Jennifer cooks a scallop recipe from her new BC Wine Lover’s Cookbook and discusses the wine pairing with Severine Pinte, Winemaker at Le Vieux Pin
Watch Jennifer Schell Announce her new cookbook on Global News.
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New wine lovers' cookbook celebrates the best of B.C.As an added bonus, each recipe in this beautiful new book comes with a wine pairing suggested by the vintners
Jul 31, 2020 12:41 PM By: Joanne Sasvari
Author Jennifer Schell was delighted by the multicultural flavours of the recipes in her book.
Born and raised on an apple orchard in East Kelowna, Jennifer Schell grew up alongside British Columbia’s wine industry, tasting her neighbours’ vintages and dining on the food they served at their tables. Now she’s gathered all those beloved family recipes in a new book that offers a taste of wine country, even for those who may not be able to experience it in person right now.
The BC Wine Lover’s Cookbook: Recipes and Stories from Wineries across British Columbia (Appetite by Random House) gathers family stories and recipes from 53 wineries from Vancouver Island to the Kootenays.
“I’m so thrilled with the book,” says Schell. “I realized, looking at the multicultural community, it’s so Canadian, it’s amazing. We put them all together and focused on their cultures, their family recipes, not chef recipes.”
Schell comes from a place of serious inside knowledge. She is also the author of the award-winning The Butcher, the Baker, the Wine and Cheese Maker series of books and is the former editor of Food & Wine Trails magazine, as well as co-owner of Schell Wines, co-founder of the Kelowna chapter of Soup Sisters and co-producer of the Garagiste North Wine Festival, which this year is scheduled for August 18. (Check garagistenorth.com to confirm it’s still going ahead.) Most recently, she’s launched the wine news site iNwine.
In her book, she includes everyone from the pioneers like Ann Sperling, a leader in the natural wine movement, to newcomers such as the Coulombe family, owners of vinAmité Cellars.
“Every time they shared a recipe—like Sev [winemaker Severine Pinte] at Le Vieux Pin and her scallop recipe—it reminded them of growing up,” Schell says. “And the recipes are all doable, because they are family recipes.”
Those recipes, like the people who created them, travelled from all over the world. B.C.’s wine industry is led by families from France, Spain, Holland, Israel, India, China and beyond. “They came for the farming industry, but now there are pilgrimages of people coming from all over the world to join this exciting industry,” Schell says. “It’s very multicultural and wonderful, with everyone sharing the same passion.”
As for her favourite recipes in the book, they include the one published here, the Peruvian-influenced cured salmon from Blue Grouse’s Paul Brunner.
“One I really love is from CheckMate. [Winemaker] Phil McGahan shared his mother’s chicken tarragon recipe from Australia, with Chardonnay sauce. It’s just delicious,” Schell says.
She also loves the bright yellow upside-down grape leaf rice from Silkscarf Winery, and insists it’s not as daunting as it looks. “Silkscarf, who I adore, they’re from Israel and their daughter used to operate a luncheonette out of the winery with course after course of Ottolenghi-esque food,” Schell says. “I thought it wouldn’t work, but it was perfect.”
As an added bonus, each recipe comes with a wine pairing provided by the vintners themselves. After all, Schell says, “Who better to know how to pair the food with the wine than the people who make it?”
BORN IN BC, THE BC WINE LOVER’S COOKBOOK CELEBRATES BOUNTY
By Wine & Dine by Roslyne Buchanan
Straight from her heart, Jennifer Schell’s The BC Wine Lover’s Cookbook: Recipes and Stories from Wineries across British Columbia (Appetite by Random House) celebrates British Columbia’s bounty as she shares family stories and recipes from 53 wineries.
I am privileged to call Jennifer a friend and know her labour of love to select shining examples from across the province. She knows these wineries and the folks involved. She painstakingly tested the recipes and pairings. Tough job, I know!
Jennifer is an exceptionally talented food and wine writer, photographer, co-owner of Schell Wines and co-producer of the Garagiste North Wine Festival, which focuses on BC’s small lot wineries. She is the author of the award-winning The Butcher, the Baker, the Wine and Cheese Maker series of books shortlisted for Taste Canada Awards, winners of two Gourmand Awards and a gold medal at the IPPY Awards. She recently launched the wine news site iNwine. When she was Food & Wine Trails Magazine editor, I met her and was privileged to freelance for her.
We quickly became friends. Her enthusiasm for the community was infectious. I joined her efforts at the Soup Sisters Kelowna chapter she co-founded and when she was catalyst in launching a similar program in Penticton. I’ve watched her passionately advocate for BC farming, food and wine industries. Born in Kelowna and raised on an apple orchard, Jennifer is truly enchanted with BC’s culinary abundance.
The BC Wine Lover’s Cookbook is a resource and a work of art. The storytelling is spell binding. Jennifer shot most of the photography with additional photographers attributed clearly on the copyright page. Illustrations are by Hillary Schell and book design by Terri Nimmo. The foreword is by none other than prolific BC wine writer John Schreiner.
Geographically arranged, her cookbook includes pioneers like Ann Sperling – natural wine leader, Summerhill Pyramid Winery – organic evangelists, and Nk’Mip Cellars – North America’s first Indigenous-owned winery. New regions are represented such as Sea Star Vineyards, Pender Island and Wynnwood Cellars in the Kootenays.
Approachable recipes for the home cook, I made the Plum Clafoutis by Beata Tolley, Moon Curser Vineyards.
Next on my list is Zwiebekluchen (Onion Quiche) by the 8th Generation Vineyard Schales family; Muriel’s Stout & Beef Pot Pie, TIME Winery & Evolve Cellars sourced from Harry McWatters (now deceased) that was a favourite by his mother Muriel Duke; Chiles Rellenos by Winifred Covert, Covert Farms Family Estate; Pai’s Bifanas by Maria Ferreira (now deceased), Quinta Ferreira Estate Winery; and Coulombe Family Tourtière, vinAmité Cellars. I’ll have to try the recipe that most surprised Jennifer, Silkscarf Winery’s Upside-Down Grape Leaf Rice, plus her own family’s submission, the Schell Family Crab Boil.
A comprehensive index assists your discovery of the BC bounty as does Jennifer’s thoughtful inclusion of a Wine Adventures chapter including other wineries to visit. The Seasonal Menus chapter invites you to combine their recipes.
Through her delightful representation of BC wineries, family stories and recipes that leverage regional ingredients, Jennifer inspires us to explore. By the time I read and cook my way through it, I hope the next edition will be on its way.
Learn more about Jennifer Schell and how to purchase her book at www.jenniferschell.com. Follow @jenniferschell8 on Instagram and Twitter.