The Spot Prawn Festival raises awareness about the sustainable prawn options right here in our backyard. BC’s spot prawn season runs from 6 to 8 weeks starting in May and you’ll often find many local restaurants bring on special menu items to celebrate the season, such as the Spot Prawn Poutine at ORU Restaurant at the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel.

The Spot Prawn Festival is hosted by the Chefs Table Society of BC – a chef-run collaborative dedicated to innovative and sustainable programs that will inspire, educate and nurture chefs in this province.

Having never attended the event before, I was pleasantly surprised by the delicious meal, array of educational materials and chef demos that took place throughout the day.

We even had a celebrity chef serving our prawns: Vikram Vij from the famous Vij’s Restaurant.

The fishing boats arrived at the wharf, tooting their horns and signalling the start of a very successul seafood season.

One of the key take aways for me was the sheer sustainability of BC spot prawns in comparison to other popular species, such as Tiger Prawns from Southeast Asia. BC’s spot prawns are harvested sustainably using traps and there are strict regulations dictating how many vessels can commercially harvest them.

Here are some helpful tips for selecting a good live BC spot prawn:

make sure they look lively and almost translucent
don’t select prawns that have black colouration
after purchasing the prawns, make sure you put them onto ice straight away
make sure the head is removed as soon as possible
as soon as the tail is removed, wash thoroughly to keep the meat firm
more info is available at wildbcspotprawns.com

Chef Ned Bell from YEW Restaurant at the Four Seasons Vancouver demonstrated how to make spot prawn ceviche. He even fed some brave souls a raw “live” prawn (as in just pulled the head off and still twitching). The taste is surprisingly sweet and subtle, rather than salty or fishy.

Here’s a quick rundown of the recipe so you can make your own ceviche at home:

Combine in a bowl:
Olive Oil
Citrus zest and juice (lime, lemon, grapefruit or a combination will do)
Cilantro
Flaked Sea Salt
Radish
Optional: Rice Vinegar to create a more Asian flavour or continue with the tropical flavour by adding in coconut milk.

Prawns:
Take fresh spot prawns and remove tail and outer shell, while leaving on the head until you are ready to use them (which should be as soon as possible). Once ready, remove the heads, butterfly the prawn and put into the bowl of ingredients. Stir thoroughly.

Layer the ceviche into a clear mason jar for a natural, elegant look and serve with deep fried wonton wrappers.

From the ultra-chic interior lobby and lounges, to the TVs in the bathrooms, no detail is overlooked. This is THE place to stay and even celebrities like Lady Gaga and Rihanna are drawn to the hotel.

So I was delighted to attend a recent media dinner at the hotel’s Oru Restaurant this week.

The restaurant has undergone a menu transformation and now positions itself as a hotspot for food from the Pacific Northwest with flavours from the Pacific Rim.

Executive Chef Darren Brown joined Oru in October 2011 and set to work overhauling the menu.

His 2-page biography is telling of his fascinating culinary background, which includes opening Whistler’s Quattro restaurant, working at Las Vegas Mandalay Bay hotel and being the private chef on Merv Griffin’s 150-foot yacht.

Brown is passionate about working with local providers and preparing as much as possible in-house.  He gets produce from Notch Hill Organics in Mission and cheeses from award-winning Natural Pastures farm on Vancouver Island.

Oru’s menu reflects the locally sourced and sustainable West Coast foods and Brown’s own background working with flavours from Japan, Polynesia, France and South America.

Last night began with SkyBar’s signature Bijou cocktails and a selection of appetizers, including a trifecta of goodness: Short Rib Poutine, Chicken and Chorizo Poutine and Spot Prawn Poutine. We also enjoyed the SkyBar take on the mini BLT with house-made bacon.

Having just moved to Vancouver from Whistler, I loved the sweet irony that both chefs got their start in Whistler back in the 1990s. Their history in the kitchen dates back more than 18 years

Now..for the main event: dinner!

Sunchoke Soup – velouté of roasted sunchokes, finished with a truffle foamed milk.

Notch Hills Beet Salad - pickled and poached baby Sorrento beets, beet chutney, chimichurri vinaigrette, cabrales blue cheese.

Qualicum Island Diver Scallops – sesame sweet peas, cauliflower purée, smoked salmon chiar su lardons, preserved lemon condiment.

“Kalua” Pork Belly - Fraser Valley pork belly, oven-dried pineapple, maple-mustard glaze, fried sage, pork cracklings, lotus root purée.

Sake Cured Haida Gwaii Sablefish - Alaskan salt cod brandade, butter poached sunchoke, melted leeks, fennel and chorizo, tomato-mirin broth.

