Second Tidewater Boil celebrates Skagit farmers and fishers

A Louisiana-style dinner served in La Conner last Thursday boasted a distinctly Skagit Valley flavor.

The second annual Genuine Skagit Valley Tidewater Boil at The Port of Skagit's La Conner Marina featured many of the area's favorite farm and sea-based foods and beverages in a setting akin to a Gulf Coast shindig.

Held under a large tent on a damp and chilly late September night, the event served as a celebration of Skagit cuisine and formally honored the valley's food producers.

The Tidewater Boil carries out Genuine Skagit Valley's mission of increasing consumer awareness and consumption of local agricultural goods and services. Its director is Blake Van Roekel.

"We're so proud of the work that Blake and Genuine Skagit Valley do," Port of Skagit Executive Director Sara Young, among Thursday's many volunteers, told the Weekly News. "This is just such a great event. Not even tonight's weather could dampen the enthusiasm."

Chef Courtney Bourasaw and her crew from The Skagit Table spent most of the day preparing a menu of Dungeness crab, prawns, corn, potatoes and sausage.

The fare was poured onto long tables lined with back issues of The Weekly News and eaten without utensils – the ultimate finger food.

"I've been collecting papers for this the last month or so," said Weekly News Publisher Ken Stern, who treated his staff to the dinner. "People give me a lot of heartburn when the papers pile up at the office."

The meal came from the pages of Genuine Skagit Cooking, the cookbook of over 40 recipes released earlier this year that helps inspire farm-to-table freshness. The book includes the recipe for Tidewater Boil by Kimi Schell of Eat Well Adventures.

"We spent the last couple of days gathering all the ingredients from local farms," said Cinnamon Berg of The Skagit Table. "It's been quite an adventure making sure everything is raring to go."

In addition to the main course, diners enjoyed cornbread from the Water Tank Bakery – with plenty of butter available, dessert cookies provided by the Breadfarm and Mexican Lager beer from District Brewing.

Those attending included La Conner Town Council members Mary Wohleb and MaryLee Chamberlain, State Rep. Dave Paul (D-Oak Harbor), Port of Skagit Commissioner Steve Omdal and Skagit County Commissioner Ron Wesen.

Wesen's family owns a centennial dairy farm near Bow.

"This is great," he said. "Everybody's having a good time."

The festive atmosphere was enhanced by live music performed by the rockabilly group The Artful Dodgers.

The night was enjoyed by all ages, including toddlers, with everyone donning colorful bibs bearing the image of a crab.

Genuine Skagit Valley, established in 2013, champions Skagit County's rich farming and fishing heritage.

The Skagit area, according to GSV research, saw its first commercial crop of cultivated potatoes planted on March Point a decade before the outbreak of the American Civil War. A decade later, oats from the La Conner flats and elsewhere in the valley were sent to Seattle markets. Then, during World War I, farmers here provided oats to Europe when its fields were torn asunder by Allied and Central Power armies still relying on horses to move troops and equipment.

Today, the Skagit Valley supplies a multitude of crops globally that are grown on some of the most fertile soil in the world.

"Over 80 commercial crops are produced on 90,000 acres of the last remaining agricultural valley in the Puget Sound region," GSV notes.

The Tidewater Boil, a major GSV fundraiser, served as a precursor to Saturday's Skagit Farm to Pint Festival, also staged at La Conner Marina and which paired more than a dozen Skagit eateries and breweries.