Founder of Spot Prawn Festival shares recipe

As theSpot Prawn Festivalcelebrates its 10-year anniversary in Vancouver,chef and creatorRobert Clark said he is floored at the growth of the event.

"We are very impressed with how it's evolved, starting from just a few chefs and boiling a few prawns ... to the entire city," Clark toldOur Vancouverhost GloriaMacarenko.

"Spot Prawn weekend is the weekend you look forward to."

To celebrate the anniversary of the festival, Clark and his colleaguesat the Chefs' Table Society are holding events all weekend long from May 13 to 15, ending with the big spot prawnboil at theFalse Creek Fishermen's WharfonMay 15.

"A couple thousand people come down and top chefs will be there," said Clark.

"It's gotten bigger and bigger,and it's wonderful. This year because it's the 10th anniversary ... on the Saturday we're having a series of cooking classes at [the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts]."

Another event the chefsare hosting is a gala on Friday, May 13.

"The Vancouver Club has volunteered to host us. We're going tohave chefscoming in from across the country and we're just going to celebrate the fact that for ten years we've been able to enjoy spot prawns here in B.C."

Eating local

Clark started the festival to encourage chefsand the rest of the community to eat local and sustainable seafood.

"Before the prawn festival started it was hard to get spot prawns here in Vancouver because they were all exported to Japan and to China," he said.

Chef Clark makes a simple spot prawn salad using herbs, tomatoes and avocado.

"Spot prawns are so sweet and succulent they go with anything," he said.

He suggests adding fresh herbs such as mint, tarragon and chiveblossoms to spot prawn dishes becausethey compliment the prawns perfectly and add a pop of colour.

Clarkalso recommends enjoying a glass of white wine or bubbly along with the seafood.

In the video above, Clark shows Our Vancouver host Gloria Macarenkohow to preparea delicious spot prawn recipe, anddiscusses wine pairings.

Note: Images shown on the monitors behind Gloria Macarenko and Robert Clark are courtesy of Chefs' Table Society.

Recipe: Chef Robert Clark's poached B.C. spot prawns

Serves: 4 people

Ingredients:

• 1 lbspot prawn tails.
• For the salad:
• 2 whole avocados.
• 12 whole cherry tomatoes, cut in half.
• 2 stalks green onions, sliced.
• 1 tbs fresh tarragon, chopped.
• 1 tbsfresh mint, torn.
• 1 tbsfresh basil, torn.
• 1 tbs chives, chopped.
• 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil.
• 2 whole limes, juiced.
• Salt and pepper to taste.

Method:

Cook the spot prawns by poaching in salted water for no more than 30 seconds, then remove them from the hot liquid and cover with ice.

For the salad: Incorporate all the salad ingredients by tossing them gently in a bowl. Adjust seasoning if needed.

Arrange the salad attractively onto fourplates. Place the cooked prawns on top, drizzle a bit more extra virgin olive oilif needed.