When you cook with fresh, locally-sourced ingredients, you need to adjust your menu for seasonality. At Mediterraneo, Annabelle’s seaside taverna, our cooks are keenly attuned to what is available and enjoy inventing special dishes to feature what is in season. Currently, local producers are harvesting oranges, beet roots, wine leaves, and rocket leaves. Three of these ingredients are brought together in Filla, a preparation of sea bass whose name is inspired by the Greek word for wine leaves, ambelofilla. The cooks cover a sea bass fillet with rocket leaves and sun-dried tomatoes and then wrap it all up in leaves from the grape vine. Next it is cooked under pressure in a 66° water bath for 25 minutes. After removal from the water bath, the fish is charred on the grill to add a crunchy texture and a smoky flavour. It is finished in the oven and served with grilled fennel, roasted potatoes, and a citrus vierge sauce. The variety of beet roots available at this time of year creates the opportunity to make a colourful salad. Red beets are first cooked in order to soften them. After being chilled, they are mixed with raw baby yellow and baby rainbow beets to create a combination of textures. Add beetroot leaves, unsalted anari cheese, orange pieces, and almonds, and you have the Pantzaria salad (its name is inspired by the Greek word for beetroots). Settle in at Mediterraneo, take in the sea breeze, and enjoy our fresh take on seasonal produce.
