With the 2022 Ocean Wise Seafood Festival currently underway from coast to coast, it’s likely you’ve seen a particular picturesque photo circulating among the many sustainably-sourced seafood offerings associated with the month-long festival.
For the past few years, Naramata Inn chef Ned Bell and his signature seafood chowder have been the proverbial poster boys for Ocean Wise’s sustainable seafood mission—and for good reason.
In addition to highlighting the incredible coastal bounty of the region, chef Bell’s chowder utilizes a range of hyper local and hyper seasonal ingredients from local producers to create a rich, elegant, and beautifully balanced eating experience.
Shellfish and broth
Over medium-high heat in a medium-large pot, sauté the onions and garlic in the butter for two minutes, then add the clams and mussels and sauté for a further one minute.
Add the white wine and cook for two minutes or until the clams and mussels are cooked and the shells pop open.
Remove from heat and stop cooking immediately. With a basket strainer, strain the broth from the shells, keeping both the broth and the shellfish. Remove the clams and mussels from their shells, and set aside.
Chowder
In a medium pot over medium heat, sauté the onion with the canola oil for two minutes. Add the salt and corn and sauté another for five minutes.
Add the salt and flour to the pot and cook for two minutes. Add the white wine, cook for two minutes. Add the diced potatoes and add the shellfish stock (see above) and cook for three minutes.
Add the milk and cook for three minutes, then add the cream and cook for a further three minutes.
Finally, add the fish and already cooked shellfish (see above) and simmer for three minutes.
To serve
Ladle the chowder into a bowl, and top with some chopped fresh herbs and foraged sumac.
Enjoy with some warm, crusty sourdough and some wonderful Naramata Bench white wine.
Sumac: We don’t use lemons and limes at the Naramata Inn, we focus on hyper local and hyper seasonal ingredients and as such we forage, make or create other flavours to use in place of citrus.
Verjus made from pressed and fermented fresh green grape juice, fresh chopped Sorrel, and foraged Sumac that stand in and perfectly represent the Taste of Place we are looking for her in Naramata. As we like to say, you can only have this dish or meal, here.
