This Labour Day Weekend Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre will be home to the Hot and Spicy Food Festival, a four-day event starting Friday Sept 4th and winding down on Sunday.
Toronto’s famous culinary and cultural diversity will be front and centre, with cuisine from all over the world on hand. Local and international chefs will be dishing out extraordinary food, and educators, farmers artists and musicians are all part of the festivities. And the price of admission? Totally free!
Want to learn the secrets to making the very best chicken curry? Then attend Vikram Vij’s Family Chicken session on Saturday from 2-3 pm where Chef Vij will prepare one of his most treasured family dishes, his “humble chicken curry,” and stick around to participate in an informal “talk-back” session where you can discuss the nuances of Indian cooking and maybe share some of your ideas with Chef Vij himself.
The Lakeview Market will be going strong all weekend, with vendors and artisans showcasing handcrafted wares from the four corners of the earth, and the World Café
will be open all weekend, offering cuisines from around the world including Carribean Catering Services, Mi Lino Ecuador, Thai, Taiwanese and vegetarian options.
Fresh red pepper cut into slices
If you’re the type who is always on the look-out for new and delicious hot sauces, jellies, jams, pickles and chutneys, head to the Red Hot Market for some rare and hard to find products like maple flavoured jalapeno and habanero sauces from Sinai Gourmet, fiery hot lime, pineapple and mango sauces from Burner Pepper Sauce as well as oils, pepper jellies and drinking chocolate and spicy chocolates from Chocosol.
There will be some amazing musical acts all weekend long too, starting Friday with bands like the super cool rap/electro and dub-hop feminist Above Top Secret and the funk/hip hop band BlakDenim plus DJ P-Plus spinning urban dance music. And if you want an event that is family friendly, and combines dance and food, check out Deep Fried Hot and Spicy, where Toronto DJ Soul Proprietor is spinning and Nate’s Palate is serving plates of hot and spicy deep-fried fish accras (fritters) for a toonie.
There really is so much to see and do, and eat, and dance to all weekend long that you should check out the complete list of events. Choosing which day/s and events to attend, which chefs to meet and films to see may be a daunting task, but well worth it!
You live in Toronto; take advantage of it and get out this weekend and enjoy the hot and spicy fruits of someone else’s labours.