CONNEMARA SMOKEHOUSE TOP 10 FOOD AND DRINK IRELAND
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVEL TOP 10 IRELAND AND NORTHERN IRELAND: FOOD AND DRINK
Smoked Salmon
Ireland’s smoked salmon deserves its own category. Salmon has been eaten in Ireland since prehistoric times and ties into Celtic mythology—the Salmon of Knowledge was considered the wisest of creatures. Smokehouses around the island smoke salmon with oak, beech, or turf, and restaurants typically serve it as an appetizer with brown bread.
Connemara Smokehouse in Ballyconneely, also certified organic, employs a slow process to ensure flavor and texture, fanning beech wood smoke around the fish in the kiln for up to ten hours and storing it in a cool room for another 24 hours. Take their Wednesday smokehouse tour in the summer to see filleting, salting, smoking, and slicing firsthand.