TORONTO — Local chefs turned up the heat last night at the Tabasco Thursdays Hawker Market at Wychwood Barns in Toronto. The event paid homage to the open-air market concept popular in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong, which features stalls selling a variety of inexpensive food.
The one-night only event for the food-obsessed welcomed seven chefs who created authentic, hawker market-inspired dishes crafted with the original Tabasco sauce. Chef Anthony Walsh of Oliver and Bonacini Restaurants served up a charred beef and oyster carpetbagger wrapped in hand-made jalapeño-roti prata with turnips; chef Nick Liu of DaiLo made Banana-leaf Grilled Sambal BC Skate; chef Scott Vivian of Beast dished out Japanese curry topped with crispy fried chicken; and chef Bertrand Alépée of The Tempered Room brought authentic French-Canadian tourtière to the masses.
Barbecued quail was on the menu at chef Dustin Gallagher’s (Peoples Eatery and 416 Snack Bar) stand while chef Steve Gonzalez of Baro featured Morcilla (Spanish blood sausage). Chef Chris Brown of Citizen Catering brought a taste of Korea to the event with his Ssam bar (braised pork, kimchi and rice in a lettuce wrap).
The Tabasco Flavour Lab invited guests to sample the seven varieties of Tabasco sauces and the more daring had a taste of the tabasco-pepper mash, flown fresh from Avery Island in Louisiana — the birthplace and home of Tabasco — measuring 35,000 on the Scoville spicy-heat scale. To temper the heat, the bar served up local Henderson craft beer, wine, cocktails and mocktails.
Written By Amy Bostock
