Last week I was invited by the kind people behind the Canola Eat Well to one of their Eat Well Culinary Workshops that featured Chef Matt Dean Pettit (MDP), who put together a classic family-style fish-fry dinner with canola oil being at the heart of each dish. The Workshop Series features one chef and one host who collaborate and curate a 6-part series of canola oil-inspired FARM TO FOOD experiences. Our hostess for the evening was TV and radio star, Pay Chen. MDP can be considered as one of the seafood kings in Toronto so I was quite excited to taste what he had planned for us. This menu took about a month to plan. A month long planning session? Oh yeah, this was going to be good!
Chef Matt Pettit – Photo credit: Brilynn Ferguson
The event was held at the Luxe Appliance Studio in Toronto, a gorgeous space that’s both appliance showroom, and, working kitchen.
The night wasn’t just about eating, there was also some learning involved (there’s no such thing as a free meal, folks). Since our meal was sponsored by canola growers it only made sense that we learned about canola oil:
- Canola oil is one of the healthiest culinary oils in the world. It has the least saturated fat (half of that of olive oil) and the most plant-based omega-3 fat of all common cooking oils. It’s also a good source of vitamins E and K, contains zero trans fat and, like all vegetable oils, is free of cholesterol.
- Canola oil is extremely versatile. Its neutral taste, light texture and high heat tolerance make it ideal for just about any culinary application.
- It can take the heat. Canola’s high smoke point 242 C/468 F makes it useful for sautéing and frying.
- Canola oil has a variety of uses, including sautéing, deep frying, marinates, rubs, pastes, salad dressings, baking and many more.
- It will stay liquid at room temperature and in the fridge.
It’s hard to believe that from this tiny seed we get canola oil.
This tiny seed is where the oil is stored – Photo credit: Brilynn Ferguson
After the learning, it was time to get down to the fun part of the night: the food! MDP mentioned that he loves using canola oil because of the high smoke point, which is perfect for all the fried goodness at his restaurants. It was a big meal that came together in an unbelievably short period of time but there were also lots of hands helping out. I was enlisted to fry the smelts.
Professional fish fryer – Photo credit: Brilynn Ferguson
His menu included fried smelts and frites, curry crab, grilled red snapper, bone marrow, grilled veggies, and of course, dessert. You’d think that my favorite dish would be the fried smelts but instead it was the Thai flavoured curried crab. MDP just returned from a five week trip through Asia and it was evident that he brought back more than a tan, a man bun, and an anchor tattoo with him. Crab is normally a pain in the ass to eat, but the Thai flavoured sauce that it was cooked in made every ounce of effort well worth it.
Stir fried blue crabs with tumeric, yellow curry, chiles egg & coconut milk – Photo credit: Brilynn Ferguson
The thing I’ve learned about curry, whether it’s West Indian, Japanese, Indian, or Thai based, is that beer always works so well with it. I’m sure there’s some deep scientific reasons behind this combination. Someone once told me that the carbonation helps refresh the palate after the strong flavours of the curry, I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I can say the Samuel Adams Lager we had on hand surely complimented all the components of the meal that night.
This was one of the best organized events that I’ve been to. The relaxed atmosphere, the gorgeous space, the amazing food, the family styled dinner and of course learning all new facts about canola oil made it a fun filled night.
For more information about canola oil, please visit the Canola Eat Well website. There you’ll find recipes, their blog and other health and nutrition facts about canola oil.
Here are some more photos from the event. Photo credit to all photos goes to Brilynn Ferguson, I have to thank her for allowing me to share these.
Disclaimer: I did receive compensation for this blog post but all opinions expressed are my own
2 comments
Great to meet you and thank you so much for joining us. Your genuine interest in food, canola and people was refreshing. Love the honesty in your writing. Until our paths cross again, cheers!
Eat well…Jenn
Author
Thank you for the kind words Jenn. It was a pleasure to meet you and our team and to share a meal with you. I look forward to chatting again, hopefully, soon.