Fresh Fare From The Food Isle - IrelandWritten by Mary Gallagher
Fresh Fare From The Food Isle – Ireland Cuisine Read Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com Read this entire feature FREE with photos at http://www.jetsettersmagazine.com/archive/jetezine/food/ireland/salmon/salmon.htmlIt has been said that in early 1980s Irish cuisine started to change for better. Always blessed with naturally wonderful ingredients, chefs started a revolution incorporating nouvelle cuisine, flavors and techniques of world, and then all roads leading to a new level of ever evolving spectacular Irish fare. As this was my first trip to Ireland, a primary gauge was five pounds this extremely picky eater gained in less than two weeks without ever drinking a Guinness! Outstanding game, grass fed beef, fresh vegetables and fruits, outstanding cheese and dairy (hmmm double cream, Irish butter), and as one is always close to sea, rivers, and lakes providing pristine fish and seafood. Féile Bia is an Irish food organization with a commitment to quality. Their program emphasizes importance of where food comes from before it reaches hotels, restaurants, pubs and workplaces throughout Ireland. Féile Bia organized with Restaurants Association of Ireland, Irish Hotels Federation and support of farming community in response to growing consumer concerns about quality and origin of food offered when dining out. An issue we should all be concerned about wherever we live. Members provide details confirming quality and origin of food used in their kitchens. Féile Bia participants are committed to sourcing meat, chicken and eggs from recognized Quality Assurance Schemes and gladly supply any customer requests for country of origin information. Chefs and consumers throughout Ireland take care and pride in using products grown, raised and produced locally. One of those we visited was Burren Smokehouse. Burren Smokehouse The Burren Smokehouse is located in legendary County Clare town of Lisdoonvarna, on Ireland's west coast, a family run organization started in 1989 by Peter Curtin, a local man and his Swedish wife, Birgitta. Lisdoonvarna is also home to world's best-known matchmaking festival that you can check out at www.matchmakerireland.com/festival. It is a picturesque and historic stop popular with tourists any time of year. The town and Burren are totally free of industrial pollution so prevalent and makes this cleanest environment in all of Western Europe. After researching smoking traditions of Ireland they patented their own process. Nearby Curtin family has owned Roadside Tavern for about last 100 years also first place to serve their smoked salmon. Their belief in finest quality food products, customer care and a great group workers ensures a continuous high standard. We made our stop first at their Visitor Centre to watch video showing how salmon is smoked, starting from filleting to finished product. The program is available in English, German, French, and Italian; centre has space for about 50 people. We were able to test a little wine and several varieties of smoked products with additional explanations by Birgitta. Actually we loved it all except for those of us too “chicken” to try eel. The smoked cheese was also wonderful.
| | Gourmet Gorging - Rafting the Bruneau in IdahoWritten by Robert LaGrone
Gourmet Gorging – Rafting The Bruneau in Idaho Read Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com Read this entire feature FREE with photos at:: http://www.jetsettersmagazine.com/archive/jetezine/sports02/raft/bruneau/bruneau.htmlWhen you look across vast sagebrush prairie of southwestern Idaho, Bruneau River Gorge looks like a small arroyo in distance. From floor of that gorge, however, world looks stunningly different. The red-brown horizon is almost directly above you, so steep are towering cliffs carved out by river. By way, don't stare upward too long, or that big wave in rapids directly ahead will tip you out of your raft for a nice, uh, invigorating swim. This ribbon of snowmelt, fed by smaller Jarbidge River upstream, flows through southwest corner of Gem State. Wilderness River Outfitters operates trips on these and many other rivers worldwide, although their home base is on beautiful Salmon River in east-central Idaho. Joe Tonsmeire, a soft-spoken cowboy with a bushy grey mustache, has been guiding here with his wife Fran for 33 years, and they clearly love what they do. Our adventure began in Boise, a pleasant capital city with its own scenic river. After a trip briefing and introductions all around, guides and guests went to a local brewpub restaurant for steaks and marionberry cobbler. One river guide, Kyle, collected on a wager: Tom, another guide, had bet that they couldn't fit all of their gear into pickup truck before a previous river trip. Sounds more fun than video poker... Speaking of trucks, Joe told us a tale from a past trip: dirt road climbing out of Owyhee River Gorge is so steep and rough that rear axle in one truck completely stripped its gears, and vehicle had to be towed out of canyon. Trips like this are tough on vehicles. The story was evidently well known in town of Mountain Home, where we stopped for gas and a stretch during six-hour trip to our put-in point. The man at register asked, with a knowing chuckle, how truck was doing. Kyle reassured us that Joe had seen every kind of unplanned event in his time, and I joked about jinxing our group by saying, "Great! Nothing can happen to us, then." The spring sunshine warmed our shoulders as we waited by gravel road for other pickup truck to come to our rescue. Two simultaneous flat tires - what are odds? Our driver Brad, an experienced wilderness survival instructor, helped pass time by showing us how to start a campfire without matches. We hoped this wasn't an indication of how long we might be here. Brad was here to deliver Suburban to take-out point after we had unloaded it at put-in. Soon replacement pickup arrived, equipment and supplies were transferred, and as we got moving again, we elected to speak no more about unplanned events. I like this group! Bill and Jim, businessmen from Boise and Seattle, respectively, are brothers who enjoy hunting and rafting trips whenever they can get together. Anna, a nurse from California, had rafted with WRO previous year and proved to be an experienced paddler with a wry sense of humor. Clint, a baker from Sun Valley, Idaho, displayed great skill with a Dutch oven as well as with a paddle.
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