French-Fried Eggplant with Florida Guzpachy Sauce

This was among the most popular dishes served at one of the first American regional dinners I gave at the Santa Fe Bar & Grill. “Guzpachy” is obviously a step away from “gazpacho,” the soup that has somewhat the same ingredients as this sauce, which is really a relish or salsa. Like all relishes, it needs to sit an hour for all the flavors to develop. The combination of the sharp, cold sauce with the rich, piping-hot, fried eggplant is very successful. You could serve a big platter of e