Of all the dishes that have a city in their name, the “Salade Niçoise” makes us dream the most. Then we imagine ourselves sitting at the harbour, our sunglasses on our noses, above us the screeching seagulls in the bright blue sky, in front of us the glittering sea and on the table, of course: a sumptuous Salade Niçoise. For this version, we took a little more liberty with the ingredients and used La Belle-Iloise onion confit with anchovies instead of tuna. Summer on the plate!

We now deal with sardines every day, and we enjoy it. Perhaps you do too? We highly value these little silver wonders as an uncomplicated and versatile everyday delicacy. While they certainly appeal to purists, there's so much you can do with them! We've already tried out a few recipes and have featured them here. But what about the sardine's little sister, the anchovy? Does our imagination stretch beyond a homemade anchovy pizza? Mais bien sur! So let's get started – true to the motto "Let's get down to business!" To keep things simple, I've picked a recipe that's quick and easy to make and doesn't even require many ingredients: homemade anchovy butter. Driven by sardinophilic interest and taste curiosity, I decided to serve her some sardine butter. Let's see which tastes better! Or should we perhaps compare sardines and anchovies just as little as we compare apples and pears?! … Number 1: the anchovy butter Ingredients: 1 small can of anchovies (approx. 50g) 150g soft salted raw milk butter 1 shallot, finely chopped Parsley, chopped 1 pinch of Espelette pepper Combine all ingredients in a blender or blend with an immersion blender until well blended. Transfer the finished butter to a bowl and refrigerate to cool, or place the butter in a piece of wax paper and roll it into a 5-centimeter roll. Store it in the refrigerator or even the freezer. Number 2: the sardine butter Ingredients: 1 can of boneless sardines in olive oil with lemon, e.g. from La Belle-Iloise 100g salted raw milk butter 2 pinches of seaweed leaves Let the butter soften at room temperature. Meanwhile, drain the sardines and mash them with a fork. Then, using a fork, knead the sardines, seaweed leaves, and softened butter together until all the ingredients are well combined. Put the finished butter in a bowl and chill in the refrigerator. The conclusion: Both butter varieties taste delicious and very different, and the salted raw milk butter brings out the characteristic flavor of both very distinctive fishes: The anchovy butter has a very smooth, creamy consistency thanks to the pureeing process and is easy to spread. Its flavor is intense: richly salty, pleasantly fishy, ​​and slightly spicy thanks to the Espelette pepper. The parsley and shallot beautifully balance the aromatic anchovy and add a fruity note to the recipe. Crushing the sardine butter with a fork also gives it a very pleasant, fine, fibrous texture, reminiscent of rillettes. The candied lemon adds a pleasant and highly interesting freshness to the recipe. The recipe is clearly impressive for its simplicity and focus on the fish. Additional ingredients like parsley or onions would have only diluted the flavor. We recommend enjoying the sardine and anchovy butter with crackers or on toasted bread, or with warm potatoes and a green salad. In any case, it should be a simple meal where the fish butter plays the main role. This pairs well with a full-bodied but not overly heavy red wine, such as the Brouilly 2015 Georges Descombes . The bouquet is delicate and pure, with aromas of plums and raspberries, complemented by notes of flint. The exceptional freshness and fruitiness are instantly captivating! Juicy aromas of ripe fruit unfold in the mouth. - - The recipe for the anchovy butter is by Barbara-jo McIntosh, and the recipe for the sardine butter is by Sonia Ezgulan. I've slightly adapted both to my own taste and discretion. The butter-to-fish ratio can be varied, and you don't have to use lemon-flavored sardines either. Experiment and see what you like best and share your favorite variations with us. Send us an email !

We recently celebrated the legume festival with you. At 30° outside and a pleasant 20° inside, with cool rosé and white wine and in a relaxed atmosphere, we were able to experience together how wonderful lentils, peas and co. are suitable for summer salads.

Just a few weeks ago, at a trade fair near Lisbon, we had the great pleasure of trying the brand new varieties of Santa Catarina's extraordinarily good tuna varieties. One of them is with Azorean peppers, a very typical creation. The taste of this paprika is somewhere between paprika and chili, so it is wonderfully aromatic and fruity, but only slightly spicy. Nice while trying it, thousands of recipe ideas popped into our heads. Thomas implemented one of them for the recipe of the week this week. And he hits exactly what we want on these beautiful warm summer days: Here, crunchy vegetables meet fresh herbs, tender spicy fish meets fruity tomatoes... and everything in a colorful setting - a summer poem and a feast for the eyes and taste buds!

