Let me confess - I thought salmon was smoked these days in some kind of industrial liquid. You know, dip the fish in some kind of oil laced with "essence of smoke" and then sell it to the punters.

Raymond Carr, son of SeaStar's founders, was horrified to find out I harboured such images. So, before I began work on this web site, Raymond invited me round the facility to see how SeaStar smokes its fish.

It really is smoked! SeaStar has replaced old iron stoves with stainless steel ovens, but it's still a hands-on operation. The fish are laid on stainless steel wire racks and placed into the oven. Cooking times and temperatures vary with the recipe and type of fish.

Attached to each oven is a contraption that looks like a small washing machine. But, open the top and you see wood chips smoking away. The tendrils of fragrant smoke curl into the oven - and into your eyes, I found out, if you're foolish enough to open the smoker - and circulate round the fish for as long as 36 hours.

So, smoked fish really is smoked fish at SeaStar.

What woods are used to smoke SeaStar Salmon?

The blend of wood used to smoke each fish is the key family secret handed down to Raymond and his brothers. These traditional family recipes were worked out over generations.

Here's Raymond's one minute summary of 50 years of family knowledge:

Pure oak smoked salmon produces a heavy, tannic taste and the fish turns too deep a colour. Lighten the oak with just the right mix of beech wood and the colour becomes more inviting, the tannins are reduced and the salmon flavour is accentuated. Add a pinch of ash wood to highlight the unique taste of Atlantic Salmon.

What other ingredients are used in SeaStar Fish?

Smoke and sea salt are the main ingredients in any SeaStar product.

Of course, the peppered Smoked Mackereluses pepper, and the Marinated Salmon also features Dill.

What else is done to the fish?

Before they reach the smokers, the fish have to be cleaned and filleted. This used to be done on long oak tables and the water came from a well in the local red sandstone formation. Now it's done on long stainless steel tables and the water still comes from a well in the local red sandstone formation.

After the fish are smoked, they are sliced and packaged. Most everything still has to be done by hand to guarantee that the job is done right. Vacuum packed bags are used instead of paper to help ensure purity and freshness, but otherwise Raymond's grandfather would still feel at home watching the fish being prepared.

What is Marinated Salmon?

Well, here's one recipe that Raymond didn't get from the family. He decided to recreate the famed Gravad Lax produced in Scandinavia. Roughly translated into English, gravid lax means marinated salmon.

How to describe the taste? I find SeaStar's marinated salmon hits a deeper note than the smoked salmon. The flavour is more smokey, and the dill somehow accentuates the richness of the salmon. It's easy to see why I'm not a food writer - I'm reduced to describing it as a more salmony salmon.

SeaStar's marinated salmon works particularly well in mixed dishes. It's great with bagel, cream cheese and red onion! It's an interesting change of pace from the regular smoked salmon and I recommend you try it.

What is Barbecued Salmon?

Pop a fresh salmon onto your back yard barbecue and you'll get the picture. Barbecued salmon is hot cooked as well as smoked. First, SeaStar marinates the salmon in a brine with a taste of lemon and a sprinlking of spices. Then into the oven they go where the smoke of native hardwoods circulates round the cooking fish.

The salmon is sliced thick and the result is like something you'd order in a restaurant.

Why all the fishing pictures on this page?

The Carr family has been living in the Blackwater River Valley for over one hundred years. The Blackwater is still Ireland's finest salmon fishing river. It was local demand for the family's smoking expertise that allowed the business to thrive this past century.

Local fishermen and visitors still bring their daily catch to SeaStar for smoking. During salmon season freshly hooked fish are almost sure to be sitting on a wire rack along with that day's Atlantic catch.

The local mountains still thrill anglers with their waterfalls and "salmon leaps." One of the special joys of living in the Irish countryside is the availability of such special spots. No TV documentary can prepare you for the sight of a two foot long silver torpedo leaping half a dozen feet into the air. You wince when they land on the rocks and cascade back down the waterfall. And then, they leap again! And again!

Indominatable! These fish will not give up.