For the Love of Fish! Vancouver’s top chefs face-off in sustainable seafood culinary contest.
Vancouver: On Saturday, November 15th, 10 professional chefs and six students battled it out for the top sustainable spot in SeaChoice’s second-annual culinary competition. Why? For the love of fish, of course.
The event was an opportunity for Vancouver’s top culinary masters to showcase their talents as well as support healthy oceans. The resulting delicacies highlighted some of B.C.’s best sustainable seafood, ranging from fresh Pacific sardines and sablefish to farmed oysters; proving how delicious sustainability can be.
In the competition’s second year, the roster filled up fast, as support for SeaChoice and the sustainable seafood movement has grown tremendously since last year’s inaugural competition. The expert judging panel consisted of chefs Hidekazu Tojo of Tojo’s and Karen Barnaby of The Fish House in Stanley Park, as well as Food Writer Andrew Morrison.
In the student tier, students Dylan Foss and Jiro Suzuki from Vancouver Community College took first and second place with their smoked B.C. Albacore tuna and poached sablefish dishes. Dean McGregor from the Art Institute came in third place with his oyster ravioli. In the professional tier, Quang Dang from C Restaurant impressed the judges with his winning Oyama Prosciutto wrapped sablefish and Dungeness crab dish. Colman Herrington from Bluewater Café took second place with his sardine escovitch. Kettle of Fish/Aramark Canada’s Jasper Cruickshank took home bronze with his crisped skin confied sablefish.
The outstanding dedication of B.C. chefs and restaurants to sustainable seafood is an important driver for propelling SeaChoice and its goals forward. Their combined buying power certainly makes a difference, but by taking a leadership role and offering sustainable seafood options, restaurants and chefs also help to raise awareness and change consumer preferences in a direct way.
Suppliers, producers and governments are taking notice. The demand for sustainable seafood is increasing and progressive purchasing decisions are encouraging concrete improvements in practices and management. This is certainly great news for seafood lovers and our oceans!
You can find the award-winning recipe on the SeaChoice recipe page or by clicking here.
For more information, please contact Taina Uitto (National SeaChoice Manager) at 604.685.7445 (ext. 26).
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