Strawberry Rhubarb Vacherin with buttermilk ice cream.

Chocolate Four Ways.

It’s hard to pick a favourite, but if I had to, I would choose two: the pork belly and sabelfish. The pork belly had an almost tropical flavour and I could totally imagine eating something similar in Hawaii or Polynesian islands. Meanwhile, the sablefish was cooked to perfection with a delicious crispy exterior.

Throughout the dinner, Chef’s passion was infectious. I love the new take on Pacific Rim meets Pacific Northwest cuisine and believe that this restaurant has big things in its future.

Connect With Oru

Twitter - @FairmontPacific #oruCuisine

Facebook - facebook.com/fairmontpacificrim

Web – orucuisine.com

Cornucopia Whistler has come and gone, and the massive hangover can be felt around town as abandoned Masquerave masks blow in the wind like tumbleweeds. Luckily, the mountain will be opening soon to help us work off the massive amounts of cheese, wine and champagne we consumed this weekend.

Still, as we nurse headaches and sleep deprivation today, the culinary celebration can continue long after Cornucopia is gone. The appreciation of finer things in life can continue in the homes of all Whistlerites.

All you need is cheese and wine.

Cornucopia combined two of life’s best things into one delicious seminar with the Dairy Farmers of Canada, Blasted Church and Summerhill Pyramid Wineries yesterday.

Four of the six cheeses sampled were finalists in the Canadian Cheese Grand Prix, a worthwhile resource if you’re looking for a delicious cheese to bust out at the next social gathering. The odyssey of fromage took us on a journey across Canada, from Prince Edward Island to Quebec, and then to BC. To sample cheese, one must touch and smell, then put a small piece on the top of the tongue, gently warming it with the roof of the mouth.

Contrary to popular belief, white wines generally pair better with cheeses, according to our tasting coaches; and blue cheeses often taste best with a dessert wine. My biggest take-away from this seminar was this: Life’s short, so cut the cheese! And always, whatever you do, accompany that cheese with a healthy pour of wine.

Here are six pairings you may want to try:

1. Cheese: Island Brie – Little Qualicum Cheeseworks
Wine: Summerhill Pyramid Winery – Cipes Brut N/V

2. Cheese: Aged Lankaaster – Glengarry Fine Cheese
Wine: Blasted Church Wines – Chardonnay Musqué 2010

3. Cheese: Le Mont Jacob – Fromagerie Blackburn
Wine: Blasted Church Pinot Gris 2010

4. Cheese: Avonlea Clothbound Cheddar – Cows Inc.
Wine: Blasted Church Wines – Big Bang Theory 2010

5. Cheese: Cracked Pepper Veredelait – Natural Pastures Cheese Company
Wine: Blasted Church Wines – Pinot Noir 2009

6. Cheese: Bleu Benedictin – Abbaye St. Benoît
Wine: Summerhill Pyramid Winery, Chalice N/V

Top 25 Wines

If you’ve managed to check off the above list, try this on for size. Every year, an esteemed panel of judges chooses Cornucopia’s Top 25 wines to showcase at both the Crush Gala tasting and the Top 25 Celebratory Reception. This year’s list included a powerhouse of wineries with White Wine of the Year going to Bellingham – Bernard Series Old Vines Chenin Blanc, selling for $24.99. Red Wine of the Year went to Nk’Mip Cellars – Qwam Qwmt Syrah, which sells for $34.99.

As a self-professed armchair sommelier, I’ve always followed my taste buds more than the tasting notes. My trusty buds tell me their favourite wines of the Top 25 were Cupcake Vineyards – Sauvignon Blanc 2011, Mistaken Identity Vineyards – Abbondante Bianco Certified Organic, Cottesbrook – Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2010, and the dramatic Bodega del Palacio de los Frontaura y Victoria – Nexus Crianza 2005. You can find the complete list on the Cornucopia website. Don’t worry, you have a whole year to get through the list!

So..who’s hosting the next wine and cheese party?

Friday evening at Cornucopia started off with a fabulous dinner at Alta Bistro. The “Symphony Bowl” 3-course menu included a Fresh Fall Salad with carrots, beets and candied walnuts; a second course of Goat Cheese Terrine and a main of Arctic Char with heavenly gnocchi.

Our cocktail wizard just so happened to be the restaurant’s co-owner, Ed Dangerfield. He mixed up a delightful daiquiri, followed by a mysterious lime and mint-infused rum concoction that can only be described as a party in my mouth. Arriba!

Next, we headed to Cornucopia’s Gala Grand Tasting event in the Whistler Conference Centre.

