Shrimp "au Chien"

When I heard "au chien," some ideas crossed my mind, and none of them were particularly suited to food.

But when I learned about what goes into this sauce with the canine name, I thought: I'd love this with shrimp. I enjoy hot food, as long as it doesn't take away the flavour of what I'm eating. I like when it sneaks up on you right after you savour and swallow your bite, and how it gives you a zing of heat that makes you want to come back for more.

What do you want us to know about this dish, Steph?

"Sauce au chien" comes from Mark Bittman of the New York Times, who learned about it from a friend who came across it in Martinique. Bittman uses it with chicken, but heat from a Scotch bonnet pepper screams for something a little more tropical.

Here's the line up that will comfortably work for a couple of pounds of shrimp.

1 Tbsp finely chopped garlic
6 scallions, trimmed and minced
1 Scotch bonnet* stemmed, seeded and finely diced
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1 Tbsp veg oil
juice of 1 lime
salt & pepper

. Combine garlic, scallions, chile, salt, allspice, pepper and oil.
. Add 1/2 cup boiling water. Stir and let it sit at room temperature.
. After an hour or so, taste the sauce; add more chile, salt, pepper, or allspice, if needed and to suit your taste.
. Just before serving, stir in the lime juice and pass the sauce at the table.

*Hot tip: Everyone's "zing," as Laurie calls it, is different. If you want to start slow, substitute a jalepeno for the Scotch bonnet, or even chili paste or cracked chilis. With these latter two options, Bittman says, start with a 1/2 teaspoon.

This cool accompaniment above comes from Hedonia, words by Sean Timberlake and photos by D. Paul Brown. They call this salad "Lagrimas," Spanish for tears, probably for how the peas look when cut this way [and appropriate to our meal, depending on how hot you make the sauce.].

It's beautifully simple and has a bit of chevre, which is going to be a good counterpoint for the heat. Also, I love how they handle their ingredient list:

A fistful of fresh sugar snap peas, trimmed and thinly cut on a slight bias
A couple of radishes, shaved thin
A wad of mint leaves, cut into a fine chiffonade
Several small dollops of creamy chevre
A few shakes of rice wine vinegar
A healthy drizzle of peppery extra virgin olive oil
A pinch of salt
A good crack of black pepper

Glenn, what are we going to drink with these two?

I've got two off-the-wall suggestions that aren't going to be fore everyone, but I'm going to throw them out there anyway.

Asti Spumante. I know, a bit of a jaw-dropper, but sparkling and/or sweet wines are excellent matches for hot and spicy foods.

Beaujolais is the other suggestions and, again, not a usual pairing, but it's got some great qualities that work well for spicing seafood. With virtually no tannins, it's got soft, ripe, red fruits [mostly strawberry] and white pepper hints. It takes very well to chili. The LCBO has a bounty of Beaujolais. Try a few to see which you like best.

Glenn Barley is a wine agent with Wine Stem Group.