Visiting anabela's Kitchen – a culinary excursion with a recipe

For a while now, the idea of collaborating with friendly chefs for our recipe of the week had been rattling around in my head. After all, we know so many great chefs, and besides, cooking together is always more fun than cooking alone.
That you can also pick up a few tricks from the pros along the way is just one of many nice side effects. Peering curiously into other people's pots, the experience of being allowed to get your hands dirty in a restaurant kitchen for once, the luxury of being served a recipe prepared especially for you ... so many sensory impressions that you won't soon forget!

For this first time, I had the pleasure of being a guest at Anabela Campos-Neves, owner and namesake of the restaurant "anabelas Kitchen" on Pestalozzistraße in Charlottenburg.

The little restaurant with the green walls and the many picture frames has been around for 5 years. About 25 people can fit inside, and the team consists of only three people: Nico, who works as a chef in the approximately twelve square meter kitchen, Anabela and her life partner Marion out front in service.

We meet for a preliminary discussion on a Monday, the day off. Anabela serves ice-cold apple-parsnip juice, and since the door is open because of the hot weather, we are occasionally "disturbed" by neighbors who warmly greet Anabela. It quickly becomes clear that I am dealing with a neighborhood institution here.

When I lay my little notebook with the colorful sardine cans on the counter, Anabela's eyes light up. It is as if a door to her memories opens, and she immediately starts telling stories: about back then, about family picnics on the beach, about the sardines and above all about canned tuna, about her grandmother ... The ice is broken. If there ever was any ice to break ...

"For me, vacation means "back to the roots", which means: my family has to cook for me. Then I remember again how it tasted when Grandma cooked. Grandma didn't know any cream, she never used it. She only cooked what she got at the market that day. Simple. But always fresh."

Anabela comes from Moita near Lisbon, but she came to Berlin as a young woman in the 80s ("Oh mother, I'll probably stay for a week ..."). For love, but also because Portugal at the time was simply too narrow for her. Accordingly, she fulfills no expectations of folklore with her restaurant and resolutely resists being put into the "typically Portuguese" box. Because boxes, it quickly becomes clear, she cannot stand. Instead, she cultivates a culinary freestyle that she describes as "integration cuisine". There, the most beautiful ingredients from the Berlin weekly market meet a little detail she recently picked up at this Korean restaurant, a new discovery at the friendly Frenchman around the corner, the memories of her grandmother's simple but always fresh cuisine. The result is not a translation of traditional recipes, but a free reinterpretation. That is the freedom that Anabela takes for herself, and that is exactly what I was curious about.

"I don't write anything down, every dish of mine turns out differently every time. I couldn't even cook for someone else according to a plan. That's why I don't bake either ..."

By the way, Anabela got into cooking by chance. She went into an apprenticeship at the well-known Berlin restaurant "Sylter Hof". So there was no plan, but as soon as she had started, she noticed how her roots were calling:

"With my two grandmas, everything always revolved around food, around the two meals a day. Both grandmas enjoyed cooking, and they passed that on to me. For me, cooking is an emotional matter, it comes from the heart."

On the menu you can find – depending on what Anabela comes up with – sometimes black pudding, sometimes Portuguese fish soup, black sesame, fregola Sarda (Sardinian noodles), and of course coriander! Also a nice selection of German and Portuguese wines – although mostly Portuguese is drunk. Recently she served "Sardinhas à la Brathering": sardines with vinegar and onions. The people were thrilled.

For our cooperation today, Anabela looked around in our shop. She took with her the mackerel in pure olive oil from Tricana (Conserveira de Lisboa), tuna fillets in Molho Cru (a slightly spicy marinade with raw spring vegetables), the olive oil and the tapenade from Tapada da Tojeira. In addition, there will be two different fresh summer salads and of course our new wine from the Douro Valley in Portugal: the Conceito branco by Rita Marquez Ferreira. She belongs to the new generation of winemakers in Portugal, who with a lot of dedication are currently shaking up the market and producing excellent new wines. (More information about the fantastic Conceito wines can be found on our blog)

These wines – just like the many colorful fish cans and other traditional products that are being reborn in new packaging – also make Anabela, as an exiled Portuguese with a Berlin attitude, enjoy her roots again.