As always, the people watching was spectacular; from Vancouver’s glitterati to Whistler’s Twitterati and everyone in between. There were people there wearing furry boots, bejeweled cocktail dresses, Tom Selleck mustaches; as well as a man who looked like “The Situation” in 20 years.“I prefer tails over ties,” said the man dressed as a giraffe. No one said “dressing up” for an event can’t mean coming in costume.

As expected, the wine selection was spectacular, especially for the armchair sommeliers in the crowd. Attendees flocked to Cornucopia’s Top 25 wines, which were identified with white stickers. Other popular tastings included Argentina Wines, Black Hills, Blasted Church, Sterling Vineyards, and Painted Rock.

While food plays a much smaller role at CRUSH, the few food stations that were there offered a variety of sumptuous treats, including Nita Lake Lodge charcuterie, Crepe Montagne, SIDECUT at the Four Seasons, Terra Breads and Agropur Fine Cheese.

The weekend kicked off at 6,000 feet at Christine’s Restaurant on Blackcomb Mountain. In my opinion – even though I do work for WB – I believe this is one of the hidden gem restaurants in Whistler. The menu contains Pemberton organic beef and greens, Ocean Wise seafood and a great selection of BC wines. Chef Sebastien was raised in Paris, but has spent more than a decade in Canada. He brings with him his grandparent’s charcuterie recipe and an amazing French fusion menu. The Christine’s Caeser Royale is killer – and comes with my personal favourite ingredient: horse radish. Try the Tomato Threesome and Salmon Sampler for a taste of summer.

Next stop on the dining adventure was the BBQ Championships. We cruised the food stalls and then settled in on Dusty’s sunny patio for a few drinks and a big ol’ bucket of ribs. Saturday was burger day, and there were certainly some creative entries. Props to the Troutsmen for pulling together a full weekend of submissions – in between “getting Iced” by Smirnoff. This burger pretty much sums up the meatfest:

As delightful as the food was, the highlight of my weekend for me was finally checking out Cure Lounge and Patio, the cocktail lounge in Nita Lake Lodge. The patio view is absolutely stunning – and it’s quiet and peaceful. There’s nothing better in the world than sipping a hand-crafted cocktail made with love by well-known mixologist Hailey Pasemko. She even infuses her own spirits with fresh herbs from their home-grown rooftop garden. You should absolutely try the Chimi Churri cocktail (second photo).

The final stop on this festival of food was Feast in the Mountains. This event, which takes place in Rebagliati Park, has been running for several years. The decadent oysters and venison from Sidecut restaurant at the Four Seasons, Alta Bistro and the Nita Lake Lodge were the food highlights. Whistler Brewing Company’s new Grapefruit Ale, and the vast array of sumptuous Okanagan wines was the perfect – boozy – end to a tasty weekend.

When I was invited to participate in Whistler’s Cornucopia 2009, I was beyond excited. I’d heard for years about the wine tastings and seminars, sensational gastronomic experiences and the exclusive parties where girls wear heels – even whistler girls – and inhibitions are set aside. Cornucopia – which was recently ranked one of the top Top 10 International Food and Wine Festivals by Forbestraveler.com – lives up to the hype, and then exceeds it.

My first stop was the House Party, Best of BC – a festival opener featuring a variety of food and wine tastings in the foyer of the Whistler Conference Centre, including Pemberton’s potato vodka and seared halibut by Windset Farms.

Then, it was on to ARTrageous, which is put on by the Whistler Arts Council.

Here’s a great little preview video of ARTrageous:

A feast for the five senses, this event featured artists creating live paintings and roaming characters wearing costumes created out of materials donated by home improvement stores – the work of Carey from Paintertainment. The craft table is my favourite station at ARTrageous, complete with glue guns, feathers, beads, sequins and all kinds of delightful crafty bits and bobs. This year, the theme was burlesque so the craft was nipple tassels.

The grand finale of the night was Big John Bates and the Voodoo Dollz, a rockabilly punk act featuring live burlesque dancers. The girls are sexy, the costumes are elaborate, and the nipple tassels are swinging – and occasionally on fire!

Friday night, I headed to the infamous Casino Royale at Ric’s Grill. Vegas show girls, topless Bond Girls painted head to toe in gold glitter, Vegas-style games with fake money, fire dancers, Go-Go dancers, a contact juggler and hula hoop girls were all part of the circus of colour, sex, and magic.

The showgirls were cute, but in high demand. My friend and I got shuffled out of a photo shoot with them by an affluent gentleman who wanted to take a picture with them. Our egos were wounded.

We enjoyed canapes, a buffet meal, and a decadent chocolate fountain. Of course the open bars throughout the venue made for a fun night – especially that strawberry-infused champagne.

