be a benchmark for others.

The Judging Panel for this year was:
Hugo Arnold – Consultant & Food Journalist,
Margaret jefferes – J.D. of Good Food Ireland,
Diane Curtin – Journalist & Food Writer,
Elaine Murphy – Journalist & Foiod Writer
Jeanne Quigley – Journalist & Food Writer.

Guests of Honour:
Trevor Sargent TD, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

Ian Walker, Skipper of the Green Dragon, Volvo Ocean Yacht Race

Graham, Ian Walker - Green Dragon and Saoirse