Food Porn From Maine's Harvest On The Harbor (Slideshow)

Almost all of the Harvest on the Harbor events are held at the Ocean Gateway Pier, overlooking the water where cruise ships often come into port. The pier overlooks the beautiful water, docks, and coastline of Maine.

Each guest at the Lobster Chef of the Year event also received a booklet of recipes for the dishes being created during the competition, as well as a voting card to help choose the Maine Lobster Chef of the Year. It was really difficult to pick a winner!

For the first course, chef Shanna O'Hea from Academe at the Kennebunk Inn presented Lobster Lo'Maine with fresh lo mein noodles, cilantro, scallions, and sesame seeds topped with a white miso dressing for the competition. Served cold, with the exception of a small piece of warm, crispy pork belly, this dish was very refreshing and delicious.

For the second course, chef Jon Gaboric from Natalie's at the Camden Harbour Inn created poached lobster with a corn and miso purée, shaved radish salad, geoduck dressing, crispy quinoa,  and yuzu foam. Geoduck, pronounced "gooey duck" is a very large clam native to the west coast of North America.

For the third course, chef Brandon Blethen from Robert's Maine Grill in Kittery prepared Maine lobster fried in a light Allagash beer batter with smoked orange tomato and lobster reduction over Maine Yukon mashed potatoes, Swiss chard, and micro greens. The lobster was perfectly fried; crispy but not greasy. Allagash is a microbrewery based in Portland.

For the fourth and winning course, chef Chris Long, also from Natalie's at the Camden Harbour Inn, presented butter-poached Maine lobster, grilled local oyster and maitake mushrooms, corn, chestnuts, celery leaves, parsnip chips, and thyme butter. Chef Long utilized mainly local ingredients for his dish and focused on bringing out the flavor of the lobster.

For dessert, East End Cupcakes served a red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting. This red velvet cake is unique because it does not have any vinegar in it, an ingredient that is often included in most red velvet recipes. Also, the cream cheese frosting got a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to maintain tanginess despite all of the confectioners' sugar in the recipe.

Inside the venue for the International Maine event, which began at 6 p.m. just after sunset. A live band was playing, and attendees were just beginning to filter in and check out the vendors, food, and drinks!

The Vietnamese egg roll from PHOever Maine Vietnamese was filled with fresh vegetables, was crispy and not too oily, and was served with a sweet and sour blackberry dipping sauce.

Everyone was mesmerized by this whole roasted pig on display at Zapoteca Restaurante y Tequileria's table. The pig wasn't just for show; the pork was used as part of the taco they served (see the next slide).

Zapoteca served an amazing taco. One of the key ingredients was a homemade corn tortilla, warmed to order. The filling was comprised of suckling whole roasted Yucatan-style pork, with achiote habanero sauce, and house-pickled escabeche (pickled jalapeños).

The vegetarian samosas from Little Bigs served with a cilantro sauce were perfectly spiced and delicious.

The bangers and mash from Brian Boru Public House were made with local handmade Irish sausage served over mashed potatoes with onion gravy.

Lakonia Greek Products' table was filled with a display of various herbs, oils, olives, and other Greek products. The oils and olives were available for tasting along with information for purchasing the products outside of the event.

One of the most popular dishes of the night, Wannawaf served a salted caramel pumpkin milkshake with a bite of freshly made Belgian waffle. It was perfectly seasonal and perfectly portioned for a satisfying end to all of the food eaten at the event.

For the first course, chef David Levi from Vinland Restaurant (opening soon in Portland) prepared fried beet chips with yogurt, watermelon radish, juniper, bay leaf, chives, scallions, arugula leaves, turmeric, beet powder, and a homemade herb salt. The house-made herb salt included rosemary, sage, mugwort, and, of course, Maine sea salt.

For the second course, chef Richard Hanson from Cleonice Mediterranean Bistro in Ellsworth presented a roasted pork sausage ragù with Morgan Mills polenta. The sauce was made with carrots, celery root, onions, garlic, dried oregano, and house-canned tomatoes, then the sausage was cooked in the finished sauce. The dish was served with some sautéed broccoli rabe for color and texture.

For the third course, chef Chad Conley from Gather in Yarmouth created braised Maine pork belly, stewed Jacob's Cattle Beans, roasted celeriac, celery, radishes, East End microgreens and house-pickled mustard seeds. The pork belly was brined overnight prior to braising, which made it tender and flavorful.

For the last and winning course of the competition, chef Kerry Altiero from Café Miranda in Rockland prepared cider-braised pork belly with sour apples, garlic, lacinato kale, and little neck clams. The apples were cut in half, then roasted with Casco Bay Creamery butter inside the cored center, so the butter melted and was absorbed by the apples.

The oatmeal cookie by Annette Marin included whole-wheat flour, flaxseed, mace, a variety of dried fruits, and dark chocolate. The Others! vanilla gelato was a perfect pairing for the spicy, chewy cookie.

Coffee by Design served coffee to go along with dessert, and displayed their very fancy method of making the perfect cup of coffee along with internationally sourced coffee beans.