Somehow, I managed to wake up the next morning for Whistler Blackcomb’s early opening to do a few turns – which were epic, by the way. After a quick disco nap, I was off to my third night of Cornucopia.

Cornucopia is a girl’s chance to get dressed up. So, a few of us ladies – including one girlfriend in bejewelled Manolos, braved the snow in heels and short dresses.

The first stop was the CRUSH Gala Grand tasting, one of the signature events of Cornucopia that takes place in the Whistler conference Centre ballroom. This sellout wine showcase has been expanded to two days due to popularity. I’m certainly no wine guru, but I know what pleases my palate. Some of my favourites were Dirty Laundry‘s Pinot Noir, Road 13‘s Riesling, Inniskillin‘s Ice Wine, Miner Family‘s Oracle, and Poplar Grove‘s Syrah. The Dirty Laundry clothes peg made my night.

After CRUSH it was on to our final – and most anticipated – destination, the Bubbles + Oceans Afterparty at Araxi Restaurant. The spotlights out front illuminated huge fluffy white snowflakes, and created a sense of anticipation for night to come.

Araxi does seafood and they do it well. The oyster bar was amazing as always, and the canapes were melt in your mouth.

We enjoyed sampling from the champagne stations along the perimeter of the room, including one of the more unique blends by Ayala, which should be available in Whistler in the coming months, according to the rep.

After a great night of socializing, drinking and eating, I finished the night off with a chocolate espresso cocktail in the lounge. I left Araxi with the most delicious feeling of contentment.

By the end of the weekend, I had consumed copious amounts of champagne and food – and slept very little. But I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat. Snow sports are the heart and lifeblood of this town I call home, but cultural events like this are what give Whistler its dancing shoes.

Only in Whistler can you go from learning about wild mushrooms in the forest with fungi fanatics to hitting up a snowboard movie premiere filled with hip industry kids all in the same day.

Whistler’s annual mushroom festival, Fungus Among Us took place over the weekend. The event, held by Whistler Naturalists’ Society, includes mushroom seminars and slide shows, walks in the forest with gurus and even an edible fungi cooking class.

Early Saturday morning, about 50 people gathered in the parking lot of the local school to discover the forgotten fungi through the eyes of mushroom experts.

From older hippie types with long beards to young families to twenty-somethings, an eclectic group of people turned up that misty morning. Our group headed to the Brandywine Falls area, where we embarked on our pouring rain adventure through the forest.

Believe it or not, there is a myriad of mushrooms in the forests of the Pacific Northwest; from the “Elf’s Saddle” that contains the natural elements of rocket fuel, to the edible Hawk’s Wing with a beautiful flower pattern to a poisonous variety that’s symptoms don’t hit you until two weeks later when you will likely need a kidney transplant.

We happened upon a few Pine Mushrooms which actually sell for around $40/kg. Another member of our group found a massive edible the size of her head – that’s a lot of mushroom risotto!

Our mushroom experts were passionate – and comfortable in their nerdiness – and truly gave us all an appreciation for the fungus among us! That being said, I’d never be comfortable enough to go into the forest and pick my own mushrooms without an expert on hand. But, you can sure make a killing if you know what you’re doing!

At the end of the walk, my friend and I headed back to cook our mushrooms. Sauteed in garlic and butter – hey, we’re naturalists, not chefs!

That night, it was on to the snowboard movie premiere “Sixes and Sevens” by film company NuuLife Cinemas. Beers, schwag, cool videos and hip, young kids brought all the elements of a classic industry party.l

From a family-themed walk in the woods to a rowdy movie at the GLC, Whistler gave me the best of both worlds in less than 24 hours.

And that’s why I love living in this place, where adventure and appreciation for nature go hand in hand – and there are always beers along the way.

To celebrate the Season 6 finale, Araxi held a party and invited the final four contestants: Dave, Kevin, Ariel, and Tenille. I was lucky enough to be invited because of my involvement with the show as part of my role with Whistler Blackcomb’s PR department.

The exclusive cocktail party included an oyster bar, hors d’oeuvres, fresh sushi, and an open bar featuring a Hell’s Kitchen cocktail. There were large TV screens set up throughout the restaurant so guests could view the pivotal Hell’s Kitchen episode. Meanwhile, the who’s who of the media were also in attendance, including entertainment reporter Fred Lee and Vancouver lifestyle blogger Miss604.

Photo: Greg Vallentin

Photo: Greg Vallentin

But what was it like during those few fleeting hours before the true winner was revealed to an excited crowd?

I arrived at the party firmly set on Dave as the winner, based on his courageous performance with a broken wrist and ability to out-cook his able-bodied competitors. As we mingled with the contestants, I tried to determine who seemed the most confident and happy. It was clear from the start that the crowd favourites were Kevin and Dave. Tenille had been let go the previous episode and the remaining female chef, Ariel, was just one step behind her fellow competitors, though still incredibly talented.

After careful observation, my instincts told me that Kevin was the winner as he seemed upbeat and very content throughout the evening. Minutes before the big reveal, I was even talking to him about snowboarding.

Apparently, my instincts are wrong. In a surprising turn of events, Ramsay announced Dave as the winner on the show and he was brought back into the spotlight – quite literally – as countless flashing cameras captured his victory.

Photo: Greg Vallentin

I truly feel that the best man won, though my heart does go out to Kevin and Ariel, who got emotional at the end. Hopefully, this show will bring them some amazing opportunities to further their careers.

And for the record, all the contestants seemed super friendly. And no, Tenille doesn’t talk that loud in person. She actually seemed incredibly humble and polite and even told me she loves the term “toque.”

Welcome to Whistler, Dave! And thanks to Shelley McArthur and the rest of the Table Top group for putting on an amazing party!

Some people are spending the fleeting days of autumn looking for eternal summer by slaying the Whistler Mountain Bike Park.

And then, there are the movie premieres. TGR, MSP, Absinthe, Voleurz, Sandbox, the list goes on and on! And the closer we get to opening day, the more stoked the people of Whistler are getting! But, there are about six weeks until the mountains open on November 26. What’s a town to do?

There is only so much conditioning one can do. When not doing squats, circuit training and yoga to bulk up for the snow season, there’s always time to sit back, relax and enjoy the fruits – and veggies – of our labour. That’s what autumn in Whistler is all about. Locals come out to play in shoulder season when Whistler restaurants break out their dinner specials.

I’m enjoying the fall’s culinary delights, from next week’s Hell’s Kitchen finale party at Araxi to November’s Cornucopia.

There’s nothing to make you more thankful this October than heading out to a real live farm and gaining a better appreciation for where your food comes from. I’ll admit, while I live in the mountains now, I did grow up in the city so when we headed to Pemberton’s North Arm Farm last weekend, I was blown away.

This farm, set in the lush valley with amazing views of Mount Currie, provides fresh produce to many of Whistler’s restaurants. We took advantage of the “U-Pick” and spent some time roaming through rows of crops and captured their transition from summer to fall. One bucket of raspberries and two photos of giant pumpkins later, we emerged from the farm. And now, what to do with all those berries?

Smoke & Bones BBQ from Vancouver took the title for Canadian BBQ Grand Champion this past weekend at Dusty’s Bar in Whistler. This competitive BBQ championship is a favourite on the Pacific Northwest BBQ circuit, drawing an eclectic group of BBQ fanatics, locals, tourists and…honeymooning couple.

The Creekside base was filled with the scent of smoke – both from the extreme grilling and the wildfires that have swept the Sea to Sky area in recent weeks.

From pulled pork to burgers to ribs to chicken breast – Dusty’s was a sea of BBQ’d meat and buckets ‘o beer. If visitors weren’t tasting the many samples offered up by the various BBQ crews, they were ordering big buckets of ribs and other delicious goodies from Dusty’s, complete with the famous Butt Rub Mayo.

The sweltering heat plus the meat lead to more than a few cases of meat sweats. But, the cold beer and rockin’ cover bands kept the crowd going long into the night.

In the end, after a hard fought BBQ Battle, Smoke & Bones took the overall grand prize, but there were a variety of BBQ houses awarded in their respective categories.

One of the unique events was a wine pairing with pulled pork. A panel of food and wine experts from Whistler judged the Ravenswood Cork and Pork Classic Sunday morning. Wine and pulled pork isn’t your typical breakfast, but this seasoned crew handled it just fine. Ravenswood Zinfandel, a wine made in Sonoma, California, is acclaimed for pairing perfectly with grilled foods. This year, winemaker Joel Peterson came out especially for the event. Smoke and Bones BBQ also won the Cork and Pork Classic title, winning a trip for two to the Ravenswood vineyard.

For a full list of the winners visit this site.

As the BBQ judging wound down, the party hit fever pitch in true Dusty’s style as Journey blasted from the speakers and Jagger Bombs replaced ribs. The honeymooning couple from New Brunswick made friends with the drunk Australians and everyone was getting a little bit tipsy as the balmy evening progressed. From Butt Rub to BBQ to J-Bombs.

And that my friends, is how you celebrate the BC Day Long Weekend.