How to pair wine with salt and pepper eggplant
LOC Bottle Bar founder Olivia Moore knows the perfect wine to pair with a home-delivered serving of T-Chow’s salt and pepper eggplant and shallot pancakes.
London expat Olivia Moore is the owner and operator of LOC Bottle Bar, one of Adelaide’s favourite all-natural-wine bars.
The Takeaway Somm
In every print edition of CityMag, we ask an Adelaide wine lover to pair wine with their most-ordered takeaway item according to the app of their choosing.
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Sit Lo’s Banh Mi
A McChicken burger with cheese and bacon
The bar started as an online bottle shop before expanding to bricks-and-mortar on Mukata Hindmarsh Square.
There are few people as knowledgeable, friendly and up for wine chats as Olivia, and so she was only too happy to oblige with a pairing of South Australian wine and her most frequent delivery order: T Chow’s salt and pepper eggplant and shallot pancakes.
Why is T Chow your go-to?
I think it was on an early days list of ‘Adelaide institutions’ (along with Cafe de Vili’s and the Exeter) that I was given when I first moved here.
What works about the salt and pepper eggplant and shallot pancake as a duo?
Salt, spice and lots of frying – the perfect comfort food, with a vegetable disguised inside!
Any accompaniments to this order?
Soy sauce and chilli oil. (I think this makes me basic?)
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When do you most need a T Chow fix?
Either the first day off after working a big week at the bar (no ingredients/energy to create any own comfort food), or more often than not it will be the perfect cure the day after celebrating having a night off work.
How do you rate T Chow in the great expanse of S+P eggplant and shallot pancake options in Adelaide?
The never-ending debate! I change my mind on the front runner when I’m dining in for a S+P eggplant (Ying Chow would be my go-to), but for takeaway options T Chow is the winner!
What’s important to consider when pairing wine to these items?
Always acid/fat balance. When thinking about any pairing, these are my top consideration. The heat/spice element in the eggplant is also something to keep in mind, and definitely steers me towards a white wine.
What South Australian wine is best suited to T Chow’s S+P eggplant and shallot pancakes?
Manon High Paradise – a Chardonnay, Garganega, Savagnin blend. This wine has a crazy acidity that balances the food out perfectly – cuts through the much needed (for my hangover) oiliness and has a beautiful texture and body which softly brings down the heat for me.