Written By Adam Cantor Events / Places May 15, 2014 Coming Up: Spot Prawn Festivals SHARE VIA: Facebook Twitter PinterestAs I type this, the fishing boats are just beginning to come in to Cowichan Bay with the first catch of spot prawns. The spot prawn, a world famous delicacy and special to Vancouver Island, is being celebrated at a number of venues over the next couple of weeks. Not only are spot prawns delicious, but also they are a sustainable and well-managed resource. Eat Magazine sent me, your fearless reporter, out on the road for the scoop.1: Spot Prawn Festival at the Victoria Public Market. I went down to meet Maryanne Carmac, erstwhile Eat reporter, and now general manager at the Public Market. The festival at the market, happening May 17–18, has a lot to offer Victorians this year. There will be tastings, and cooking demonstrations by a number of excellent local chefs. Cormac highlighted the participation, for example, of Les Chan, a well-known emissary of Chinese cooking in the city. “Because we are right beside Chinatown,” she explained, “it is important that we start bridging the culinary gap between ourselves and that neighbourhood. It is such a huge part of Victoria’s history.”While I was at the market, I had the chance to sample a salad made by chef Leana Meyer at Cowichan Bay Seafood. The salad, made with prawns, apple, mint, fennel, and chipotle dressing, made for an excellent, light lunch. The spot prawn, as you willlearn from watching the cooking demonstrations and wandering about the festival, is such a great ingredient because of the number of ways in which it can be prepared. The possibilities are limitless. (For recipes the current issue of EAT for a Spot Prawn Cobb Salad or visit the Wild BC Spot Prawn website2: Next day, I went to Cowichan Bay with Nick Versteeg , a documentary film-maker and emissary for the slow food movement in Cowichan who is overseeing the Cowichan Bay Spot Prawn Festival this year. A philosophical man, committed to the quality and development of local agriculture and businesses, Versteeg engaged me in much conversation on the rich history and the doings of Cowichan. The village itself, once known as a hangout for bikers and other such sorts, is now entirely transformed with gourmet shops offering local and delectable products.At the Cow Café and West Coast Grill, local chef Matt Heyne worked up two dishes for me to try. The first was a spot prawn salad with heirloom tomatoes and a pear vinaigrette. Next (and here was the real showpiece) spot prawns and filet mignon on a bed of mashed Yukon gold potatoes and hollandaise sauce. Although this has nothing to do with prawns, I should note that the café also has excellent clam chowder.It was an excellent day, which began among the bobbing fishing boats in Cowichan Bay and ended with me heading back on the Malahat in the dark. The festival in Cowichan Bay this year, along with chef demonstrations, wine tastings, and whale watching, is going to feature a very large vat of boiled prawns for the public to devour by the bucket load. This is my idea of happiness.Vic Public Market – May 17 & May 18. See their website for details.website: Cowichan Bay SeafoodWebsite: Prawnfest May 24 & 25.: See their website for detailsWebsite: Cow CaféCowichan Bayfestivalsspot prawnsVictoriaVictoria Public Market SHARE VIA: Facebook Twitter Pinterest Written By: Adam Cantor Born and raised in the mysterious East (by which I mean Ontario and Quebec, not Asia), Adam migrated out to British Columbia in search of adventure and fortune. He had been at different times a scholar, a musician, a poet and a ... Read More You may also like Awards / Drink People / Events / Wine Events / Wine News October 15, 2020 SOMM SMACKDOWN—Rumble at Aura Waterfront Restaurant Strange, interesting, and wonderful things can happen in odd times, and there is no stranger time than now, but something needed to be done to pay ... Read More Events / Food & Wine Pairing / Food Events / Places / Victoria February 25, 2020 Pacific Northwest Wine Dinner: Canoe Brewpub & Unsworth Vineyards Multi-award winning Unsworth Vineyards and Canoe’s Chef Kyle Dampsy joined forces on Wednesday, February 19, in Canoe’s upstairs Dining ... Read More Events October 30, 2019 Eat the Future Victoria’s food community came together this week at Boom + Batten restaurant for Eat the Future, a tasty event to raise money for future chefs ... Read More Causes / Chefs / Events / Victoria August 30, 2019 Mary Ploegsma—The Tattoo Series I It was an unforgettable afternoon. Mary Ploegsma served us David’s Tea’s vanilla chai with sweet local strawberries and chocolate biscuits. The ... Read More Causes / Chefs / Events / Food Heroes / Sustainability August 30, 2019 An Evening with Chef Ned Bell and Ocean Wise On August 20, 2019, Ocean Wise and Eagle Wing Whale and Wildlife Watching Tours teamed up to present the first in a series of speaker events in ... Read More Beer & Cider / Beer Dinners / Events / Food Events / Wineries & Breweries August 30, 2019 A Categorically Great Meal Saanich Brewery Category 12’s ‘Brewmaster’s Dinner’ Marries Wildcraft With Craft-Beer It was somewhere at the beginning of the ... Read More Comments are closed.
Awards / Drink People / Events / Wine Events / Wine News October 15, 2020 SOMM SMACKDOWN—Rumble at Aura Waterfront Restaurant Strange, interesting, and wonderful things can happen in odd times, and there is no stranger time than now, but something needed to be done to pay ... Read More
Events / Food & Wine Pairing / Food Events / Places / Victoria February 25, 2020 Pacific Northwest Wine Dinner: Canoe Brewpub & Unsworth Vineyards Multi-award winning Unsworth Vineyards and Canoe’s Chef Kyle Dampsy joined forces on Wednesday, February 19, in Canoe’s upstairs Dining ... Read More
Events October 30, 2019 Eat the Future Victoria’s food community came together this week at Boom + Batten restaurant for Eat the Future, a tasty event to raise money for future chefs ... Read More
Causes / Chefs / Events / Victoria August 30, 2019 Mary Ploegsma—The Tattoo Series I It was an unforgettable afternoon. Mary Ploegsma served us David’s Tea’s vanilla chai with sweet local strawberries and chocolate biscuits. The ... Read More
Causes / Chefs / Events / Food Heroes / Sustainability August 30, 2019 An Evening with Chef Ned Bell and Ocean Wise On August 20, 2019, Ocean Wise and Eagle Wing Whale and Wildlife Watching Tours teamed up to present the first in a series of speaker events in ... Read More
Beer & Cider / Beer Dinners / Events / Food Events / Wineries & Breweries August 30, 2019 A Categorically Great Meal Saanich Brewery Category 12’s ‘Brewmaster’s Dinner’ Marries Wildcraft With Craft-Beer It was somewhere at the beginning of the ... Read More
2024 Issue / EAT Magazine News Jan 7, 2024 Fare Well IT WITH WITH PROFOUND sadness and regret that I write this final letter in the final issue of EAT magazine. The decision to cease publication is one ... Read More
2024 Issue / Magazine Jan 7, 2024 January | February 2024 Issue 28-01 The final issue of EAT magazine available ... Read More
Apr 19, 2011 Eating al fresco on Cook Street Photo: Jesse at The Mean Bean Credit: Rebecca Baugniet If you’ve walked through the Cook Street village lately, you may have noticed a little ... Read More