WOODCOCK SMOKERY: Sally Barnes was the toast of the nation last autumn when she scooped the supreme award at the Great Taste Awards in London for her Woodcock Smokery wild Irish smoked salmon.
It's a fantastic product, but Barnes, whose smokery is in Castletownshend, Co Cork, can no longer get her hands on wild Irish salmon, because of the ban on drift-net fishing that came into play last November. She refuses to work with farmed salmon, and unless she can find good-quality wild fish her business in under threat.
"I am spending a huge amount of time trying to source wild Atlantic salmon. It seems that if I bring in wild Norwegian fish I can legally call it Irish as soon as I put a knife in it . . . So much for provenance. Scotland might be a source of wild salmon, so I am in touch with a fishery there, with a view to bringing fish over here. But if I cannot find any it might be time to hang up the knives," she says.
It's not all doom and gloom, as Barnes also smokes mackerel, kippers, haddock and tuna. The mackerel makes a fantastic pâté when flaked and combined with some cream cheese, chives, pepper and lemon juice. The tuna can be crumbled on to hot pasta, with some crème fraîche and herbs stirred in. The cold-smoked haddock, used by some of Ireland's top chefs, is amazingly versatile.
WOODCOCK SMOKERY COLD-SMOKED HADDOCK
(€7.80 for a 300-350g pack from www.woodcock smokery.com; also available from Ardkeen Quality Food Store, Waterford; Sheridans, Galway and Dublin; Avoca food halls, Dublin and Co Wicklow; Manning's, Ballylickey, Co Cork; Fallon & Byrne, Dublin 2; SuperValu, Skibbereen, Co Cork)
The first thing that sets this smoked haddock apart is its lovely delicate, creamy colour. But despite its paleness, there's a strong smoky characteristic, and a little goes a long way.
It works terrifically well in a risotto (poach it first in a little milk, and add the poaching liquor to the rice) with some petits pois, a scoop of creme fraiche and some grated lemon rind stirred in during the final few moments of cooking.
The smokies recipe from the Eden restaurant cookbook (smoked haddock with creme fraiche, spring onions, baby tomatoes and bubbling Cheddar cheese) is another dish that shows this product in its best light; it's perfect for kedgeree.
The vacuum-packed fish can be frozen, and you can order it online from www.woodcock smokery.com. It can be delivered by overnight courier, or in a couple of days via An Post. Insulated packaging keeps it in tip-top condition whichever delivery method you choose.