"Now finally comes the open Portugal – you feel like trying everything. The wines, the people ... Now it is like a journey of discovery for me again when I go to Portugal."

I quickly chill the wine and then we finally head into the heart of the restaurant: into the kitchen. Here Anabela cooked alone for a long time, the last 3 years together with Nico, whom she hired as reinforcement. Two months ago she finally changed territories and now serves the guests with Marion.

Anabela also does the shopping herself. Daily and by bike. She does the preparation and the menu planning together with Nico, but the boss still has the last word. Nico is from Freiburg and naturally brings completely different culinary influences. "You can't force him to cook Portuguese. For him, this is "Rock’n’Roll" and the two of us together make a wonderful fusion ..."

I can only agree with that – also on this day a wonderful fusion is created here: to the mackerel there is a wonderfully refreshing and nicely spicy tomato-fennel salad, which the coriander (of course – typical Portugal!) and the lemon zest give an exciting Asian note. To the slightly spicy tuna there is a summer-light purple potato salad and tapenade made of black olives.

Like Anabela, I take a little bit of everything into my mouth at once with every dish, chew, and then take a sip of the Conceito. That way we can taste well whether the wine matches the food. And it matches! Its pronounced finesse and slightly salty minerality, its natural acidity make it the ideal companion for fish. Although it costs a little something, we didn't spend much on the food. And honestly: it is definitely worth it! If you prefer it a little cheaper, the Contraste from the same winemaker is a good choice.

Ingredients for tuna with purple potato salad:

• 1.5 kilos of purple potatoes
• 100 ml poultry broth
• 5 tbsp light vinegar, e.g. vinegar from white Pineau de Charentes
• 2 tbsp mustard, e.g. mustard with white wine from Leblanc
• 2 shallots
• 1 small bunch of parsley
• 1 small bunch of chives
• Salt, pepper, sugar
• Lemon zest and lemon juice
• Olive oil
• 1 - 2 cans of Santa Catarina tuna with Molho Cru (spicy marinade of spring vegetables)
• Black olive paste

• 400g fennel
• 500g colorful tomatoes
• 2 red onions
• 1 bunch of basil
• fresh coriander
• parsley
• light vinegar, e.g. vinegar from white Pineau de Charentes
• Olive oil
• Sugar
• Salt
• Lemon juice and lemon zest
• 1 - 2 cans of mackerel in pure olive oil, from Tricana (or the spicy version from Pinhais)

Preparation:
Cut the fennel into thin slices with the mandoline. Alternatively, you can use a grater, a peeler, or a sharp knife. The main thing is that the strips are nice and fine.
Blanch the tomatoes, peel, cut into quarters, and remove the seeds. Cut the onion into thin rings.
Mix together vinegar, oil, sugar, salt, and lemon juice to make a marinade, pour over the fennel and the onion, and let both sit together for half an hour.
Now add the tomato quarters. Roughly chop the basil and coriander, add them, and sprinkle lemon zest and finally the chopped parsley over it. Plate up and decorate with hearts of Romaine lettuce. Then add a splash of good olive oil on the plate.

Our wine recommendation: The Conceito branco 2013, an extremely fine and mineral wine that is reminiscent of great Chablis Grand Crus. Through its wonderful melt, its slightly salty side, and its natural acidity, this wine is the ideal companion for fish and shellfish. But it also goes well with risotto and light meat.

Bon appétit, or bom proveito!

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anabelas Kitchen
Pestalozzistraße 3
10625 Berlin
Phone: 030 - 28 70 12 24
www.anabelas-kitchen.de
EC card payment possible

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If you prefer to watch rather than read, you can watch a short video from the kitchen here: