Seeing as I flew out and attended last week’s BC Crab Festival in Victoria, it only made sense to check out Vancouver’s local rendition this weekend, hosted by Chefs’ Table Society of BC.
As taken from their website, “The Chefs’ Table Society of British Columbia is a chef-administered, province-wide collaborative dedicated to creating a foundation for the exchange of information between culinary professionals.” They support the advancement of students and cooks in the culinary fields via scholarships and bursaries.
Their latest venture is in celebration of BC’s Dungeness crab harvest. Held at False Creek Fishermen’s Wharf, they sold tickets and promised an afternoon of “fresh BC Dungeness crab, drinks, music, games, local chefs, fishers, and more!”
The goal of this event was to raise awareness and make local Dungeness crab more accessible, and they did just that. There were three time slots, where tickets holders lined up and claimed their platters for feasting.
The boil was prepared by Chef Vish Mayekar and Chef Johnny Bridge, everything assembled, organized, and ran by the chefs who sat on the Table Society’s council and Pacific Culinary Institute students.
Each tray had a whole crab, sans shell, presented warm with a sprinkling of Cajun spices. Served with a side of roasted potatoes, salad greens, a whole corn on the cob halved, a whole wheat bun, and a glob of herbed better to use sparingly with it all.
I learned from show runners that there were 500 crabs ordered and just over 400 tickets sold, with enough for walk-in guests.
The crabs were cooked fresh, transported live to their boiling pots via forklift.
This was an all hands in affair for organizers and guests. The food was served with wood utensils, a nut cracker, wet wipes, and plastic bibs.
The timed seating also allowed everyone attending to grab a picnic bench and enjoy their meal seated in the comfort of much needed shade. There, we ate it all, down to each cracked leg, sucking the shells clean.
Each entry pass also included two drink tickets, which could be redeemed for samples from both alcoholic and nonalcoholic vendors. Beers from Main Street Brewing, ciders from Seacider in Victoria, a collection of Okanagan wines including Noble Ridge and Hester Creek, and Edna’s brand of nonalcoholic classic cocktails.
In short, this was a great way to enjoy a beautiful sunny day, outdoors. Eating fresh seafood by the water, all in support of a great organization.
