New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center To Host Seafood Throwdown On September 8

The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center will host a Seafood Throwdown on AHA! Night, on Thursday, September 8. This event will be in collaboration with the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance, Mass in Motion New Bedford, and the New Bedford Farmer’s Market.

According to South Coast Today.com, the free event starts at 5 p.m. in Custom House Square in Downtown New Bedford.

Chefs Henry Bousquet, a culinary arts instructor at Greater New Bedford Voc-Tech, and Chris Cronin, an executive chef at Farm & Coast Market, Padanaram will compete to create a winning dish using a surprise locally caught seafood ingredient. Judging their creations will be Heather Atwood, author of “In Cod We Trust”; Maria Lawton, author of “Azorean Cooking: From My Family’s Table to Yours”; and Andy Tomolonis, author of “Organic Hobby Farming: A Practical Guide to Earth-Friendly Farming in Any Space.”

Also, Bousquet and Cronin will educate and entertain others with their cooking skills as they demonstrate how to work with whole, fresh, and local seafood. The chefs are allowed to bring three of their favorite ingredients, and once they discover the secret seafood, they will be given $25. They will also be given 15 minutes to shop the Custom House Square Farmers’ Market for ingredients. After they are finished shopping, they have one hour to cook and present their entry for the judges'.

After the conclusion of the Throwdown, the public is invited to the nearby Fishing Heritage Center to view the exhibit, “From Boat to Table,” and meet the judges, who will sign copies of their books from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center is located at 38 Bethel Street in the heart of New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park. The center is dedicated to preserving and presenting the story of the past of the commercial fishing industry, through present and future archives, and exhibits and programs.

More information is available at fishingheritagecenter.org.

With additional reporting by Sal Lopez