BC Spot Prawn season is underway, with line-ups of customers at docks waiting for the fresh caught delicacy, and chefs adding them to restaurants menus or sharing recipes.
photo: Emrys Horton, EPH Photography
Wild BC Spot Prawns are the largest shrimp species caught off the West Coast of Canada, and are known around the world for their sweet, delicate flavour and firm texture.
While this year’s season and annual Spot Prawn Festival were delayed, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the fishery is now in full swing with boats arriving at local docks to offload and sell their fresh caught fare, much of it coming from the nearby waters of the Salish Sea.
If you’re looking for fresh caught Spot Prawns, you can meet the boats at False Creek Fisherman’s Wharf and Steveston Fisherman’s Wharf. Both locations list the vessels and their catches to help plan your visit, and menu.
Due to pandemic precautions the wharf authorities are reminder shoppers and visitors to stay home if they’re feeling ill and to observe physical distancing. Face coverings are recommended.
While the Spot Prawn Festival may have been cancelled this year, you can still try your own hand at some of the many recipes local chefs and restaurants have published on the Festival’s website, like Naramata Inn’s Chef Ned Bell’s Roasted BC Spot Prawns Sweet & Sour Rhubarb & Pink Lady Apple Cauliflower Puree & Hazelnuts or Spot Prawn Spring Pea Soup by Chef Robert Clark of The Fish Counter
If you’d rather leave the the cooking to someone else, with restaurants reopening Spot Prawns are now showing up on menus.
Luckily, Provence Marinaside is one of the spots reopened (with new health and safety protocols) in time for the season, Owner/Executive Chef Jean Francis Quaglia has added a number of Spot Prawn dishes to his menu at the Yaletown restaurant.
Treating them with with a gentle hand to bring out all their delicate flavour, Chef Quaglia’s special BC Spot Prawn Menu features Gazpacho with Poached BC Spot Prawns served with a cucumber and lime relish, One Pound of BC Spot Prawns served either grilled or steamed and Provence patron favourite – BC Spot Prawn Duo (grilled and Provençal style) on tagliatelle and zucchini ribbons.
Pair the dishes with one of the recommended BC Wine pairings and watch the world go by from Provence’s vantage point overlooking False Creek, fed by the same waters that provided the bounty of BC Spot Prawns.