GIPPSLANDERS are being encouraged to ‘chow-down’ on sea snail at the Wild Harvest Seafood Festival in Mallacoota this month.
A special event will celebrates the lesser known and underrated produce from the waters surrounding Mallacoota.
It includes the whelk – a type of sea snail – alongside sea urchins, banded morwong and samphire, which will all feature as part of this special dinner.
The Whelk-om Dinner menu was curated by A Gondola on the Murray-famed chef, Stefano De Pieri, and Yuin Nation Budawang Elder chef, Noel Butler.
Local wine and beer will be matched to the dishes by wine writer Max Allen.
Other events include a seafood market, pop-up outdoor cinema, sea shanty singing workshops with The Grubby Urchins, an oysters and champagne twilight cruise, bush food walks and fishing clinics.
The event was created to highlight the region’s unique abundance and variety of seafood has not run since 2019 due to the black summer bushfires and COVID restrictions.
Organiser Jodie York Jodie said the festival was a celebration of the “natural fruits” of the land and sea, and the indigenous custodians who have been connected with the land for thousands of years.
East Gippsland Shire mayor, Mark Reeves, said the Wild Harvest Seafood Festival was a very popular event on the region’s event calendar.
“Council is proud to sponsor this event, which has been a booming success since it began,” Cr Reeves said.
“East Gippsland is well-known for its quality seafood, and Wild Harvest Seafood Festival is the perfect opportunity to enjoy great company, great food and drink, and stunning scenery.”
The Mallacoota Wild Harvest Seafood Festival runs from Friday, November 11 to Sunday, November 13. For more information, visit wildharvestseafoodfestival.com.
