Koerper's creations

Anyone with the good idea of opening the menu at the Malhadinha Nova Estate restaurant (Michelin Green Star in 2024) will find some recurring expressions in the descriptions: this “from our orchards”, that “from our greenhouse”, that other “from our vegetable garden”, not to mention the “honey from the estate” or the various meats from animals raised in their own fields (and, by the way, very fresh crustaceans straight from the waters of the Algarve, or rice from Alcácer do Sal, on the Alentejo coast). It’s a deeply honest, organic feast.

All of this results from the intersection of the philosophies of two essential names. One is that of the German chef Joachim Koerper, a name that the Michelin guide never fails to award stars to (his restaurant Eleven, in Lisbon, is highly regarded). The other is the Soares, the family who in 1998 created Malhadinha Nova, one of Portugal’s most incredible natural resorts, near Beja, in the heart of the Alentejo, about two hours from Lisbon.

The estate extends across a magnificent 450 hectares, with six villas, one of them in the neighboring village, all of which carefully and luxuriously restored from ruins of traditional buildings. The villas are secluded, the suites are exclusive, and there are no guest crossings. And then there are the 80 hectares of vineyards, a winery for own wines and, of course, olive groves, orchards and vegetable gardens. There is a stud farm, where the purebred Lusitano horses are well looked after (which can be requested in addition to the other nature experiences). Cows, pigs and sheep of local breeds live freely in the pastures.

It’s a whole authentic ecosystem. Humanity and nature are in permanent harmony – and this is perfect for Joachim Koerper’s philosophy.

When he was a child, Joachim used to go from Germany to France every day to collect fresh milk. This was during the late 1950s and the village where he lived, in the Saarland region, was 500 meters from the border. The family had a cow – sometimes his mother made butter –, but the good dairies were in the neighboring country. They also had other animals, pigeons, and chickens, which were Joachim’s responsibility during the vacations: it was with their eggs that he first dared to cook. The purity of those primordial flavors, that butter, those “spectacular potatoes” that his grandmother used to cook, remained in the memory of his palate forever.

Joachim’s professional career has taken him through France, Spain and Brazil, in a remarkable rise in the world of haute cuisine. But Portugal, where he arrived in the 1990s, brought him back to the most genuine flavors, like those of his childhood.

“It was in Coimbra. I was in charge of the sophisticated kitchen of a hotel, designing menus for a very international clientele, but I came across a lot of new things. I discovered how the Portuguese worked with cod, for example, or kid goat. I learned that there are some very good products here: potatoes, cheeses, wines… I went to explore the city’s taverns, to look for small producers, to buy their vegetables. Little by little, I integrated these Portuguese flavors and techniques into my work, without disguising it too much.”

This is the extraordinary genuineness that Joachim develops at the Malhadinha Nova restaurant, accompanied by his wife, Cintia, executive pastry chef, and a local master, Vitalina Santos, a cook who is the guardian of the traditional recipes of the Alentejo.

Just don’t expect to find pork liver or pork hand on the menu: “I can’t! What I don’t like, I don’t cook!”, he says humorously. But, in addition to the products born and bred in Malhadinha, from time to time you can count on lobster, his signature dish, and always the “fantastic fish from Portugal”, mainly red mullet, all, of course, with the ever-present olive oil from these lands.

Here is Malhadinha Nova, here is Joachim’s irresistible talent, an ideal combination. Gastronomic wellness indeed.