"In the beginning was the dough" ... that's what it says in the foreword of the beautiful baking book "Pasteten" by Stéphane Reynaud, from which I got the inspiration for this Easter pie with tuna, egg and all sorts of herbs. My version with wafer-thin Turkish puff pastry tasted wonderfully light and at the same time spicy, which is certainly due to the grandiose aromatic mixture of dill, basil and fennel seeds. The pie works hot or cold and can be used as a main course or as a starter, and because it's so quick and easy to make and doesn't require meticulously following the recipe, it's ideal for an impromptu (Easter) picnic!

Bacalhau. This traditional Portuguese staple, this infamous cod-salted dish... For many of us non-Portuguese, it's still a strange curiosity that we're hesitant to try or avoid. What does it actually taste like, what can you make with it, how do you prepare it, and what does it go with? The internet is brimming with recipes for and with bacalhau, many of which sound really good and can be made with ingredients that are easily available in our latitudes. I pored over and pored over and clicked through many options. But as so often happens, the good stuff was much closer than I expected: I found what I was looking for in the outer packaging of Miss Can Patriot (3 cans of bacalhau in various sauces). It contained a simple, quick, and truly delicious recipe for bacalhau with chickpeas. In the absence of "fresh" salt cod and to combine two varieties, I chose the bacalhau with garlic in olive oil from the Portuguese brand Tricana (Conserveira de Lisboa) . It would help me uncover the secret of bacalhau. Even on its own, straight from the can, this fish was a revelation! Beautiful pieces of fillet swim in light oil, exuding an intensely fishy aroma, but don't let that put you off. The fish itself tastes aromatic but much more delicate than its aroma suggests, captivating with a subtle salty note. The garlic is only subtly evident, perfectly rounding off the whole dish. We almost ate the whole can without it, but I was curious about the recipe. Here's how it's done: Ingredients: 1 can of bacalhau 1 can of chickpeas Parsley 1 onion 1 egg some salt and pepper to taste (The quantities can be varied according to your taste. For example, I used only half an onion and only one egg. I also prefer coarsely chopped ingredients, as this preserves the different colors, flavors, and textures. If the salad sits for a day, the fish flavor becomes even more pronounced and the whole thing gains flavor.) Hard-boil the egg, peel it, and roughly chop it. Roughly chop the onion and parsley. Mix everything with the torn and drained bacalhau and the chickpeas. Season gently with salt and pepper, and you're done! It was really quick, and the result tasted fantastic! A fresh, spicy, balanced explosion of flavor that brought summer to our plates and pairs well with a strong, cool white wine. We can also imagine pairing it with coriander... and we already have a few more ideas for bacalhau recipes in mind. And you, can you think of something? Our wine recommendation: Vinho Verde Camaleão or Alfaiate Branco 2016

A recipe from Italy, with which we dream of culinary summer again. Here sweet meets sour and southern Europe meets oriental notes. We also discover the fifth taste "umami" along the way and experience a taste sensation that can be described as spicy, meaty, smoky, hearty ... and that you can't get enough of. So it is already clear that today is not the last time we will be cooking this sweet and sour mackerel.

How do you actually feel about seafood? Unfortunately, Berlin is not located by the sea, even if that would be an additional plus for our beautiful city on some hot summer days... Accordingly, many of us may rarely enjoy these delicacies. At least in fresh form. How good that there are fine preserves from Ramon Peña. Because indeed: the chipirones of this traditional Galician brand are among the finest canned seafood I have ever eaten. And so Thomas decided this week to provide the little squid in olive oil with an accompaniment that really doesn't have to hide! A refined dish that does not require high chef qualities and simply fills you up and makes you happy.

