As the summer winds down, Canola Growers ends it off with their Canola Eat Well Street Food Culinary Workshop hosted by Suresh Doss and El Gastronomo Vagabundo‘s Chef Adam Hynam-Smith. The event was the fourth of the six-part series. Since these events are Canola-inspired farm to food experiences, it only made sense to take the guests outside of Toronto and into the country. Everyone was treated to an afternoon at Oast House Brewery on Niagara-On-The-Lake (NOTL) where they enjoyed street eats from El Gastronomo Vagabundo and beer pairings from the property.
The road trip kicked off with videos from the Canola Growers team and a discussion with Will, a canola farmer from Manitoba. On the bus, he paints a picture of life as a farmer and provides a lesson on Canada’s oil.
Once the guests hopped off the bus, they were greeted with Oast House’s seasonal beer and dishes from El Gastronomo Vagabundo. The street food menu prepared by Chef Adam had canola oil at the heart of every item, the line-up included: Cod Tacos, Korean BBQ Chicken Wings, 2-Bean Tostado, Pickled Prawn and Lychee and even a refreshing Peach and Watermelon Gazpacho. After a brewery tour led by Oast House’s Keddie, Adam took the crew inside the brewery’s kitchen and did a step-by-step demo on the Confit Pepper and Peach Salad and surprised everyone with their own jar to take home.
Next up Ellen, from the Canola Growers team, and Will led the group into the Canola Crush activity. For many it was the first time they were seeing canola oil seeds. While the guests were learning about canola oil in-real-life (IRL), there was a Twitter Party happening online for a chance to win a copy of Chef Adam’s Curbside Cookbook. Tweeters from all over Canada participated so everyone was able to get in the #EatWellCanolaOil action.
After chowing down on more delicious eats and sampling refreshing Oast House beer, guests lined-up to get their signed copy of the Curbside Cookbook. Before leaving NOTL, Suresh organized one more stop, Ravine Vineyard, a family-owned farm and winery that included a tour and formal tasting.
What started out as a field trip turned into a jam packed afternoon full of street food, snapping pics, making new friends and enjoying Niagara-On-The-Lakes’s bounty. Follow #EatWellCanolaOil for more from the event!