CHEF NED BELL'S SEAFOOD CHOWDER

Chef Ned Bell is a real devotee to terroir — the taste of a place — at the Naramata Inn. If you are a forager, you may find sumac growing in the wild, just as the inn's sous chefs do. If not, store-bought is fine.

Shellfish and Broth

■ ¼ cup (60 ml) whole butter

■ ½ diced white onion

■ 2 garlic cloves

■ ½ bottle white wine

■ 1 lb (450 g) fresh B.C. clams ( little neck, savoury or Manila)

■ 1 lb (450 g) fresh mussels

1. Over medium-high heat in a medium-large pot, sauté onions and garlic in the butter for 2 minutes, then add clams and mussels and sauté for a further 1 minute.

2. Add white wine and cook for 2 minutes or until the clams and mussels are cooked and the shells pop open.

3. Remove from heat and stop cooking immediately. With a basket strainer, strain the broth from the shells, keeping both the broth and the shellfish.

4. Remove the clams and mussels from their shells, and set aside.

Chowder

■ 3 tbsp (45 ml) canola oil

■ 1 small diced medium onion

■ 2 cups (500 ml) Chilliwack corn kernels

■ 2 tbsp (30 ml) kosher salt

■ ½ cup (125 ml) all-purpose flour

■ ½ bottle white wine (Naramata Bench, for instance)

■ 1 lb (450 g) diced potatoes

■ 1 quart (1 L) whole milk

■ 1 quart (1 L) cream

■ 2 lbs (907 g) wild B.C. fish, salmon, halibut, hake, sablefish, or ling cod

1. In a medium pot over medium heat, sauté onion with the canola oil for 2 minutes.

2. Add the salt and corn and sauté another for 5 minutes.

3. Add the flour to the pot and cook for 2 minutes.

4. Add white wine, cook for 2 minutes.

5. Add diced potatoes and add shellfish stock and cook for 3 minutes.

6. Add milk and cook for 3 minutes, then add cream and cook for a further 3 minutes.

7. Finally, add the fish and already cooked shellfish and simmer for 3 minutes.

8. Ladle the chowder into a bowl, and top with some chopped fresh herbs and foraged sumac. Enjoy with some warm, crusty sourdough.

Makes: 8-10 servings.