This simple recipe will appeal to all those who are not afraid of lavish combinations: True to the motto “mixing is possible”, we tried a tapenade with three types of fish – sardine, anchovy and tuna. A delicious combination full of Mediterranean flavours that transports us to the south even in the darkest winter... perhaps on the deck of a small sailing boat rocking in the harbour, or on a terrace in lavender-covered hills, while the crickets chirp around us, the sun shines on our heads and we enjoy a small aperitif with friends... Ingredients for 6 - 8 servings 1 can of sardines (eg Sardinettes ) in water, drained 1 small can of anchovies (approx. 56g), drained and soaked in milk for 10 - 15 minutes to desalinate them 1 can tuna in water , drained 1 garlic clove, roughly chopped 1 small shallot, roughly chopped 1 handful of black olives, pitted freshly ground pepper 1 tsp mustard 1 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp dry sherry rosemary Blend all the ingredients with a hand blender, fork or in a mortar until you have a coarse paste. It's best not to blend it too finely - it looks nicer and the consistency is also finer if you keep a few pieces of fish and olive. Serve in a nice bowl with crackers, raw vegetables or toasted bread. Also delicious on homemade bruschetta, with grilled vegetables or as a filling for tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, eggplant... Best enjoyed with a strong red wine – Bon appétit! Garlic and rosemary give the recipe a spicy, southern note, while the dry sherry elegantly rounds it off and adds an interesting twist. Depending on your preference, one fish or the other may dominate. Inspired by © Barbara-jo McIntosh, recipe from the book "Tin Fish Gourmet", Raincoast Books, 1998 We offer the following products from the recipe: Sardines Anchovies tuna Olives (you can find more selection in our shop in Berlin-Wilmersdorf) pepper Mustard olive oil Sherry (unfortunately currently only available in our store)

Our friend and regular customer Christian Lohse - one of the most interesting chefs in Germany, and chef de cuisine at Fischers Fritz - has published a wonderful cookbook with Umschau Verlag, which bears the absolutely appropriate title "Lohses Mundwerk". It contains recipes for soups and stews from all over the world. In the middle of this illustrious collection he smuggled a recipe for sardines in olive paste - "not a soup but also awesome". Which brings us back to the mouth of the mouth and our recipe of the week!

At the beginning of October, Thomas Vetter represented us at the Berlin Food Week and held a workshop on "Cooking with vintage sardines" together with my sister Anaïs. The recipe prepared for this occasion was so well received by the visitors and participants that we would like to present it again here. It fits perfectly into the season, picks up on the currently ubiquitous pumpkin and puts it in a new light in combination with sardines and coriander - a welcome change from the classic pumpkin soup...

It's finally here again, the wonderful season of colorful salads is finally beginning! Not that our hearts don't melt like a fragrant cheese fondue on the fire when we think of sumptuous and hearty winter dishes, but we're slowly starting to look forward to lighter dishes and everything that goes with them. A crisp salad becomes a welcome harbinger of the warm season, manifesting itself on the plate even before it appears on the calendar... The great thing is: when it comes to salads, there are no limits to your imagination – anything that tastes good is allowed, there is nothing that really doesn't go together, every combination is conceivable… what wonderful culinary freedom opens up here! I'd been eyeing the following recipe for a long time, and when the sun slanted through the window this morning, my appetite was instantly aroused. It loudly demanded this fantastic octopus salad with green beans, potatoes, and tomatoes. It's so easy and so quick. The result is also a poem! The colors alone... Ingredients for 2 - 3 people 1 - 2 cans of Pulpo , e.g. from Ramon Peña 2 handfuls of green beans 4 - 5 medium-sized potatoes tomatoes thyme Parsley Garlic salt and pepper olive oil lemon Preparation: Peel the potatoes, cut them into bite-sized cubes and cook them in salted water until al dente. Clean the beans and cook them in salted water for about 10 - 15 minutes, so that they are still nice and crunchy. Meanwhile, finely chop the thyme, parsley, and a small garlic clove. I think this recipe uses a good amount of thyme, but which of the three components predominates in terms of flavor is up to you. Wash the tomatoes and cut them into small slices, cubes or quarters, depending on your preference Place the potatoes, beans, and tomatoes in a salad bowl, squeeze half a lemon over them, season with salt and pepper, and drizzle with olive oil and the chopped herbs. Mix well. Open the can(s) of octopus, drain, and add. Mix gently. Serve lukewarm and enjoy. Bon appétit! Our wine recommendation: The Sauvignon de Touraine 2013 from Domaine Delaunay goes wonderfully with this salad. It is a beautifully fresh, fruity, yet mineral wine, the ideal accompaniment to seafood. -- The inspiration for this recipe comes from "The New Fish Cooking School. The Standard Work. Kitchen Practice – Product Knowledge – 150 Recipes" by Tillmann Hahn and Nicole Knapstein, Christian Verlag, 2014. Found on www.valentinas-kochbuch.de