Hey barbecue fans. If you're in the Vancouver area this weekend, come by Hadden/Vanier park and taste some pink salmon, some of it cooked by yours truly. See the news release below for details.

NEWS RELEASE

Pink Salmon Festival – A Celebration of Health & Plenty

August 30th, 11am – 5pm Hadden/ Vanier Park, Vancouver BC.

(Vancouver) Each summer in BC, millions of salmon return to their home rivers to spawn and rejuvenate our west coast ecosystem. On August 30th, the Pacific Salmon Foundation is hosting a celebration of the return of one of the greatest, yet under-appreciated, resources in the province – Pink Salmon. While sockeye populations on the Fraser River have not returned in the expected numbers, all indications point to a run of up to 15 million pink salmon coming home to the Fraser over the coming weeks.

The PSF Pink Salmon Festival is a celebration of all that Pink Salmon represent and offer. Pink Salmon are the base for BC’s coastal ecological systems, they are sustainably harvested, and their delicious and delicate texture and are prized by culinary experts the world over.

Foodies take note: this free event features Robert Clark, the visionary and celebrated executive chef of C restaurant as well as the chefs from Raincity Grill and Nu preparing specialty pink salmon creations for the public to enjoy. In addition, barbecue evangelist Rockin’ Ronnie Shewchuk will be preparing a West-Coast classic: cedar-planked pink salmon with his signature whisky-maple glaze. This all-star culinary team will be preparing close to 3,000 pounds of beautiful, succulent pink salmon in free, sample-sized portions for what is sure to be an appreciative crowd.

Pink Salmon will also be celebrated with live music by Highrise Lonesome, fish painting by the Stream of Dreams Society, magicians, entertainers and a 60 foot salmon story telling tent! Attendees can try their hand at fly fishing and fly tying as well as enjoying a salmon art show and a fundraising silent auction and raffle. Displays from community partners such as the Vancouver Aquarium’s OceanWise program in addition to the PSF education areas featuring ocean creature touch tanks will inform people of the important role Pink Salmon play in BC every year.

Pink Salmon are a wonderful example of the health and plenty of British Columbia. Please join us in celebrating their return home this year.

Hosted by the Pacific Salmon Foundation

On August 11th I had a great time on the Christy Clark Show. In this episode I serve Christy the first-place winner in the Backyard Burger event of this year's Canadian National BBQ Championships in Whistler, B.C., my Beef Burger With Chile Butter Core. I also answer a bunch of great listener questions.

A few years ago I launched Barbecue Academy^ⓒ. It's a day-long corporate teambuilding workshop that teaches participants about championship barbecue in a fun, relaxing atmosphere with plenty of room for socializing.

I think it's the only event of its kind in the world. There are lots of hands-on barbecue workshops for the public, and some of the big barbecue celebrities in the U.S. do corporate cooking demos and catered events. And there are even some corporate team building workshops based on cooking contests. But, as far as I know, this is the only corporate workshop that creates a competitive environment for participants, who divide into teams, prep and cook real barbecued chicken and ribs, and vie for cheap plastic trophies just like the big boys.

I've done three of them so far, for energy companies in Calgary, with positive feedback.

Here's what some of the participants have said:

I love putting on these workshops, and I want to do more. So far, I've done them only in Calgary, where I've found a great facility, but the concept is portable. I'm now booking sessions into this fall, and I'd like to do at least one in Vancouver.

Here's a promo sheet:

Download BBQ Academy promo

Please pass it on to anyone you know who might be interested.