The chef was at Colemans at the Gardens making flipper croquettes and marinated seal loins with some help from Academy Canada culinary students Nikki Hutchings and Maggie Roberts.
The event was held in partnership with seal processors Carino Processing Ltd.
Templeton said seal meat has such a unique flavour. “It’s so different than anything else.”
He said pretty much anything you can do with a chicken breast or a duck breast, you can do with a seal loin as they are beautiful seared in a pan, roasted in the oven or even on the barbecue.
And the new products today, like the loins, make cooking with seal a lot easier.
“When you prepare it now, the smell doesn’t take over your house and stay in there for days,” he said. “And the flavour is a lot smoother now. It’s not as pungent as it once was.”
As for the flippers, Templeton said, they’re best prepared the traditional Newfoundland way.
“Brown them up in a pan, but then into your roasting pan in the oven with lots of vegetables and onions.” Then it’s just to cook them until they are nice and tender.
Judging from reactions from shoppers tasting the two dishes, Templeton figures it was going at about 75 per cent on the pro-seal side, with many remarking on how tasty the dishes were.
