Tuesday, September 5th:
Pacific Palate returns to the airwaves of the Early Edition this week with a report from the BC Sardine Festival in Steveston. The sardine population in BC started picking up again around 10 years ago, fitting right in with a cycle of about 30 years that scientists have discovered. To read much more about BC Sardines and the current fishery, visit the Canadian Pacific Sardine Association website.
Fisherman Glenn Budden of the MV Ocean Venture was on hand to answer questions from the crowd watching cooking demonstrations, and he also sold about 8500 pounds of fresh sardines! People were lined up for hours to get quite a good deal: 10 sardines for $5…and these jumbo sardines weighed about half a pound each. To view a PDF file of retailers and restaurants offering BC Sardines, click here. (you’ll need Adobe Reader to view it) Three chefs did cooking demonstrations with fresh BC Sardines, including cookbook author and consultant Stephen Wong, Karen Barnaby from the Fish House in Stanley Park, and Kosta Zogaris of The Salmon Shop and Screaming Mimi’s at Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver.
I’ve already tried two of their recipes, Karen’s Pan-Fried BC Sardines with Maple Balsamic Glaze, and Stephen’s Grilled BC Sardines with Spicy Tomato Black Bean Sauce. Both recipes worked well, and I surprised myself by being able to clean and fillet the sardines for Karen’s recipe without making too much of a mess of the fish!
Stephen says you have to be careful when grilling sardines because they have a high fat content. (which makes for good Omega-3 fatty acid levels), but I didn’t have access to a barbecue for this edition of ‘Test Kitchen’, so I just used the broiler in the oven with good results.
If you want to try some of these recipes you will find them opening as a Word document when you click on the links:
Grilled BC Sardines with Spicy Tomato Black Bean Sauce
Pan-Fried BC Sardines with Maple Balsamic Glaze
