Top Chefs Face Off over Ocean Wise Chowder

Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts' Chester Velas with his smoked spot prawn and candy floss chowder. Photo by Anya Levykh

The 4th Annual Ocean Wise Seafood Chowder Chowdown took place at the Vancouver Aquarium last night, with a sold-out house and a lot of great beer. Twelve chefs competed to be named Chowder King, and each entry was paired with a local B.C. brew.

While some went with more traditional takes on this crustacean soup, otherwise struck out into bold, uncharted waters, like Vancouver Aquarium Catering. Their spiced calamari and tomatillo corn chowder, served with gougere, was an interesting take, although the dish demanded more aromatics. Another break from tradition was Edible Canada at the Market, which made a curried Thai-style broth with mussels in the shell. While I appreciated the light heat of the broth, the seafood itself was completely overpowered, and with the small cups being served, dealing with shells just wasn’t on.

One of my personal favourites came from Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts’ Chester Velas. This soon-to-be graduated student came up with an incredible butternut squash and Dungeness crab chowder, topped with a smoked spot prawn wrapped in lime and chilli-infused candy floss. Hubba, hubba.

The actual winning chowder came from Chef Paul Cecconi of Local Lounge and Grille in Summerland’s Waterfront Hotel. Cecconi’s smoked outlandish oyster chowder came topped with crunchy panko breading and had a warm, aromatic flavour profile, thanks to his generous use of pancetta.

The winner for Best Chowder and Beer Pairing was Chef Ned Bell of Yew Restaurant at the Four Seasons. His smoked black cod and gala apple chowder was the clear winner for me across the board, and boasted a lovely slice of crisp, dried apple, as well as an outstanding herbed scone that made a perfect dipper for the chowder.

Playhouse Wine Fest Reminder

Advance tickets for the 2012 Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival go on sale today. The theme region is Chile and the global focus is Cabernet(s), including Sauvignon and Franc. Visit www.playhousewinefest.com for details.