Features
Organic Pride
Birgitta and Peter Curtin started the smokehouse as a cottage industry supplying fish to local pubs and restaurants and selling their products directly. This year they celebrate twenty years in business, selling other artisan products such as local cheese along with their own smoked fish at their retail outlet in Lisdoonvarna.
“I come from Sweden where we lived off the land and sea when I was growing up,” says Birgitta. “My father hunted deer, moose and other game and I enjoyed fishing in the Baltic. Fish, smoked by local fishermen was always available and the whole environment encouraged me to go on and qualify as a marine biologist”. In 1981 she met Peter in Lisdoonvarna where his family had been in the pub and bakery business for 150 years and found that he too was a keen fisherman.
Hot and Cold
“We do cold and hot smoking,” explains Birgitta. “They are two different processes. For cold smoking the temperature is kept below body temperature and it takes about sixteen hours. For hot smoking the temperature can be as high as 80°C and that generally takes five hours”. First the fish is filleted and put in sea salt to preserve and flavour the finished product. Afterwards, the fish is washed to remove salt and then dried before smoking.
Brigitta and Peter use oak shavings, recycled from a local woodcrafter, and peat to smoke and flavour the fish.
The Smokehouse won the major award at SHOP 2008 for its Cold Smoked Organic Salmon with Honey Glazing, Whiskey and Fennel. “We enjoy playing around with different flavours like honey, lemon and dill or honey, lemon and pepper,” says Birgitta. “We try to come up with something new and challenge ourselves to be creative”.
Keeping it Local
Birgitta is proud that all of their raw ingredients are sourced in Ireland and that is how it will remain. Premium salmon comes from Donegal, organic salmon, mackerel and trout come from Clare Island. The Smokehouse process is patented and their smokery was specially built for them in Co. Clare.
Their biggest market continues to be for traditional cold smoked salmon but she finds that hot smoked products are increasingly in demand. “The taste is more appealing to children or to people who find cold smoked salmon difficult to eat,” she explains.
Varied Marketing
The Burren Smokehouse shop has a staggering 25,000 visitors a year. “We are near to the Cliffs of Moher and we are on a tourist route and also get a lot of food tourism,” Birgitta says. She and Peter distribute their products personally to a range of shops and delis such as Donnybrook Fair, Avoca shops, Mortons in Ranelagh and Galway, McCambridges, Joyces and Nolans of Clontarf. This is time consuming work. “We need to look into pooling distribution and that seems to be something that is taking off at present,” Birgitta adds. The Smokehouse does a lot of marketing online, particularly at Christmas and for the corporate market and their regular ezine brings in online customers also.
The recession has not affected sales so far according to Birgitta. “We are working harder and doing a lot of tastings. Artisan food at reasonable prices is still in demand. People who previously went out are now eating at home and want premium quality products. The upper and lower ends of the market are doing well but it is probably the middle price range that is suffering,” she says. “If you go directly to and artisan producer to buy it will be reasonably priced”.
Premium Organic
Birgitta is justifiably proud of her products and is happy to have organic certification. “We were first certified by IOFGA in 1998 and being organic gives us a fantastic product and a marketing advantage. It is definitely the way to go,” she says. “We take great pride in being part of the organic movement and we are so lucky to be able to survive in the beautiful surroundings of the Burren”.
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