During my time at SIAL Canada earlier this May while I was hanging out at the EU Pavilion, I also got a chance to watch Chef Sean MacDonald (@seanymacd) cook up a storm. Sean was named the best young chef in Canada last year as he was Canada's representation at the S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2016 competition. You can now find Chef MacDonald cooking at Hexagon & 7 Enoteca in Oakville, Ontario.
He came to Toronto to do one thing, and one thing only - showcase his talent by cooking up a delicious homemade gnocchi using the following ingredients from around Europe:
- Aceto Balsamico di Modena PGI (Consorzio Tutela del Lambrusco di Modena, Italy)
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil Montes de Toledo PDO (Casas de Hualdo, SL, Spain)
- Sweet Peppers (VLAM, Belgium)
- Spanish Ham (Nico Jamones, Spain)
- Garlic and Herb Sea Salt (French Gourmet Promenade, France)
Using these ingredients, he showed us how he could incorporate delicious ingredients from various countries in the EU into a simple, classic Italian dish. My favourite ingredient was 100% the Spanish ham. There's just something so good about the jamon from Espana! When incorporated with the gnocchi and sweet peppers from Belgium, with the garlic and herb sea sat (ugh, I want to just eat a pinch of it on its own) from France, it was an abundance of flavour. We all had little sample dishes of the gnocchi but I could 100% eat an entire dish of it.
See below for a photo recap of my experience!
Thanks for the fun & delicious cooking demo, Sean!
P.S. I attended Day 2 of SIAL, but check out what happened at the EU Pavilion when Chef Eric Choong, the first MasterChef Canada winner, took the stage on Day 1 here!
