Burns Country Smokehouse, Farm Shop and Cafe

In the year 1563 our ancestor, Alexander Smith, acquired the lands of Temple Derval from the Knights of St. John, the Knights Hospitaller, who had seized them by force, from the Knights Templar, a couple of centuries previously. In those distant days the rivers teemed with an abundance of salmon and this seasonal benison was cured and smoked to tide the family over the long winter months. Continuing this ancient tradition, the old smokehouse, and its arcane techniques, was revived to serve the demanding requirements of our own customers.

It is salutary to remember that, originally, only the most empirical means of preservation were employed and the smoking process was almost accidental, the salted hams, fowls and fishes being hung up the chimney or in the smoky void of the inglenook – for weeks or months! Even the redoubtable Mrs Beaton was prone to excess for she recommended curing salmon for three days, drying for four days and smoking for twenty. The resulting slice of kippered cardboard must have been interesting!