Evergreen Brickworks Cooking Workshops. - Vietnamese

oursongfortoday.blogspot.com - seafood!... Every second Thursday until May 12, 2012, there are cooking workshops held at Evergreen Brick Works, an environmental community centre in Toronto. I had never been here before, but had seen this place countless of times during drives along the DVP/ Bayview extension to and from down town. I had the opportunity to take part in the Winter Shellfish workshop run by Kristin Donovan and her husband Dan, which featured an awesome menu of oysters, clams, lobsters and mussels! Jess and I arrived just in time to grab the last 2 aprons, and before we could dig in, there was lots of shucking, cracking and cooking first. The class was led by Kristin and Dan, who are both the owners of Hooked Inc., a super cool sustainable seafood store on Queen East. They both introduced us to how seafood is farmed and the importance of buying seafood from sustainable sources- it truly is their passion!

The workshop was at full capacity with about 12 participants in total and we each stood at our stations where a cutting board, a towel, and an oyster shucker were ready for use. They were very generous that we could grab as many oysters as we could shuck and eat, but although my stomach is bottomless, shucking was the limiting factor. Kristin and Dan taught us how to crack these oysters open, but I struggled the entire time (I almost cut my hand and Kristin even makes fun of me for it later- see video below). I did get a couple open at the end and enjoyed some tasty fresh raw oysters, along with lemon and some random sauces. Pictures of my successful shucking are featured below. lol

My favourite part of the workshop was definitely the lobsters! They showed us how to de shell the tail and the claw separately, then we could each pick a tail or a claw to de shell ourselves. According to Dan, the gold standard of de-shelling lobsters is being able to get the meat out of the claw as one piece...did it like a pro! The lobster was pre cooked and after the meat was taken out, it was butter poached. Throughout the workshop, Kristin stressed the importance of using quality ingredients and knowing where your food comes from, whether its lobster or the butter you use. The lobster tasted awesome in the buttery sauce, which I soaked up with a few helpings of french bread. I know they own a seafood store, but damnnn, they need to branch into dining, especially with both Kristin and Dan being trained chefs.

Post lobster, we moved into groups and cooked Mussels in Coconut Green Curry broth + Clams with Kale and Chorizo. Everyone was split into 2 main groups and worked as a team to get these tasty dishes completed on time. You have to know your strengths when working in a team, and my strengths are definitely more of the eating variety! lol seriously though, everyone pitched in and with easy to follow recipes, both the Mussels and Clams were cooked and ready to eat within the workshop's 2 hour time limit. The clams matched perfectly with the chorizo sausage and Kristin even stated that it was the only non seafood item they carry at Hooked Inc.. I also learned that you can flick raw mussels with your finger to check if they are alive- they should slowly close after you flick them if they are alive!

I had an awesome time learning, preparing, cooking and eating at the workshop and I'd definitely consider coming back to check out another class. Kristin and Dan were passionate about the food, and their enthusiasm for seafood was shared amongst everyone who attended. Evergreen Brick Works itself is a really cool place too, with a very modern industrial look, while still looking rustic (heard the resto there serves duck egg omelettes too!)! The walls were covered with repurposed items like electrical boxes as art.

If you are passionate about cooking or food in general, these workshops are a great place to learn both the techniques and the background education about the food being featured. This is definitely a cool date idea as well, especially for those of you not used to cooking at home much. Price wise, these classes are really affordable at $55/ person (5 classes/ $225, 10 classes/ $450) especially when you compare it to other cooking workshops that run up to $200 each in Toronto. The classes may not be led by a super famous chef, but they bring in local "experts" in the field and use quality ingredients! From this experience, Kristin and Dan probably knew more about seafood than anyone in this city. Each class runs from 7-9 pm every second Thursday until May 17, 2012. Check out the full schedule and menus here.