Wine & Country Living

What do MFK Fisher, Angelo Pellegrini and Alice Waters all have in common? Answer: They are 20th century food writers who have contributed to the way we think about and eat food today.Recently I was invited to speak on behalf of the Okanogan Valley Wine Alliance in British Columbia, where the major­ity of the beautiful wines of Western Canada are produced. The attendees were wine producers from Canada and around the world, and food and wine writers from the U.S. were in attendance. After my dissertation, I spent the remaining afternoon driving around the Okanogan Valley, tasting wines and din­ing on regional fare. It was a glorious two days, and if you've not visited this fertile, wine-growing valley, you simply must. While in B.C., I stopped to dine at a little wooden café called Mountain Café. I ordered a clean, grass-fed burger slathered in a new relish I'd not tasted before, which re­sembled an eggplant chutney recipe I included in my new cookbook. When I arrived home, I decided to try and duplicate this relish and serve it with two, thick-cut, smoked pork chops, mashed potatoes and sauerkraut lightly scattered in caraway seeds. I asked Wine Guy what wine he'd suggest with this meal, and he yelled out, "Tastes like Canoe Ridge Gewurz­traminer." Now, I don't suggest you serve a Gewurztraminer with just any meal. I think the last time I suggested this heavily fruited wine was with a pastrami-styled corn beef slathered in cherry mustard, and Waitsburg's Marketta Little Wolf called to tell me the pairing was excellent!

However, the mystical properties of Canoe Ridge's Gewurztraminer, while exhibiting juicy stone-free fruits, also resembles a wheat field lightly dampened in a summer rain, a little dry, even a little flinty, which earns Canoe Ridge wine maker Ned Morris 10 Barrels from Wine Country Living. Here's my recipe for Eggplant Chutney, a perfect pairing for such a mystical wine.

Eggplant Chutney

Method:

In a large kettle over medium-high heat, sauté all for 15 minutes. Reduce heat and cook until glossy. Cool before dabbing.

Contact Judith at www.chefjudithhenderson.com