Chefs to demonstrate cooking with farmers’ market finds
The Bethany Beach Farmers’ Market is ready to kick off its 2009 season this weekend, and this year, they’re bringing a little more to the plate. Farmer’s markets are designed to help promote local shopping and assisting area farmers, and starting July 12, the Bethany Farmer’s Market is taking it a step further with cooking demonstrations, displaying the versatility in the foods market-goers can find and the endless possibilities they provide. Chefs from some of Bethany’s restaurants will shop at stands at the market and then present a cooking demo utilizing local produce as part of their meals.
“Coastal markets really push for chef demonstrations and making them a part of the markets,” explained Bethany resident Steve Wode, who has helped bring Bethany’s market together since its start a few years ago. “We had not worked toward the demos in Bethany because of limited space at the bank parking lot, but now it’s working out.”
Wode’s wife, Jean, who has also been an instrumental part on the farmers’ market organizational committee, approached Bethany Beach officials with the idea earlier this year, but it was initially shot down due to limited room.
“We really wanted to get it going,” Jean Wode noted, “so I went back and asked if we could hold it in the park beside the town hall.” The second time was the charm, and permission was granted. “The town has really helped us a lot,” she said, “and we’re very grateful they’ve allowed for this.”
So far, Bethany restaurants such as Sedona, Parkway, Blue Crab, Mangos and Baha Beach Grill have already jumped on board. Other restaurants are being worked in, with times varying each week. The demos will run from July 12 through Aug. 30 and will give market shoppers insight to food preparation, as well as demonstrating the importance of shopping locally. Jean Wode plans to feature Sedona on July 12 to kick off the weekly cooking demos.
“It’s all coming together,” Steve Wode said. “The idea is to have the chefs go to the market and get all or some of what he or she will use in a recipe. That’s the basic format that markets use. We really want to tie the chef to local growers. The demos bring a highly visible relationship with Bethany’s restaurants, and we have so many good ones.”
“These farmers and the market are an important part of our restaurants,” Jean Wode added, “and we really want to show that bond. The whole idea is to meld the restaurants with the farmers’ market.”
Chefs will pick featured dishes to be prepared for the public. Recipes will be handed out, too.
“Hopefully,” said Jean Wode, “this will be a great feature for the market.”
By tying together restaurants with the local farmers and agricultural providers, the demos reiterate the idea of shopping locally to the public and exhibits the ways that helping local farmers can in turn be a delicious and healthy option in the kitchen.
“This is a principle that is imbedded in today’s market,” said Steve Wode. “The demos will concretely show how you can do that. It also lets chefs and restaurant owners identify themselves more prominently as shoppers of markets.”
Shoppers can stop by the Bethany Farmers’ Market every Sunday, from 8 a.m. until noon, starting this weekend, June 28, at the PNC Bank parking lot, located at the corner of Garfield Parkway and Pennsylvania Avenue. Cooking demonstrations will begin on July 12, in the park between the Bethany Beach Town Hall and The Blue Crab restaurant, along Garfield Parkway.
Fenwick Island will hold its farmers’ market two days a week this summer, from 8 a.m. until noon, every Monday and Friday, at the corner of Coastal Highway and Essex Road, in the lot between Dairy Queen and PNC Bank. The Fenwick Farmer’s Market will also begin this week, starting Monday, June 29.
