Join Chef Greg Couillard for a fun, hands-on workshop exploring the spices, ingredients and flavours of Sri Lanka.

Chef Greg Couillard is famous for his lifelong fascination with bold flavours and spices; in the early 80’s he was among the first chefs in Toronto to be inspired by the emerging availability of Caribbean, Asian and Indian ingredients, and introduce them into the then-conservative world of “fine” dining. Chef Greg’s relentless culinary curiosity has never waned; he has spent the last few years working in Mexico, deepening his understanding of the regional cuisines there.

Recently he was working alongside some of the talented Sri Lankan cooks working in many Toronto kitchens and was intrigued by the potent curries they would make for their staff meals. After plenty of cajoling and miming, watching and experimenting, Greg began to incorporate distinctive elements of Sri Lankan cuisine to his 40+ year exploration of global flavours.

In this workshop, Chef Greg shares some of what he has learned, along with a personal flair honed in a lifetime in professional kitchens, to create a Sri Lankan-inspired “thali” — a meal platter of multiple curries, often vegetarian, traditionally served on banana leaves and eaten with the fingers — that’s popular throughout Southern India and Sri Lanka.

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Red lentil dal with pumpkin and Sri Lankan spices

Yellow split pea dal with chard, whole mustard and cumin seeds

Yellow coconut curry chicken with fresh curry leaves.

Fresh yogurt raita with cucumber and mint

served with basmati rice and pappadums
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$40 +HST

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It would not be hyperbole to suggest that Greg Couillard is one of the most influential chefs in Toronto’s culinary history. Through groundbreaking restaurants like The Parrot, Stelle, Avec, Sarkis, The Spice Room and many others, his prescient embrace of this city’s multicultural flavours and ingredients revolutionized fine dining in Toronto, and foreshadowed the eclectic, international menus many now take for granted.